Getting away from it all in the Bay Area may prove more difficult, less safe and require more travel by the end of this year.

Along with education, health care and the state’s prison system, the massive California State Parks and Recreation Department is also subject to drastic cuts under Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s budget proposed Jan. 11, which proposes park closures and fewer lifeguards at state beaches.

If the governor’s budget is approved, 48 of California’s state parks would be closed, including nine in Bay Area. Among those slated for closure is San Francisco’s own Candlestick Point established in 1977, which was California’s first major urban state park.

“This is really sad, I was born and raised in California and have been going to parks all over the state since I was like, tiny,” said urban studies major Nick Chandler, 24, who plans to work with urban parks upon graduation. “The fact that such a great place in the city is not going to be available to families living in an urban environment just shows where the state’s priorities are.”

California has the most extensive state park system in the nation, boasting 278 parks and recreation areas, according to the California State Parks and Recreation Department. Of that, 230 park units, 83 percent of the system, will remain open. The 48 locations named for closure were chosen based on four criteria: the size of the park (some parks are so large and have so many entrances that closure cannot be feasibly enforced), attendance, revenue and habitat sensitivity of the park.

“People are asking, ‘why this park?’ or bringing up how much historical or urban value some parks have, such as Sutter Fort and Candlestick,” said State Parks information officer Sheryl Watson.

“People need to understand that the decision was not based at all on value judgment,” Watson said. “We know these parks are important--all the parks are--we simply had to make a business decision.”

A report put out by the Department shortly after the proposal states the total budget will be reduced by $17 million, with an immediate call for this year’s budget to be cut by $1 million. An 8.9 percent cut, about $13.3 million, will be applied to the General Fund in 2008-09, geographically spread across the system, according to the report. Lost revenue of $3.7 million has been factored into the cut.

The report stated the most expensive operating cost of the system is salaries for both permanent and temporary positions, meaning 136 permanent jobs will be lost along with 50 percent of temporary employees.

For students majoring in recreation and leisure studies at SF State, paid job opportunities may seem scarce, but professor Nina Roberts stressed the fact the system will always need people to keep it running.

“This type of decision should not discourage anyone,” Roberts said. “The Parks and Rec is still a business, even the volunteerism, and this is just one of those bad times for business.”

Roberts, who spent 25 years working in the field for State and National Parks, said that cuts to the system come as “no surprise.”

“Any time there is a need to cut funding, recreation is the first thing to go,” she said. “From public school P.E. to national parks, they are subject to this. But we are not going away, and neither are the parks.”

Roberts said there has been no drop off in enrollment in recreation and leisure studies. Although it is a relatively small department with about 150 students, she said the interest level has been consistent and even growing.

According to Watson, closing the parks and eliminating positions is the only way to meet the budget shortfall. If the parks were to stay open, the reductions proposed in California’s 08-09 budget would take service and protection levels below acceptable standards.

“We support the governor’s attempts to balance the budget, and we were asked, like all other state departments, to come up with a plan to work around the cuts,” said Watson. “Closing some parks was the only way to do that.”

The report also outlined how past budget reductions have brought the park system to a point where actions such as the ones now called for under the proposed budget are “unavoidable.”

In 1990-91 the state spent $4.16 per visitor to state parks. That number has continued to drop ever since, with the 2008-09 budget reduction proposal bringing that figure to roughly $2.80 per visitor, the report said.

As a result of these previous reductions, staffing levels at park units have already been reduced to minimal levels of service and protection for visitors. The department has eliminated an entire level of management and deferred more than a billion dollars of needed maintenance.

To residents of San Francisco, losing Candlestick Point is significant. Once a landfill during World War II, it became a state park on behalf of state legislation prompted by public pressure. The park offers panoramic views of the San Francisco Bay, hiking trails and a community garden that allows city residents to grow their own vegetables.

“An open space like Candlestick is really precious in the city,” said Supervising Ranger Anne Meneguzzi. “But we’ve been asked like all other state departments to absorb some of the costs and this is what we have to do.

“The people of San Francisco love the park and want to see it stay open, obviously,” said Meneguzzi. “But we are trying to stress that there are still a lot of places to go, so don’t forget about the other parks.”

In addition to Candlestick Point, other Bay Area parks slated for closure include picturesque Portola Redwoods in San Mateo county, Tomales Bay in Marin County, and Henry W. Coe State park, the largest state park in Northern California.

The parks, which would not close until the governor and Legislature agree on a spending plan later this year, would be off-limits indefinitely, according to Department officials. The sites will remain protected government land, but they will be placed on caretaker status and will not be open to the public. Money has been factored into the budget to pay for patrols to keep people out of the closed parks.

“Even though things like these temporary closures are adverse at first, there will still be job opportunities,” said Roberts. “It’s a domino effect; they’ve fallen down now, but now we as professors and students need to stack them again and prepare for what will be needed in the next few years to maintain our parks.”

Roberts said although there may not be a tangible financial incentive to working within the parks service, the money has never been the draw for working in the field.

“People who pursue Parks and Rec have a love of working with people, of working in nature,” she said.”I have never met someone in parks and rec who didn’t like their job.”

Attesting to that, Chandler said he is optimistic about getting into the recreation field and working with the community, regardless of the pay.

“I’m not worried about finding a job, but I have accepted the fact that I will never be paid for what my time is really worth,” said Chandler.