In 2008, the State of California was facing a massive budget short fall due to a national financial crisis. Cuts were being made to every department— including our Parks Department. Governor Schwarzenegger proposed cutting $70 million from the State Park system as part of efforts to close a $24.3 billion budget deficit. He warned that up to 220 of California’s 279 state parks could be shuttered.

Chino Hills State Park was included on this list— but how do you close a park with multiple entrances surrounded by 18 million people?? You can’t. The crisis continued to 2011.

One parcel that was purchased by the state and added to Chino Hills State Park used federal Land and Water Conservation Fund dollars to complete the conservation transaction. Hills, For Everyone reminded the state that within that grant agreement, the state was required to keep the park open to visitors for recreational purposes or else it needed to repay the grant to the federal government. Since this closure was initiated by a funding crisis, the latter was not an option— keeping the park open was the only solution. Chino Hills State Park has never been shuttered by a funding crisis.