California Heritage Protection Act

AB 2249, the California Heritage Protection Act, ensures that park concessionaires in California’s state parks cannot trademark historic place names simply due to their status as a concessionaire. The authors of the bill are now urging their colleagues in the other 49 state legislatures to take similar action.

“Our state parks showcase the beauty and incredible history of California, and should always serve the interests of the people,” said Assemblyman Cooley. “This bill is a small but vital act to protect our parks for many future generations of Californians to enjoy.”

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Web Report

Protecting California History with the California Heritage Protection Act

(Sacramento) – A dispute over naming rights between the National Park Service and a vendor who provided services in Yosemite National Park has led Assemblymember Ken Cooley (D-Rancho Cordova) to write new legislation to make sure the same kind of dispute never happens between state parks and its vendors. Assemblymember Cooley says he wrote Assembly Bill 2249, the California Heritage Protection Act, because vendors should never be allowed to “trademark” the names of heritage sites, as was allowed by the NPS in the Yosemite case. “Our state parks showcase the incredible history of our state,” says Assemblymember Cooley. “We’re just saying that we want to protect the special heritage of California.” Learn more in this Assembly Web Report.

Press Releases

06/21/16 - Assemblymen Cooley, Gray, Bigelow Encourage Other States to Follow California’s Lead and Protect Their Historic State Park Names

RANCHO CORDOVA – Assemblyman Ken Cooley (D-Rancho Cordova), Assemblyman Adam Gray (D-Merced) and Assemblyman Frank Bigelow (R-O’Neals) announced today their efforts to encourage other states to protect their historic state park landmarks in light of the U.S. National Park Service’s controversial renaming of several landmarks at Yosemite National Park due to a dispute with their concessionaire.

They have introduced AB 2249, the California Heritage Protection Act, to ensure park concessionaires in California’s state parks cannot trademark historic place names simply due to their status as a concessionaire. The authors are now urging their colleagues in the other 49 state legislatures to take similar action.

02/22/16 - Assemblymen Ken Cooley, Adam Gray and Frank Bigelow Introduce Legislation to Protect Historic California State Park Trademarks

RANCHO CORDOVA – Assemblyman Ken Cooley (D-Rancho Cordova), Assemblyman Adam Gray (D-Merced) and Assemblyman Frank Bigelow (R-O’Neals) announced today AB 2249 in response to the U.S. National Park Service’s dispute with its concessionaire at Yosemite National Park. The current concessionaire has operated at the Park since 1993, but after losing its bid to renew its contract, claimed the names of several landmarks—which have existed for many decades more than the current contract—as its intellectual property. Unable to resolve the dispute, the National Park Service has re-named several historic landmarks.