State Parks backers may ask for money back STATE PARKS

Backpacker, Hartmut Weisenthal heads out for a stay at Henry Coe State Park high in the hills above Morgan Hill, Calif. on Friday July 27, 2012. The Coe Park Preservation Fund, on Friday July 27, 2012, in San Jose, Calif, announced they are asking the State of California to return the private donations of $279,000, that it raised to save Henry Coe State Park from being closed. The State of California has recently found that it has $54 million it didn't know existed. less Backpacker, Hartmut Weisenthal heads out for a stay at Henry Coe State Park high in the hills above Morgan Hill, Calif. on Friday July 27, 2012. The Coe Park Preservation Fund, on Friday July 27, 2012, in San ... more Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 19 Caption Close State Parks backers may ask for money back 1 / 19 Back to Gallery

Supporters who raised private funds to keep Northern California's largest state park open threatened Friday to scratch their agreement with the state and demand their money back if the state does not set aside at least $20 million of recently discovered hidden cash to keep parks open.

"We're furious. We feel we've been taken," said Winslow Briggs, a retired Stanford biology professor who is on the board of the Coe Park Preservation Fund. "Our little group spent 1 1/2 years raising money, apparently all for naught. What a waste."

Henry W. Coe State Park, southeast of San Jose, was among 70 parks the state threatened to close this year because of a $22 million cut in the parks budget. Hikers, campers and other park users formed a nonprofit group to save the rugged, 135-square-mile expanse, raising about $350,000 to fund salaries and benefits for two rangers, two assistants and a maintenance worker through next June.

The group signed a contract with the state to fund the park for three years, and mailed the first installment - $279,000 - in May. The state cashed the check July 7, but then last week revealed that the Department of Parks and Recreation had a hidden stash of $54 million.

About $34 million of the cash is set aside for off-road vehicle parks, but $20 million could be used for all parks, said Richard Stapler, spokesman for the Natural Resources Agency, which oversees the parks department.

"We share people's outrage. Over the next few weeks we'll be working with the Legislature and the administration over how to best allocate those funds," he said. "Our real hope is to mitigate these park closures. ... We want to earn back people's trust."

Parks have friends

Coe Park is not the only park kept open with public donations. Most of the 70 parks threatened with closure had nonprofit groups raising money on their behalf. In all, the public gave more than $1.82 million, with donations ranging from proceeds of children's bake sales to an individual gift of $400,000, Stapler said.

"It's hard, when you see the efforts people have gone through to save these parks," he said. "Californians of every stripe have done some heroic work on this and they should be applauded for it."

In addition to the money raised, hundreds of people agreed to volunteer on behalf of the parks, and numerous local and federal agencies offered to take over state parks that would otherwise be closed.

Public efforts have so far been successful: Of the 70 parks scheduled to close, only one, a mining museum in Calaveras County, has actually closed, Stapler said. The rest have enough funding and volunteers to stay open at least another year.

How to spend cash

The Legislature returns to work in early August and will work with Gov. Jerry Brown to decide how to spend the $20 million, Stapler said.

Coe Park is a former 19th century cattle ranch at the southern tip of the Diablo Range with 87,000 acres of rolling oak woodlands, steep canyons and creeks. The higher peaks get an occasional dusting of snow in the winter.

"It's just extraordinary, nearly 90,000 acres of wilderness in the middle of Silicon Valley," said Dan McCranie, treasurer of the Coe Park Preservation Fund. "We felt it was critical to find a way to keep the park open."

The group collected donations from hundreds of park users, ranging from $25 to $25,000, in hopes of eventually creating a fund to keep the park open in perpetuity.

If the state decides to spend the newfound $20 million on programs aside from parks, the fund's board might sue to get its money back, members said.

"I won't just be an old fool, I'll be an old vindictive fool," McCranie said.

One of the largest donors to the Coe Fund was the Pine Ridge Association, a nonprofit group that runs guided hikes, the annual Tarantula Fest and other events at the park.

The association committed thousands of dollars to the Coe Fund, money that was set aside for rebuilding the visitor center, said Paul Nam, president of the association board.

"I'm outraged by this situation. This is not what we envisioned at all," he said.

For years, the association has been helping to pay for infrastructure, salaries and maintenance at the park, under the impression the state parks department was broke, he said.

"It's like we've been burning furniture to keep warm, while someone in the house knew about a secret stash of firewood in the basement," he said. "Before we burn more resources, let's use the firewood."