Parks and Paychecks 

Editor:

Half the people who work for the Department of Parks and Recreation don't serve in the parks; they work in sector and regional offices and in Sacramento ("A Place in the Woods," May 3). Just for fun? Dial up the North Coast Redwoods district office at 445-6547 and press 9 for list of extensions. Do the needs of the state parks in Del Norte, Humboldt and a bit of Mendocino call for a full-time geologist, plus a full-time archaeologist? What about that landscape architect? (As one person put it, "But I thought the parks were already landscaped?")

More to the point, do the people of California prefer to retain those positions while parks are shut down? It's important to remember that park closures were not mandated by the governor or the legislature. That idea came from the Department of Parks and Recreation itself, and it stinks of self-serving politics.

Susan Nolan
McKinleyville