On a clear, warm Thursday morning, 57-year-old George Litt meandered from the Hatfield State Recreation Area parking lot, down a walking path leading to a bank by the Merced River, where his daughter and grandkids were fishing.
As his grandkids, Kyndell and Kyle Johnston, dropped their lines in the water, Litt's daughter, Brandy, helped teach the two some of the finer points of the sport before the group made its way to the park's picnic area to have lunch.
Unfortunately, the Norman Rockwell-type scene is one that may disappear soon if the state goes through with cuts to its park system.
Two state parks in Merced County are on the verge of closing -- both the McConnell and the George J. Hatfield state recreation areas are on the chopping block.
For Litt and his family, the move would take away a valuable outlet where they can go and enjoy nature. "This is pretty handy," he said of the park, adding that "there's a variety of wildlife" that adds to the beauty of the park. Some people even come from the Bay Area to camp there, he noted.
But because of the state budget deficit, 70 state parks are slated to be shut down to save money.
Before the plan becomes a reality, one group of citizens is hoping to raise money to keep the parks open.
The state has offered a "concessions process," where private groups or organizations can work together to take over management of the parks, said Amber Phillips, Merced County's special projects grant writer. To keep the parks running, the groups would have to give the state $65,000 a year.
If any organization decides to take on the task, it would have to submit a proposal to the state on how they would manage the parks, she said, adding that the state is still introducing the process piece-by-piece.
It's likely that Hatfield, a few miles northeast of Newman, and McConnell, just up Livingston-Cressey Road, will be bundled into one entity, Phillips said.
During a Merced County Board of Supervisors meeting last week, Livingston resident Cindy Lashbrook detailed a plan to raise the money to keep the parks open and encouraged people to donate to the cause. The $65,000 needs to be raised by March 31.
Nearly 40,000 people use the parks, many of whom are families, she said.
One of local officials' major concerns about the proposal to close the two parks is that it would unfairly impact a region that's economically distressed.
"There are concerns about a lot of the state parks located in lower-income areas being targeted," Phillips said, adding that there's a cluster of parks in the Northern San Joaquin Valley that are on the bubble.
Removing the park rangers would also reduce public safety in a way that the county can't easily replace.
"The communities are concerned that now we're going to have empty, open space that would be a draw for illicit activity, so there is a public safety concern there," Phillips said.
A letter signed by Assemblywoman Cathleen Galgiani, D-Livingston, and Sen. Anthony Cannella, R-Ceres, noted that in a county with a poverty rate of 23.1 percent and unemployment over 18 percent, closing two state parks compounds hardships on a population that's already gone through significant cutbacks to basic local services.
"Since this region is also hindered by high incidents of gang violence and drug trafficking, we are also concerned about the burden that two shuttered state parks would have on already constrained local law enforcement budgets," the letter reads.
Galgiani and Cannella's letter goes on to ask for an opportunity to meet with the state's Department of Parks and Recreation to explore ways to fund the parks.
A letter to the state signed by Merced County Board of Supervisor's Chairman Hub Walsh echoes many of the same sentiments, stating that with future budget cuts looming for the county, the closure of two parks takes away from residents and puts a burden on local law enforcement, which doesn't have sufficient resources to patrol abandoned parks.
As it stands, the parks scheduled for closure would be taken over by private management or shut down in July. Pending legislation could shift that deadline.
For more information about the group working to keep the parks open, visit http://www.emrcd.org/save-mcconnell-and-hatfield-state-parks.
Reporter Mike North can be reached at (209) 385-2453 or mnorth@mercedsunstar.com.
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