Sunrise light on a grove of tufa towers emerging from the water of Mono Lake with soft green and dusty-red wild grasses in the foreground, Canada geese in the shallow water with reflections of the rocky towers, and desert hills in the distance.

What’s next for Mono Lake’s state park?

Sunrise light on a grove of tufa towers emerging from the water of Mono Lake with soft green and dusty-red wild grasses in the foreground, Canada geese in the shallow water with reflections of the rocky towers, and desert hills in the distance.
Two young Monophiles enjoy the Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve at Old Marina. Photo by Arya Degenhardt.
Two young Monophiles enjoy the Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve at Old Marina. Photo by Arya Degenhardt.

After the disappointing failure of Proposition 21 in early November, many people are wondering: what’s next for California’s state parks? Here in the Mono Basin, we are particularly concerned about the Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve and nearby Bodie State Historic Park.

Well, we’ll no doubt be fighting to keep the Tufa State Reserve and Bodie open yet again next year. The Tufa State Reserve is assigned just one ranger position, with an additional seasonal interpretive ranger leading programs in the summer. There’s simply nowhere to cut without closing the park, and we will fight to make sure that doesn’t happen.

Hopefully the devastating cuts to state parks will not be repeated by Governor Jerry Brown’s new administration. But all California’s parks still hang precariously in the balance. Keep an eye here on the Mono-logue for updates and how you can help Mono Lake, Bodie, and all our state parks.

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