FRIENDS OF SANTA CRUZ STATE PARKS
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Mission Statement
Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks is a vital operating partner to California State Parks, creatively working to ensure parks and beaches throughout Santa Cruz County and Coastal San Mateo County are thriving and available to all.
About This Cause
Friends’ innovative and collaborative community partnership invests in our cherished state parks and beaches, providing services and funding to support education, equity and inclusion, conservation, facilities improvements, historic preservation and cultural events. Friends: provides visitor services in the parks by Visitor Service Aides and Senior Visitor Service Aides; operates stores in five parks and online; provides revenue for parks improvement projects and funding for Park employees to deliver interpretive services to the public, as well as maintenance services. Friends also provides staff to assist with: fundraising, grant-writing and membership; volunteer recruitment; event and project management; technology; equity and outreach; accounting; strategic planning; and communications and public relations. THE IMPACT OF THE PANDEMIC Before the local shelter-in-place orders, as COVID was spreading, Friends moved quickly to secure and deploy personal protective equipment and sanitizing supplies, while researching best practices and putting protocols into place. The first round of park closures orders forced us to reinvent the way we operate. We made an early commitment to retain our field staff, both to protect them from economic distress and to be ready to redeploy them as conditions changed in the field. In our Downtown Santa Cruz office, we moved to a work-from-home model. Field staff began meeting and training at home. Over time, most returned to the field to greet visitors and explain new park rules and COVID-safe practices. As soon as it was allowed, staff assisted with safe park re-openings, implementing a contactless payment process behind plexiglass shields or in pop-ups outside of kiosks. With the ups and downs of COVID conditions, parks closed, opened, closed and opened again. Through it all, staff worked hard, stayed safe and set aside fear. Friends launched a Parks Pledge campaign, urging visitors to be safe in the parks. We also developed and promoted safe-at-home activities and resources to bring nature home, including: • publicizing live-stream virtual park programming • providing downloadable coloring pages • creating a nature reading List • providing resources to learn bird calls • creating local state park Zoom backgrounds • offering links to online learning information As park access increased, we launched Friends’ Staycation 2020 campaign to urge locals to enjoy parks close to home. The campaign was unfortunately cut short by the CZU Lightning Complex wildfire. WILDFIRE RESPONSE AND RECOVERY The CZU Lightning Complex Fire caused heartbreaking devastation and disruption for our whole community, including our beloved state parks, as well as those who work in them. In addition to the extensive and tragic damage at Big Basin Redwoods State Park, a number of other local state parks have sustained damage including parts of Año Nuevo State Park, Butano State Park, the Fall Creek section of Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, and the Rancho Del Oso and Little Basin sections of Big Basin. Before the fire had even been contained, Friends stepped up to assist with the response and prepare for the recovery effort. Through our unique position as co-management partners with California State Parks, we established the Friends Fire Fund to provide direct, short-term assistance for those most affected by the fire, followed by investments to be made in long-term recovery work for parks that have been damaged. The Friends Fire Fund raised over $116,000 from individual donors from across the country and around the world, as well as from grants from the California State Parks Foundation, Community Foundation Santa Cruz County, Mountain Parks Foundation, and Stewards of the Coast & Redwoods. Recovery from this climate disaster will happen in phases – for both parks and people. Many staff members from Friends and California State Parks were personally impacted by the fire, including dozens who tragically suffered catastrophic losses. Friends is committed to taking care of the dedicated people who work hard to steward our beautiful local state parks, including staff of Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks and State Parks. Thanks to our generous community Friends Fire Fund grants were quickly distributed to 28 individuals and their families. The fire also set the stage for innovation. While firefighting crews were still battling the flames, Friends staff introduced State Parks staff to Codifi, Inc, an innovative, high-tech damage assessment and documentation tool. Funding for the system was put together by Friends in partnership with State Parks, additionally supported by a generous grant from Community Foundation Santa Cruz County. Friends worked with the Codifi team and State Parks cultural resources staff to prepare for fieldwork. The system was quickly deployed at Big Basin, Cascade Ranch (Año Nuevo), and a camp in Butano, enabling us to move the recovery process forward. 2020 ACCOMPLISHMENTS Despite the challenges of 2020, a wide variety of important accomplishments were achieved to support our beloved parks and beaches! Friends-funded or managed projects, programs and initiatives: • Pigeon Point fog signal building restoration in partnership with California State Parks Foundation, Maritime Heritage Foundation, and State Parks Santa Cruz District • Management of Kids2Parks field trip sign-ups, now completely online and as popular as ever • Nisene Marks’ Buzzard Lagoon gate and security project • Año Nuevo fog signal building reroofing in partnership with OIKONOS, UC Santa Cruz, and State Parks Santa Cruz District •Provided leadership in support of a community reconciliation process which emerged out of vandalism at the Santa Cruz Mission State Historic Park • Co-hosted, with Bookshop Santa Cruz, a virtual book talk with Jennifer Ackerman, author of The Bird Way, with recognition of the #blackbirdermovement • Organized a COVID-safe Feed-the-Force event to support State Parks and other members of allied agencies who were working on the 4th of July • Worked with Cabrillo College to help connect local students and graduates to California State Parks jobs, and participated in online recruitment event with 150 job seekers. • Supported expansion of the online PORTS education program, including programming at the Castro Adobe • Provided materials for Nisene Marks road repairs, Castle Rock legacy parking lot restriping and Big Basin water treatment • Funded equipment and technology to move interpretive programs online • Helped increase docent recruitment for Wilder Ranch and Natural Bridges Substantial progress was made in 2020 at Castro Adobe State Historic Park: Restoration Successes: • Installation of a fire suppression system, including water storage tank • Repair and whitewash of all walls • Completion of the upstairs ceiling • Alarm system and electrical system installation • Reroof planning Interpretive planning successes: • Design of floor plans and exhibit drawings • Creation of interpretive text and innovative exhibit concepts