California State Parks

The California Department of Parks and Recreation (CDPR), branded as California State Parks to the public, is a department of the California Natural Resources Agency within the California state government. The department administers the California State Park System and operates state programs for historic preservation, off-highway vehicle recreation, recreational boating, and local park grants.

The system traces its origins to the Yosemite Grant of 1864, when the federal government ceded Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove to California for preservation, and to the state's acquisition of Big Basin Redwoods in 1902. The State Park Commission was created in 1927, and the modern Department of Parks and Recreation was formed in the 1960s after the consolidation of the Division of Beaches and Parks, the Division of Recreation, and the Division of Small Craft Harbors.

History

thumb|left|[[Big Basin Redwoods State Park, in the Santa Cruz Mountains, was purchased by the state in 1902 and is the oldest unit in the system.]]

Origins (1864–1926)

California's first conserved public lands, the Yosemite Grant, were ceded by Congress to the state in 1864 for "public use, resort, and recreation."

In 1928, California voters approved a $6 million park bond. Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. completed a statewide survey identifying candidate park lands, and Newton B. Drury served as acquisition officer for the new commission.

In May 2008, the National Trust for Historic Preservation placed the state park system on its list of America's Most Endangered Places, citing budget cuts and deferred maintenance. On January 10, 2008, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed indefinite closure of 48 parks to address a projected $14.5 billion budget shortfall. The closures were averted in 2009 through one-time reductions in maintenance and services.

In July 2012, Director Ruth Coleman resigned after auditors discovered $54 million in unreported funds in the Parks and Recreation Fund and the Off-Highway Vehicle Trust Fund. The disclosure occurred while 70 parks were scheduled to close for lack of operating funds. A subsequent investigation found that funds in the Parks and Recreation Fund had been concealed from state finance authorities.

In response to the financial crisis, Governor Jerry Brown appointed retired Major General Anthony L. Jackson of the United States Marine Corps as director on November 13, 2012. Jackson commissioned an independent review by the Parks Forward Commission, which issued its final report in early 2015.

The CZU Lightning Complex fires, which started on August 16, 2020, burned 86,509 acres across Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties and reached Big Basin Redwoods State Park. The fires burned more than 97% of Big Basin and destroyed nearly every structure in the park, including the historic park headquarters, campgrounds, and employee housing. Big Basin partially reopened on July 22, 2022, using a day-use reservation system; eight trail segments reopened in April 2023.

Recent expansion

In June 2024, Dos Rios State Park near the confluence of the San Joaquin and Tuolumne rivers opened to the public as California's first new state park in ten years. In April 2026, Governor Gavin Newsom announced State Parks Forward, an initiative under which the department would begin planning and acquisition for three Central Valley parks (Feather River Park in Yuba County, San Joaquin River Parkway in Fresno and Madera counties, and Dust Bowl Camp in Kern County) and expand several existing parks. The department said the additions would increase the system to 283 parks if completed.

Organization

Leadership and commission

The department is led by a director appointed by the governor. Armando Quintero was appointed director in August 2020 and took office on September 1, 2020. Before joining the department, Quintero worked for the National Park Service and served as executive director of the Sierra Nevada Research Institute at the University of California, Merced.

Field operations are organized into 22 districts, four of which include off-highway vehicle parks, and many districts are further divided into sectors.

Subdivisions

California Office of Historic Preservation

The California Office of Historic Preservation (OHP), formally established in 1975, administers federal and state historic-preservation programs and provides staff support for California's State Historic Preservation Officer and the State Historical Resources Commission. OHP identifies, evaluates, and registers historic properties; administers the National Register of Historic Places, California Register of Historical Resources, California Historical Landmarks, and California Points of Historical Interest programs; coordinates the California Historical Resources Information System; and reviews federal and state undertakings affecting historic properties.

OHP-coordinated programs have figured in California disaster recovery, including the post-Loma Prieta review of Santa Cruz's historic-district status and a $5 million federal grant that funded eligibility review of about 500 historic buildings damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake. OHP's 1988 publication Five Views: An Ethnic Historic Site Survey for California was an early state effort to document historic places associated with ethnic and minority communities.

Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Division

The Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation (OHMVR) Division was created by the Chappie–Z'berg Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Law of 1971 to manage off-highway vehicle recreation on state-owned land. The division operates State Vehicular Recreation Areas (SVRAs), including Oceano Dunes, Hollister Hills, and Ocotillo Wells, and administers a grants and cooperative agreements program for OHV recreation areas, roads, and trails. The program is funded from the Off-Highway Vehicle Trust Fund, which receives revenue from off-highway vehicle registration fees, fuel taxes attributed to off-highway use, and gate fees collected at SVRAs.

