Although dozens of California state parks could be temporarily closed under a budget proposal by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the parks in the Lake Tahoe Basin appear to have escaped the chopping block.
Under the governor's proposal, announced Thursday, 48 of 280 state parks could be temporarily shut down to help close a $14.5 billion gap in the state budget.
None of the five California state parks and three state recreation areas around Lake Tahoe were on the list.
Criteria for determining which parks to close included how easy it would be to keep people out, the savings resulting from a park's closure, a park's popularity and the amount of revenue generated, said California State Parks spokeswoman Sheryl Watson.
The parks considered for closure would not be closed until a budget is approved later this year.
How long the parks would be closed if Schwarzenegger's cuts are approved was not known Thursday.
"I don't think we know the answer to that yet," Watson said.
