On a good day, John and Denice Verhoeven and their 3-year-old son, J.J., can see the Sierras as they eat breakfast before John takes his 30-second walk to work.

As a state park peace officer and ranger, John moved his family into one of two quaint ranger houses at Henry Coe Park last August, but the Lick Fire struck the next month, then winter rolled in, followed by the wet season. Now the park's refreshed, and the family has ensconced itself - at least for the time being.

State budget cuts threaten to close the 87,000-acre park and uproot the family just as the ecosystem around them begins to flourish. But the specter of another move did not register with J.J. Wednesday evening as he darted around the living room singing songs between trips to the kitchen for more cherry tomatoes. For more pictures of J.J. and his family in the parl, visit our photo gallery.

All together, the Verhoevens appeared cautiously hopeful, saying they hope Californians will tell legislators to spare state parks. Otherwise, they said, residents will lose natural havens and set a troubling precedent, especially in an area where development continually paves over open space.

"Look beyond my personal situation and look at the precedence this could set. If the public becomes used to parks being closed, what does that say about setting aside land?" John said. "We don't have a lobbyist, but usually there is public outcry over parks ... I would like to think the park's closure won't happen, but I'm just not sure."

The state park's department has reluctantly submitted a staff-cutting remedy to satisfy the governor's demand for 10-percent, across-the-board cuts. This entails closing 48 of the state's 277 parks and laying off 136 full-time employees and much of its seasonal workforce, including hundreds of lifeguards. If Coe closes, John said the only way he could stay is if he became one of two so-called caretakers who would look after the closed park and monitor fire-prone conditions.

The park made $67,344 from the various fees its 34,395 visitors paid during the 2006-2007 fiscal year, according to state figures. This was only enough to cover 75 percent of two rangers' salaries, John said, with the rest of the money - about half of Coe park's annual budget - coming from the state's general fund.

Just remember posterity when thinking about state parks, John said, adding that the idea of setting aside state park land for some county use would be a bad idea. More immediately, though, the specter of uncertainty certainly affects when and where the Verhoevens will decide to send J.J. to preschool.

The talkative, outgoing boy has already witnessed the mating ritual of two tarantulas that found each other on the family's door step; he can identify a dark-eyed junco and knows the tree outside the wrap-around porch is an oak. Bird atlases and books on trails, astronomy, insects and mountain ranges fill the wooden book shelves as tall as he is, and stellar jays, gofers, owls and bobcats complement his stuffed animals - he can even hike for two miles without complaint, his parents said.

"It's been exciting living here - just the wealth of wild life," Denice said.

"It's amazing. We're so lucky," John said.

"Just look at the view out of my kitchen window," echoed Denice, nodding toward the twilight horizon and rolling green hills emanating from their wood porch. The veranda on stilts sits such that Denice can watch the sun rise when she reads her mystery novels in the morning, and the couple can enjoy a glass of wine next to a fire pit when it sets.

"Every morning we get a bird show," John said. "You kind of feel like it's your own ranch sometimes, and when you have a 30-second commute, it's not bad."

The family's agrestic lifestyle has had positive (and energizing) effects on their son, too, who jumped for joy at the arrival of guests and the long-awaited time to serve "guest food."

Denice, an accountant, crafted a gourmet pizza with caramelized onions, mushrooms, potatoes and olives Wednesday night, and as a student of classical and jazz piano at Berklee College of Music in Boston, she said she'll teach J.J. soon. Where just depends on what happens, but the Verhoevens - who met in San Francisco and have lived in Oakland, Monterey and San Juan Bautista - said they'll find somewhere in the Bay Area.

But somewhere where wild flowers speckle their seemingly endless yard is unlikely. Or somewhere where they have to worry about a mountain lion snatching up J.J., or where they have to take a cooler in their trunk to the grocery store so the ice cream won't melt on the sinuous, 13-mile journey back home.

"I can see how people would be put off by the drive, but I would tell them to come and visit the park to see how awe-inspiring it really is," Denice said. "I just couldn't imagine them closing 87,000 acres ... I don't think the public will let it happen."

If they do stay, Denice joked mildly that she worries about the day J.J. will learn how to sneak out of the house, but John's quippish reply implied much more: "Well, where's he going to go?"

For more information on what you can do to save state parks, visit www.calparks.org.

State park cuts in the FY '08-'09 proposed budget

• Closure of 48 state parks, including 17 state parks, 17 state historic parks and museums, three state beaches, nine state recreation areas and two state reserves.

• Reduce staffing at least 50 percent for lifeguards on state beaches in Orange, San Diego and Santa Cruz counties

• $4.4 million cut from management and operations of state park system

Mid-year state park cuts in the FY '07-'08 budget

• Revert $30 million general fund support that was earmarked for deferred maintenance purposes; take from Proposition 84 funds and backfill $30 million cut

• $1 million reduction from general

  operating support