History & Mission

Mission

Because our quality of life depends on the quality of our local State Parks, Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks supports the preservation, knowledge, and awareness of our natural and cultural resources through funding projects and programs in cooperation with local California State Parks.

Background

Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks was founded in 1976 to support the interpretive programs of coastal state parks in Santa Cruz County. Friends’–a non-profit park partner–strives to ensure that the history, traditions and natural beauty of Santa Cruz County State Parks are enjoyed today and by future generations. Each year more than 327,601 visitors–including thousands of school children–participate in over 4,328 free educational programs funded by Friends.

As state park budgets continue to be slashed and more people are enjoying the parks, Friends’ work becomes increasingly urgent as we are relied upon to fund the essential educational programs and stewardship initiates within our local state parks.

Through effective leadership by the Friends’ board of directors and the hard work of staff, Friends has grown to be the second largest of 84 similar non-profit partners in California. The educational programs in Santa Cruz County State Parks, funded by Friends, serve as a model for other park districts throughout the state, have won numerous state and national awards and are vital to the future of our parks.

Accomplishments

Provide over $12 million for educational programs, visitor centers and exhibits over the past 30 years
Fund over 4,300 free educational programs last year serving nearly 328,000 school children & visitors
Provide 400 volunteers & docents, giving thousands of hours of time to enhance the experience of visitors at the parks
Completed Pacific Migrations Visitor Center at New Brighton StateBeach (grand opening April 7th 2006), Friends’ fifth visitor center/museum project
Initiated a major campaign to restore the Meder Home at Wilder Ranch State Park
Act as a bridge between the local community and the California department of Parks and Recreation, ensuring the ongoing stewardship and quality of our local state park for the past 30 years