Bud Getty is a retired California State Park District Superintendent who has dedicated a large part of his life to the conservation of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park and its natural and cultural resources.

He began his work with the park as a seasonal interpretive specialist – giving automobile tours, nature walks, and campfire programs in 1959 – 65 years ago!

He soon went on to become a seasonal naturalist, and finally earned a permanent park position as the park’s state park naturalist. It was in this assignment in the early ‘60s that Bud worked with park superintendent Wes Cater to establish a ranger exchange program with Joshua Trees National Monument – now National Park. Joshua Trees had just created its first natural history association. Bud, Wes, and the exchange ranger set about to create something similar at Anza-Borrego, and this led to the birth of the Anza-Borrego Desert Natural History Association.

Following a few other assignments, Bud was eventually named superintendent of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. When the regional director for Southern California asked him his number one priority for the park, he said buying tens of thousands of inholdings in the park AND building a park visitor center in Borrego Springs. His supervisor said he only got one project funded, and Bud had to choose. He finally decided that if he built a visitor center, he could use that as an opportunity to advocate for land acquisition.

Soon after the Visitor Center opened in the early ‘80s, a woman walked into his office and donated 1200 acres of inholdings to the park. His strategy was paying off!

Bud recognized that there was an opportunity to expand the park into Riverside County. Bud ran into an old cowboy – Howard Bailey — who owned 15 sections, or 15 square miles, of land in the Santa Rosa Mountains. He told Bud he was ready to sell his ranch, and State Parks had the first crack at it. Bud went to work finding the funding, and soon it was added to the park.

Next was a proposal Riverside County, in conjunction with developers in Borrego Springs, to build a highway through Coyote Canyon – from Anza to Borrego Springs. Bud led the effort to have the State Park Commission – which at the time counted a Borrego Springs developer as a commissioner – reject the proposal. Bud’s arguments that the resources of the canyon – archeological sites, historical importance, endangered species, water source for the Borrego Valley – outweighed the alleged need for the highway eventually won out.

Bud helped create the summer bighorn sheep census in the ‘70s and has attended almost every one of those grueling surveys.

Once he promoted to Chief of Natural Resources in Sacramento, he continued to fight for Anza-Borrego. He befriended Resources Secretary Huey Johnson, who informed Bud there was an excellent and timely opportunity to create state wilderness in the park. Bud got Mark Jorgensen going on the successful proposal to establish about 2/3 of the park as state wilderness.

He has received several awards and recognitions for his outstanding service and leadership and vision, such as the California State Parks Director’s Award and the California State Parks Foundation’s Grassroots Champion Award.

He has made a lasting impact on the park’s conservation and legacy, ensuring that it remains a natural and cultural treasure for generations to come. He is a true desert warrior who has fought for the park’s preservation and protecti