The parks represent every California landscape, from the coast, across valleys and deserts and up into the foothills and mountains; they preserve open space and offer places of solace.

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK— On a cold, rainy afternoon last October, I stood under the canopy of a red-leafed sugar maple in Yosemite Valley and watched tiny drops of rain fall from a cluster of leaves.

Democrat Jerry Brown kicked off the final days of what has become California’s most expensive gubernatorial campaign on Saturday by taking a swipe at his opponent’s lack of government experience, which he says is a liability at a time when the state faces deep fiscal challenges.

A reconstruction of the iconic sign post from TV’s “M*A*S*H.” Photo taken in 2010 at Southern California’s Malibu Creek State Park, where the show was shot.

As the only African American permanent ranger in Yosemite National Park in California, I often lament that I’m more likely to meet visitors from Japan or France than I am to see an African-American family from nearby Sacramento or Oakland. So I couldn’t be more appreciative of my recent opportunity to lead Oprah Winfrey through this national treasure for a two-part television special that airs …