Sacramento County's Board of Supervisors and county executive dealt another crushing blow to the operating budget of their Regional Parks system in June. What is the future of parks, trails and open space in this region? Is there a path to stable, secure funding and governance of Regional Parks?

While city and county park agencies have faced extreme challenges during the four-plus years of the economic downturn, the only governance structure faring well is the special district. Because they receive a set percentage of property taxes, their operating budget fluctuates very little compared with the more than 50 percent cuts facing city and county park agencies. Could special district governance with a secure and stable funding source rescue Sacramento County Regional Parks?

The groundwork for this shift has already been accomplished. For more than a year, the Grassroots Working Group, an organization of community leaders and park advocates have worked tirelessly and raised private funds to have the Trust for Public Land study options for funding and governance for Sacramento County's regional park system. Polling was also done as a companion to their study. All of this clearly pointed to the recommendation for a ballot measure to create a regional special district for parks and fund the district with a 0.1 of 1 percent sales tax increase.

Regional Parks has a 52-year legacy of environmental stewardship in this community. It is a delicate balance to protect nature, while providing active recreation areas for a growing county. The Regional Parks system in Sacramento County draws over 8 million visits annually. Our park treasure is the American River Parkway.

Sacramento County Regional Parks operates and manages those 4,600 acres that were hard fought to acquire, taking nearly 30 years to accomplish. The continuing fiscal crisis puts not only the American River Parkway and its signature parks – Discovery, River Bend, Ancil Hoffman, William Pond – at risk, but also 10,000 additional acres of natural beauty, wildlife and recreation abundance including the Cosumnes River Preserve, Deer Creek Hills, Mather Regional Park, Effie Yeaw Nature Center, Sacramento River Delta parks, Gibson Ranch and the Dry Creek Parkway.

The mission of Regional Parks is unique: to manage, protect and connect open space, trails and large scenic parks to all parts of the region and beyond. The American River Parkway winds its way from Folsom Lake through the cities of Rancho Cordova and Sacramento. The Dry Creek Parkway in the northern county could eventually provide a multi-use trail system from the city of Sacramento through Rio Linda, Placer County, across Folsom and then connect back with the American River Parkway, creating a 72-mile loop trail. The newly developing eastern county provides great opportunities for new trails and connections west to the Cosumnes River Preserve. Without a strong Regional Parks agency, these opportunities will be lost forever.

Regional Parks, under the umbrella of Sacramento County government, must compete with priorities such as law enforcement and social services. In addition, the county "overhead" system severely straps Regional Parks' budget. This year parks owes nearly as much to the county government system in overhead – $2 million – as it receives in general fund support – $2.5 million. Simply put, Regional Parks cannot afford to be a part of big county government.

Without secure and stable funding, Regional Parks cannot sustain the existing park system or grow with the region. Many of the state's special park districts are continuing to prosper and grow. For example, check out East Bay Regional Park District's website and see the diverse facilities and programs they offer in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. They stand in testament to what a stable funding source and a proven track record can deliver. People trust their actions and leaders, and have voted repeatedly to pass bond measures and assessments to sustain and grow that agency. This type of thriving park system could exist in Sacramento County if a special district and stable funding were approved by voters.

Unfortunately, the Board of Supervisors and the county executive want to spend another six months studying various options with community stakeholders, most of whom have been involved in the Grassroots Working Group effort over the past year. New options or "business models" do not exist if this community wants free, accessible, safe, protected, well-managed and commercial-free parks, trails and open space.

The Regional Park system does not belong to Sacramento County government or the Board of Supervisors, but rather it is owned by every member of this community. And this community should expect that the Board of Supervisors will do everything in its power to provide the best future for their park system. Without immediate action by the Board of Supervisors, Sacramento's Regional Parks will continue to be dismantled, outsourced, privatized and reduced into oblivion.

The voters in Sacramento County deserve the chance to decide what type of regional parks, trails and open space system they want. The Board of Supervisors needs to get this issue on the ballot without further bureaucratic delays.

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Janet R. Baker is the former director of Sacramento County Regional Parks.

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