Travel Notes

Fort Ross to Close?

The Russian cultural landmark Fort Ross may suffer from budget cuts in California that would close up to 100 state parks. The fort, built on the Pacific coast in 1812 and used by Russian traders as an agricultural base to supply settlements in Alaska, was sold to Swiss pioneer John Sutter in 1840, and eventually turned over to the State of California in the 1900s to develop a historic park (see Russian Life, Sep/Oct 2007)

The three acre park is visited by 200,000 people per year, yet still loses about $800,000 annually, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. The park’s funding may be axed as part of a plan to close the state’s $24 billion budget deficit.