Henry W. Coe State Park, a sprawling expanse of oak trees and rolling green grasslands on Silicon Valley’s southern edges, will not close after all.

The 87,000-acre park east of Morgan Hill was included by Gov. Jerry Brown on a list of 70 state parks slated to close next July as a way to help balance the state budget. But on Friday, state parks officials confirmed an agreement had been reached with a nonprofit group to keep the park open for at least three more years.

Under the arrangement, the Coe Park Preservation Fund — a nonprofit group founded in February — will provide $300,000 a year for the next three years to the state. The money will pay half the operating costs of the park, covering the salaries and benefits for two rangers, one maintenance worker, two full-time seasonal employees and other miscellaneous expenses.

“It’s an incredibly generous donation from a group of citizens who care about state parks,” said Mat Fuzie, acting chief of the state parks department’s northern division. “We’re ecstatic.” Coe park will remain open every day with no significant changes, he said.

Lawyers at the state parks headquarters in Sacramento are drafting a memorandum of understanding to finalize the deal with the nonprofit group.

“We’ve agreed to it, they’ve agreed to it, and now we have to cross the t’s and dot the i’s and sign the paperwork,” Fuzie said. “This is such a generous gift for the people of California, it’s hard to fathom.”

Winslow Briggs, a professor emeritus of biology at Stanford University who sits on the board of the Coe Park Preservation Fund, said his organization raised the money from dozens of Coe Park supporters.

“There are a bunch of us who are passionate about that park,” said Briggs. “There are a number of positive reasons to keep it open and a lot of negative reasons not to. It’s a huge wilderness, one of the Bay Area’s greatest secrets. It’s a fantastic place, a paradise for hikers, backpackers and horse riders.”

The bulk of the money came from Dan McCranie, treasurer of the Coe Park Preservation Fund. McCranie, a Gilroy resident, is chairman of the board of ON Semiconductors, a manufacturer of semiconductor products based in Phoenix. He is also a board member and former vice president of Cypress Semiconductor, and a board member of Freescale Corporation, and the Pine Ridge Association, a nonprofit that for years has helped provide volunteers and funding to Coe state park.

Fuzie said he hopes that the agreement, which would prevent money raised at Coe park from being diverted to the state general fund, will be a model for other communities in California hoping to keep state parks open until the economy improves.

Coe — named for cattle rancher Henry Coe, who owned a sizable chunk of the property until his death in 1943 — is California’s second-largest state park, behind only Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in San Diego County. Coe is nearly three times the size of San Francisco.

Brown will be the first governor in California’s history to close state parks for financial reasons. Under criteria approved by lawmakers, state parks officials included the amount of revenue generated and visitors in their decision on which parks to close. Coe received 38,000 visitors last year, and brings in about $100,000 a year in entrance and camping fees.

Other parks, such as Big Basin Redwoods State Park in Boulder Creek and popular beaches in Southern California, have 1 million or more, and are not on the list.

But Coe is prized for its vast, open landscapes, which reflect California before the Gold Rush. It has more than 250 miles of hiking trails and old ranch roads, a visitor’s center that reflects Santa Clara County’s ranching history and a wide variety of wildlife, including mountain lions, white-tailed deer, golden eagles and tule elk.

For more information, go to www.coeparkfund.org

Contact Paul Rogers at 408-920-5045.