Friends of Palomar Mountain State Park, the race is on…

A while back, I asked Rick Barclay, of Friends of Palomar Mountain State Park to write a guest blog, outlining his ideas for starting a cooperating association for Palormar Mountain State Park. Since then, the situation became a little more urgent, and the focus of FPMSP evolved. The imminent closing of the park, and losing the park’s ranger staff, changed the focus from cooperating with the park on projects and trail maintenance, to coming up with a solution to keep the staff, and keep the park open.

My volunteer activities at Cuyamaca Rancho State Park lead me into direct contact with Rick Barclay, and Michael Walsh, the two men spearheading the drive to keep the park open. Friends of Palomar Mountain State Park is currently an “arm” of the organization upon who’s board I sit, as a director. Rick and Mike’s proposals to our board, as well as the State Department of Parks and Recreation, have been impressive in their innovative thinking, and relative simplicity. CRSPIA stands firmly behind their effort to keep Palomar open.

Their plan isn’t just going to keep the day-use areas of the park open, it will keep the campgrounds open year round, and cover the current maintenance backlog. Meaning this isn’t just a bandaid, it’s going to make the park better.

If you go check out their website, you can see that, though the state has yet to officially respond to the proposal, the drive for monetary pledges has been going gangbusters. The information is fluid, so I won’t quote numbers here, but the FPMSP website keeps the news updated. Like I said, the website is currently only accepting pledges, not donations. Please, if you make a pledge, be sure to make good should the proposal move forward. I urge you to check it out, make a pledge, and keep open a beautiful San Diego County landmark.

You can also ‘like’ their Facebook page to keep informed. Thanks!