Use 'Em or Lose 'Em: Feds Might Seize State Parks
Six parks up for grabs
Wednesday, Jul 1, 2009 | Updated 12:52 PM PST
AP Photo/Contra Costa Times, Jose Carlos Fajardo
A deer makes its way through a clearing near Rock City on Mount Diablo State Park.
California officials said they're trying to avert a threat from the federal government to seize six state parks that could close to help balance the state budget.
The National Park Service warned in a letter to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that six parks of the 220 he's proposed closing are on former federal land that could revert to the U.S. government if the state closes them.
They include Angel Island and Mount Diablo near San Francisco; Point Sur in Big Sur; and beaches at Fort Ord Dunes near Monterey, Point Mugu State Park near Malibu, and Border Fields along the Mexican border.
Schwarzenegger officials said they're trying to work with federal authorities to keep the parks under state control. Democrats have so far rejected Schwarzenegger's parks plan.
