EISPIRATEN

We were short on time Saturday, but wanted to get a hike in. We did a 10 mile loop through the western end of Chino Hills State Park. It has recovered nicely from the fire. Most of the old oaks survived, singed but still with green leaves. At the western trailhead next to Carbon Canyon Regional Park, a closure notice for Inland Empire parks has been posted. Here is some typical language:

Chino Hills SP - Park closed to public and vehicle entry for day use and camping every
Monday though Thursday each week until June 30, 2010. Park will be open Friday,
Saturday, Sunday and any holidays each week until June 30, 2010. Park Day Use
hours changed to 8am – 5pm (current hours 8am – 7pm).

We hike this park a lot during the colder months. Maybe once every 6 to 8 weeks, you would see a ranger in a pickup truck driving the park - many of the trails are former ranch roads. Otherwise, the park seems to be on its own. My question is how do they intend to actually close these parks. If no one is watching when they are open, who is going to watch when they are closed? The government of this state has become a joke.

The last time I camped at the state park I woke up and spoke with a ranger at great length and she told me they were still going to be employed to watch over the park ad were still going to be in the park just that all the vehicle gates will be closed. I'm not exactly sure how this saves money, maybe just less rangers on guard during the week...which would be 1. It's stupid.

I saw that sign on Sunday, but it said something about Park Imporvements being the reason for the closure.
I have hiked in Chino Hills for years and maybe seen a Ranger three or four times.
One thing I have learned is that those in charge just love to close the park; Rain...they close the park,...windy..they close the park...dark... they close the park, after the fire the kept the park closed for months. They close the park but seldom update their phone message and almost never update their web site, so we are left driving to the trailhead/entrance to see what the sign says, but sometimes they don't change the trailhead signs either. It is hard to figure out what to do.

If they are closing the Park 4 days a week because they don't have enough Rangers they shouldn't bother worrying about the west end, there are hardly any people and no rangers there on weekdays.


New limited State Park hours raise concern
Neil Nisperos, Staff Writer
Created: 11/01/2009 06:01:46 AM PST


CHINO HILLS - Though the Chino Hills State Park won't be closed due to budget cuts as some had feared, its new limited hours have sparked fears it will attract poachers, pot farmers, and illegal motorbiking in the open hilly land.
The California State Park Service this week announced that on Monday there will shortened hours and fewer days of operation for the park - 14,000 acres of rolling hillsides straddling the San Bernardino-Orange county line.

The park will be closed to entry on Mondays though Thursdays until at least June 30. The hours of operations for Friday through Sunday will be reduced to 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Still, officials and local park boosters say they fear the closure won't stop people from entering the park during closed hours. Poachers, and illegal recreational motor bikers have been a problem in the past, they say.

"My first thought when I heard that was concern for when they are closed, what they are doing to secure the park from people who enter and cause problems?" Chino Hills Councilman Ed Graham said.

"People camp out in the park illegally and go dirt bike riding. I've not heard any plan on what they will do to secure the park on the days off."

Ron Kreuper, regional superintendent for the park, said there will be one park ranger assigned to handle emergencies or incidents on days that the park is closed, in addition to handling the security of parks at Lake Perris and the California Citrus State Park in Riverside.
Kreuper said there will also be maintenance people inside the park on off days.

"We're not going to be heavy-handed in the enforcement, but we will ask people to leave," Kreuper said. "There will be other staff at the park that would then be the eyes and ears there and would report any problems to the ranger."

Chino Hills park visitor and mountain biker Steve Grove said the closure of the park would likely not deter visitors on off days, with easy foot access from Yorba Linda and Chino Hills.

"It's not patrolled much anyhow," he said. "I would say only one out of every 50 bike rides in the park, do I ever see a park ranger."

Local park supporter Claire Schlotterbeck, executive director of the local nonprofit park booster group Hills for Everyone, said her group is happy the park remains open, but it fears the reduced presence at the park will lead to a host of potential problems like poachers or marijuana growers.

"The well-behaved public will do what they're supposed to do but what this opens up is the possibility of the lawbreakers taking their shot of whatever they want to do in the park," she said.

Last March, officials found an illegal pot farm with 12,000 marijuana plants on two acres under cover of an oak woodland adjacent to the state park.

"It was a fairly sophisticated operation and the concern is with 14,000 acres at Chino Hills State Park, there's a lot of places for these growers to pick from," Schlotterbeck said.

"Another thing is the public brings a presence to discourage that sort of illegal activity or poachers going out there to shoot deer or coyotes they don't like."

neil.nisperos@inlandnewspapers.com

(909) 483-9356

Illegal motorcycle riders in a state park. Gasp!! Who knew that such things went on?
As for the pot farms, I vow to personally root out all of them.

Picture made February 16, 2008, east of San Juan Hill.

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