“I think in the whole park system's history, one of the most inspiring stories is how a large group of Californians – the majority of voters – realized that both historic sites and natural heritage sites deserved to be preserved in light of how fast California was and always will be changing”;xNLx;- John Weminski, state parks naturalist;xNLx;Sources:;xNLx;*California Department of Parks and Recreation (www.parks.ca.gov);xNLx;*"State Parks of California from 1864 to the Present" by Joseph H. Engbeck, Jr (1980)
With the Civil War raging, President Abraham Lincoln quietly authorizes a federal land grant of roughly 20,000 acres to the state of California. Encompassing the entire Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Big Tree Grove, it is the first park land owned by the state (and the first state-controlled park in the nation). It remains under California’s control for more than 25 years. However, the area is poorly maintained by the state, and the land is “receded” to the federal government in 1890, and becomes the heart of Yosemite National Park.
In the midst of designing New York City's Central Park, Frederick Law Olmsted Sr. travels to California to produce a survey and map of the Yosemite Valley. He helps establish the precise boundaries of the reserve and creates a management policy for the land grant. In it, he emphasizes the importance of preserving beautiful natural spaces as a resource for all members of society to access -- not just the wealthy. The document is seminal in the future development and philosophy of government park lands. In it, he writes: “The enjoyment of the choicest natural scenes in the country and the means of recreation connected with them is thus a monopoly, in a very peculiar manner, of a very few very rich people. The great mass of society, including those to whom it would be of the greatest benefit, is excluded from it … For the same reason that the water of rivers should be guarded against private appropriation and the use of it for the purpose of navigation and otherwise protected against obstructions, portions of natural scenery may therefore properly to guarded and cared for by government. … It is necessary that they should be laid open to the use of the body of the people. The establishment by government of great public grounds for the free enjoyment of the people under certain circumstances, is thus justified and enforced as a political duty.” If only the rich can afford access to beautiful natural places, Olmsted writes, than it becomes "a monopoly, in a very peculiar manner, of a very few, very rich people. The great mass of society, including those to whom it would be the greatest benefit, is excluded from it. Without means taken from the government to withhold them from the grasp of individuals … all places favorable in scenery to the recreation of the mind and body will be closed against the great body of the people. For the same reason that the water of rivers should be guarded against private appropriation … portions of natural scenery may therefore properly be guarded and cared for by the government."
The Marshall Monument at Coloma is dedicated and opened to the public as California’s first recognized historic site (now called the Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park). It's located near the American River at the site where James Marshall’s initial discovery of gold deposits ignited California’s Gold Rush in 1849 (even though Marshall never actually struck it rich). During the late 1800s, a number of organizations in California were formed and sought to identify and preserve various historically significant sites. Groups like the Native Sons of the Golden West were instrumental in raising money and lobbying the legislature to create state-protected monuments, many of which -- including this site -- later became part of the state parks system.
With the vast majority of redwood forests in California already destroyed, a small group of early state environmental preservationists run an effective campaign that results in the state acquiring nearly 4,000 acres of old-growth redwood forest in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Much of the land is purchased directly from a lumber company for about $100 an acre. Originally called California Redwood Park, the site is later renamed Big Basin Redwoods State Park and becomes California’s first official state park. Today, Big Basin is roughly 18,000 acres and contains one of California’s largest continuous stands of ancient Coast Redwoods. By 1900, as the state's population continues to swell, vast tracts of fragile natural habitat are rapidly vanishing, a result of urban development and unregulated mining, lumber and agricultural operations. The campaign to establish the park is led by Andrew Hill, a professional photographer from San Jose, who organizes a group of writers and academics to raise awareness about the groves and pressure members of the state legislature to purchase and protect select sites. The successful effort inspires some of the first environmental organizations in the state, including the Sempervirens Club, and later, the Save-the-Redwoods League. The effort helps provide the vision for creating hundreds of subsequent state parks throughout California.
After Big Basin, the number of new state parks and historical monuments grows rapidly. By 1927 there are nearly 20. But still no comprehensive plan or administrative body exists for managing them all. In the wake of another grassroots campaign organized by preservation groups, the legislature establishes an official State Park Commission tasked with managing the entire system. The legislation also authorizes a $6 million bond measure to be included in the following year’s ballot, and a calls for a statewide survey of potential new park sites. Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. conducts the survey. In reviewing proposals for sites throughout California, Olmsted solicits widespread public input and participation. In the final report, submitted in 1929, Olmsted writes: “The magnitude and importance, socially and economically, in California, of the values arising directly and indirectly from the enjoyment of scenery and from related pleasures of non-urban outdoor life … are incalculably great.”
The year before the stock market crashes, supporters of the State Park Bond Act of 1928 organize a large-scale campaign. By a margin of nearly 3-1, voters approve the measure, allotting $6 million (equivalent to almost $80 million today) toward building the new park system. Funding from the measure is used to buy huge amounts of acreage. The size of the new system nearly doubles within the next two years. Many of the crown jewels - including Mt. Tamalpais and Calaveras Big Trees - are acquired during this period, as well as a number of beach properties. The measure also funds major park infrastructure projects.
During the years of the Great Depression, the state park system continues to grow. It benefits tremendously from an influx of workers and craftsmen who are part of the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Works Progress Administration (created by President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal programs). By 1940, the number of parks has risen to almost 60, including a handful of newly acquired state beaches.
Newton Drury, the first executive secretary of the Save the Redwoods League and former director of the National Parks Service, assumes leadership of California's park system, which is now called the California Division of Beaches and Parks. During his tenure, the department regains access to a large share of offshore oil royalties, funds from which are used to acquire more land. By the time Drury retires in 1959, the system includes 150 beaches, parks and historic monuments covering over 600,000 acres.
Although faced with major departmental budget cuts and hiring freezes, new state parks director William Penn Mott Jr. promises an era of growth and transformation. He turns the Division of Beaches and Parks into the current Department of Parks and Recreation, and assumes management control over new recreational facilities established on the shores of recently built reservoirs throughout the Central Valley. Under Mott's tenure, the first full-time female park rangers are hired, and a number of independent park volunteer organizations are formed throughout the state. The department also expands its public education and outreach efforts in an effort to attract a larger cross-section of visitors. Mott's stated objective is to “build a bridge between the world of the park and the world of the visitor.”
With funding from a $250 million state park bond measure (Proposition 1) approved by voters in 1974, as well as additional revenue for major resource management efforts, the system continues to grow steadily through the early 1990s, with roughly 260 park sites on nearly 1.3 million acres of land (including 280 miles of coastline, 625 miles of river and lake frontage, nearly 18,000 campsites and more than 3,000 miles of trails). The newest state park -- Fort Ord Dunes in Monterey County -- was added to the system in 2009. There are currently 278 sites.