Division of Boating and Waterways

The Division of Boating and Waterways (DBW) promotes recreational boating safety and access, administers boating grants and loans, supports boating law-enforcement and safety programs, and funds projects for boating infrastructure, beach restoration, abandoned-vessel abatement, and aquatic invasive species prevention. The agency was reorganized as a division of the Department of Parks and Recreation under the Governor's Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 2012.

Law enforcement

thumb|upright|alt=Bronze California State Park Ranger badge|California State Park Ranger badge. State Park Rangers and State Park Lifeguards are sworn peace officers.

The department employs sworn California State Parks Peace Officers, classified as State Park Rangers and State Park Lifeguards, who hold full peace officer authority under California Penal Code § 830.2(f). Rangers are responsible for resource protection, visitor services, and law enforcement; lifeguards perform open-water rescue and beach patrol duties at coastal and inland water units.

Operations and budget

The department reported 1,835.1 authorized permanent full-time positions and 1,543.5 authorized temporary position-year equivalents in fiscal year 2022–23. Day-use fees, camping fees, and annual passes are collected at park units under fee schedules set by the department.

Camping and day-use reservations are managed through ReserveCalifornia, the department's official reservation service.

A Volunteers in Parks program supplements paid staffing. The department reported more than 27,000 volunteers contributing over 780,000 hours in 2023, supporting trail maintenance, interpretation, campground hosting, and resource protection across the system. Independent partner organizations, including the California State Parks Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that received IRS tax-exempt recognition in November 1969, support the system through advocacy, grantmaking, and volunteer programs.

Park classification

Park units are classified by the State Park and Recreation Commission under Public Resources Code § 5019.50 et seq. into categories defined by their predominant scenic, recreational, historic, or natural-resource character.

The 2022–23 statistical report grouped the system's 280 classified units and major unclassified properties as 89 State Parks, 62 State Beaches, 53 State Historic Parks, 33 State Recreation Areas, 16 State Natural Reserves, 9 State Vehicular Recreation Areas, 1 State Seashore, 1 State Marine Park, 1 Wayside Campground, and 15 unclassified properties. and Assembly Bill 52 (2014) added "tribal cultural resources" as a category subject to consultation under the California Environmental Quality Act. Departmental Notice 2007-05, issued November 16, 2007, set the department's Native American Consultation Policy and Implementation Procedures, and a department-level Tribal Liaison was appointed in March 2013 under Governor Jerry Brown's Executive Order B-10-11.

In June 2019, Governor Gavin Newsom issued a formal apology to California Native Americans for historical violence, exploitation, dispossession, and attempted destruction of tribal communities, and established the California Truth and Healing Council through Executive Order N-15-19.

Following a June 2020 internal survey of state park units, California State Parks launched the Reexamining Our Past Initiative to identify and address derogatory place names, contested monuments and plaques, and interpretive programs that insufficiently contextualized California history. On September 25, 2020, California Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot, State Parks Director Armando Quintero, and Caltrans Director Toks Omishakin announced steps to inventory and rename discriminatory features within the parks and state highway systems and to expand membership of the California Advisory Committee on Geographic Names. The same day, Newsom issued a Statement of Administration Policy on Native American Ancestral Lands directing state entities to seek opportunities for tribal co-management of, and access to, lands within ancestral territories.

The Tribal Affairs Program, housed within the Cultural Resources Division, administers the department's Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act responsibilities and a memorandum-of-understanding program with California Native American tribes. Reinterpretation efforts are under way at units including Sutter's Fort State Historic Park, where the 2024 Interpretation Master Plan, developed with tribal partners, expanded coverage of Nisenan and Plains Miwok experiences and the fort's role in California's nineteenth-century history; a Draft Concept Plan was circulated for public comment in March 2026.

Fort Ross State Historic Park, the site of the Russian-American Company's southernmost colony from 1812 to 1841, interprets the multicultural settlement of Russian, Alaska Native, and Kashia Pomo residents and lies on the ancestral homeland of the Kashia Band of Pomo Indians of the Stewarts Point Rancheria.

The California Indian Heritage Center is a planned 51-acre park unit at the confluence of the American and Sacramento rivers in West Sacramento. The City of West Sacramento completed the transfer of a 43-acre parcel to the department in June 2019, and the 2018–19 state budget committed $100 million toward a phased buildout, with a matching private fundraising campaign for an additional $100 million.

References

External links

California Office of Historic Preservation
Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Division
Division of Boating and Waterways