California Department of Parks & Recreation
Seal of California State Parks
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| Agency overview | |
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| Formed | 1927 |
| Headquarters | 1416 9th Street, Sacramento, California |
| Employees | 2,500 permanent staff, 2,700 seasonal, 13,000 volunteers |
| Annual budget | $589 million ($117.5 million General Fund) 2016 |
| Parent agency | California Resources Agency |
| Child agencies |
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| Website | http://www.parks.ca.gov |
The California Department of Parks and Recreation, also known as California State Parks, manages the California state parks system. The system administers 280 separate park units on 1.4 million acres (570,000 ha), with over 280 miles (450 km) of coastline; 625 miles (1,000 km) of lake and river frontage; nearly 15,000 campsites; and 3,000 miles (4,800 km) of hiking, biking, and equestrian trails. Headquartered in Sacramento, park administration is divided into 25 districts. The California State Parks system is the largest state park system in the United States.
California's first state park was the Yosemite Grant, which today constitutes part of Yosemite National Park. In 1864, the federal government set aside Yosemite Valley for preservation and ceded the land to the state, which managed the famous glacial valley until 1906.
California's oldest state park, Big Basin Redwoods State Park, was founded in 1902. Until 1921, each park was managed by an independent commission or agency.
In 1927, the California Legislature, with the support of Governor C. C. Young, established the State Park Commission, and its original membership included: Major Frederick R. Burnham, W. F. Chandler, William E. Colby (Secretary), Henry W. O'Melveny, and Dr. Ray Lyman Wilbur. The following year, a newly established State Park Commission began gathering support for the first state park bond issue. Its efforts were rewarded in 1928 when Californians voted nearly three-to-one in favor of a $6 million park bond act. In addition, Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., completed a statewide survey of potential park lands that defined basic long-range goals and provided guidance for the acquisition and development of state parks. With Newton B. Drury (later to be named director of the National Park Service) serving as acquisition officer, the new system of state parks rapidly began to grow.William Penn Mott, Jr. served as director of the agency under Governor Ronald Reagan.
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