Activists, donors, and volunteers are struggling to raise money and forge plans to manage 70 California state parks slated to shut down next month due to budget cuts, says the Los Angeles Times.

Large private donations and agreements involving local authorities and nonprofit groups, to which the state last year granted broader authority to help run parks, have won reprieves for more than half of the facilities initially targeted for closure.

At other recreation areas and historic sites, supporters and local officials are racing to raise enough funds to stave off the budget ax before the July deadline. “This is a brave new world,” said Ernest Chung, a retired executive who heads a nonprofit group seeking funds to save China Camp State Park in Marin County.