Citizens Agreement Will Keep Henry Coe State Park Open

The director of California State Parks announced Monday that an agreement has been signed to keep Henry W. Coe State Park open for the next three years.

A private citizens group has formed a private citizens group whose donations will pay for the maintenance and operation of the state’s second-largest state park to keep it operating from July 2012 to July 2015, parks director Ruth Coleman said.

The group is called the Coe Park Preservation Fund (CPPF), and its principal donor is J. Daniel McCranie of ON Semiconductor Corp. in Santa Clara.

“Henry W. Coe State Park is a local treasure, a beautiful, wild place that’s readily available to all of us in Silicon Valley, “McCranie said in a statement issued by the parks department. “We need this park to remain open, particularly during these stress-filled days. All of us at the Coe Park Preservation Fund are both grateful and excited that Director Coleman has embraced this creative remedy to the current state park budget issues.”

Henry Coe is the state's largest state park, and its Hunting Hollow and Coyote Creek entrances, on the southwest edge, are on Gilroy Hot Springs Road.

Coleman said she hopes other Californians will follow McCranie’s lead. “These citizens represent the best of California and should inspire us all. We at state parks are exceedingly grateful for this assistance and look forward to continuing our mission to preserve these special places forever.”

Under the terms of the agreement, CPPF will pay the salaries for a park ranger and supervising ranger, maintenance worker and two seasonal park aides, all full-time positions. The citizens group will not be given administrative responsibility to operate the state park.