How to Write a Letter about California State Park Closures

I just taught my 3rd grader how to write a letter about California State Parks closures.  I thought it was a valuable lesson in social studies, persuasive letter writing, and park advocacy for him — and it was a good refresher for me. Here are the tools I provided before he drafted the letter:

• Writing Persuasive Letters – printed the PDF “reproducibles” from this Scholastic.com lesson and discussed them.
• Downloaded A Vision for Excellence for California’s State Parksand discussed the highlights.
• We also looked at Governor Brown’s biography to see his record on environmental issues.

This is the letter my 9 year old mailed to the Governor last week, before the 70 park closures were announced. My son’s recent fascination with the Thesaurus is glaringly apparent, but he already has a great vocabulary and the Scholastic lesson directed him to use “power words!”

Governor Jerry Brown
c/o State Capitol, Suite 1173
Sacramento  CA  95814

Dear Governor Brown,

I am writing you this letter to address the ample budget cuts taking place in the state parks.  I am 9 years old and have a Junior Ranger badge in two parks: Laguna Coast Wilderness Park and Upper Newport Bay Preserve.  I’m afraid the state parks are going to close. This would be bad for the state because “with over 72 million visits annually, state parks bring in more than $4 billion in tourism and tourist-related activity throughout California. Each visitor spends on average of $57.63 per visit.” (Park Excellence Project Report)

Besides the money issue, I have other notable reasons for why the state parks should not become part of the budget cuts or become closed.  Most of the things that make California California are in the state parks, from the redwood trees to Pfeiffer Falls in Big Sur.  If the state parks were closed, the redwoods could be cut down to make a place for developers and people who think they’d make money from the land or from selling unique natural resources.  I think the parks would be overgrown with weeds and graffiti and people would not want to live near these areas. It makes me cry just to think about it.

I love the state parks because:

• when I’m in them you feel like I’m the only one there no matter how many people are in the park.
• they are one of the few places in California where I can go and basically take a step back in time.
• the wildlife there is amazingly abundant.
• what I learn in a state park I cannot learn in a classroom or by watching some documentary.
• they feel so welcoming.
• some people from different countries come to California just to see our state parks.

I admire your record in helping the environment: adding land to the state parks, protecting California’s coastline, and recycling programs.  I have one idea to help the state parks fulfill their need of funding:
The state parks could grow fruits and vegetables if they are in a moderate region – or if they are in the desert they could grow date palm. Yum! The parks could sell the produce because people want fresh fruit and to help the state parks.
I wish I had more ideas, but I’m only 9 and not completely solid with how the government works and what the state budget is. Hopefully, you will represent what I want to happen which is that the state parks become better than they already are.

Best regards,
(He was very excited about using “best regards” as a sign off!)

There are currently 278 state parks in California and a good percentage are already operating on reduced staff, reduced services, or reduced hours open to the public. Here is an interactive map of the Planned 2011 California State Park Closures from the California State Parks Foundation.  Consult calparks.org to learn other ways to Take Action.