BLOOMINGTON - This Saturday was the original day that 11 state parks were scheduled to close before Gov. Rod Blagojevich extended the date to Nov. 30.

Now, organizers of a new statewide group named Pack Our Parks hopes supporters will take Saturday to visit one of the targeted sites to persuade Blagojevich to keep them open indefinitely.

Weldon Springs near Clinton and Wolf Creek near Findlay are among parks slated to close. Thirteen state historic sites, including the Vandalia Statehouse and the Lincoln Log Cabin near Charleston, also are scheduled to close Nov. 30.

Pack Our Parks leaders, including former Illinois Department of Natural Resources Director Brent Manning and Jane Hovland of the Save Our Springs committee in Clinton, will hold a news conference at 9 a.m. today at Starved Rock State Park in Utica to issue a call to action.

Cyclists from the McLean County Wheelers bike club and the Tri-Sharks Triathlon Club, both based in Bloomington, already have planned a mass ride from the southeast parking lot at Tipton Park, at GE and Airport roads in Bloomington, to Moraine View State Park starting at 9 a.m. Saturday.

"We are going to make our voices heard, to say to the governor, 'We need our parks,' " Hovland said.

"My real hope is this is not a politically orchestrated event," said Manning, executive director of the DuPage County Forest Preserve District. "We just want to save our parks."

Blagojevich cites state budget shortfalls as the cause. But federal agencies have said closing sites that have received federal money could trigger a demand that the state repay millions of dollars.

The General Assembly reluctantly gave Blagojevich permission to sweep funds designated for special purposes. The funds include money from the sale of sportsmen's licenses earmarked for hunting land and other uses. State Rep. Dan Brady, a Bloomington Republican, told about 1,000 people rallying at Moraine View in late September that Blagojevich promised to keep parks open if lawmakers agreed to the sweep. Still, the governor has failed to act.

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"I'm really upset with the governor for not keeping his word," said Wheelers past president Phil Warlow, who emceed the rally at Moraine View. Among those attending were about 100 bicyclists, including members of the Wheelers and the Tri-Sharks, a club that hosts a triathlon at the park every June.

Warlow is leading Saturday's ride.

"The money was allocated, and he hasn't kept his side of the bargain," Warlow said.

Some groups representing outdoor enthusiasts are opposed to the sweeps and argue money can be found elsewhere. Manning agrees, noting the $9 million needed to keep parks open is a relatively small sum compared to the entire state budget.

"You can't tell me that good heads, reasonable people, can't get that done," he said.

srichardson@pantagraph.com