Support California’s State Parks
– Doug McConnell
Angel Island Monument by Stacy Geiken
It turns out that I couldn’t join Carl Bidleman and Jim Wirth on the trip to Woodside yesterday. But they did go and had a terrific time with Jamis MacNiven at Buck’s Restaurant, and we’ll have a video in this spot soon that depicts their journey.
They also interviewed on video environmental blogger Rhett Butler about his good work and his love of Big Basin State Park near Santa Cruz, California. Rhett’s video will be posted here soon as well. About Big Basin, by the way, it was California’s first state park established in 1902 in large part to protect its threatened old growth redwood forest. In the 105 years since, California’s state park system has grown dramatically. We’ve included stories about quite a few of the state parks already on OpenRoad.TV with more to come. Here’s a sampling of what we have: Hearst Castle and Ranch and Big Sur’s Molera State Park.
I’ve had the chance to explore most of California’s state parks over the years. Another one of my favorite redwood parks is Prairie Creek in the far northwestern corner of California. We have this story about it on OpenRoad.TV. As you drive in, just off of Highway One, keep your eyes peeled for clusters of Roosevelt Elk, one of three elk species in North America, recovering from near extinction. Seeing the elk in broad meadows surrounded by towering ancient redwoods is one of coastal California’s most beautiful sights.
Its state parks are some of California’s prime assets for residents and visitors alike. We don’t give our state park system the support it deserves. We love and enjoy the parks, but tend to take them for granted and dramatically underfund their many needs. We can and should do much better. Fortunately, the California State Parks Foundation is working hard to promote the needs of the parks and to raise money to support them. I urge you, in turn, to support the Foundation and all the non-profits dedicated to individual park units.
On the evening of November 30, at the Corinthian Yacht Club in Tiburon, Jan Yanihero and I get to emcee a for the Angel Island Association. We’ll have a good time for a good cause. Please come and/or donate an angel light. You’ll be glad you did.
October 31st, 2007 at 3:53 pm
I assume you will NOT post this on site…
Hi Doug,
It’s Ranger James of the Presidio. Congratulations on this project. It looks great and it’s fun to use. I could not run the Blue Angels video (Dept. of Interior filter says “RRated”!!) but that’s ok because I’ve had enough of that wasteful militarism…
I don’t want to seem parochial, ’cause I love to travel and don’t do it enough, but I can’t help wishing openroad.tv would emphasize “conscious travel” or “eco-travel” or something to that effect. Y’know what I mean. RV’s and SUV’s just heat up the planet, and isolate travellers from their surroundings.
I’ll stop there, because it’s a huge subject. Obviously, you provide us with vicarious travel. WE only consume a bit of electricity learning from you. But that means you are the example, the Teacher, the BUDDHA!
And this student feels compelled to point out that “It’s” means “It is” and you’ve put “It’s state parks are some of California’s prime….” in 2 places on the site. You should omit the apostrophe. Otherwise, keep up the great work!
JamesO
(netcasting Tuesday, 9-10, on ksvy.org)
October 31st, 2007 at 10:14 pm
Hi James. Great to hear from you. Hope all is well. Corrections noted….probably moving too fast. But thanks for the catch. We do the know the difference…..
And I agree about the use of the Jeep throughout and the RV in our story about the gold country. An interesting challenge for us. We are on the road frequently and use vehicles as our principal modes of travel. They take us to trailheads of all kinds where, in many stories, we’re walking, biking, kayaking and exploring the world in all kinds of ways that tread lightly. I’d like to use hybrids and more fuel-efficient technologies as we move forward, and are exploring ways to do that. We’ll do our best to do better….because we need to….we all do. We need to find ways to reduce our carbon footprints without stopping our traveling and appreciating and learning about the world around us. I spend quite a bit of time in Alaska, and any trip north is full of lessons about the swiftness of global warming. So I’m glad you raised the issue…and I hope we and others keep pushing ourselves to take actions sooner than later.
Meanwhile, how are things at the Presidio? For Bay Area Backroads on KRON TV (and soon to be included here at OpenRoad.TV,) we just did a show on various stories in the Presidio including the historic digs and interpretations around the Officers’ Club. Send us any updates and links you think our visitors should know about. And keep up the posts…..we like ‘em. Even when you catch our flaws…..
Doug