New American Parkway Plan Update Meeting Schedule

Stepping Up the Pace
from CNPS Hospitality Coordinator 
& ARP Appointee Peggy Berry

In May 2006, after meeting almost monthly for more than two years, the American River Parkway Plan Update Committee is scheduled to finalize recommended revisions to the ’85 Parkway Plan

The meetings in the next five months are crucial to the Parkway’s future.  Do you want to see the Parkway preserved as the Sacramento Audubon Society recommends (see below) or do you want to see many new uses introduced that will slowly erode the values that make Sacramento’s “Crown Jewel” unrecognizable by its founders?

The Sacramento Audubon Society, although not an appointed committee member, has a public member who attends Update meetings regularly and issued a very specific position paper on behalf of the Society regarding proposed new uses in the Parkway.  Included in this position paper were the Society’s recommended goals for the Parkway -- goals I heartily endorse:

“It is the Primary Goal of the American River Parkway (Plan) to protect, preserve and manage in as near-natural condition as possible, the American River Parkway as a perpetual greenbelt example of the States 10% remaining riparian eco-systems in the Great Valley of California.”

“A Secondary Goal is to permit and encourage human uses of the Parkway which do not conflict with the Primary Goal that protects these natural values.  Whenever there is a conflict in determining appropriate uses of the Parkway, the Primary Goal shall prevail over the subordinate Secondary Goal.”

The January 3, 2006 Parkway Update meeting will ask for final direction on the proposal to approve a designated minimum area of 25 acres adjacent to the American River for use by off-leash dogs. In June I registered my opposition to this proposal based on, among other reasons, the County’s own exhaustive studies that found that off-leash dogs are not compatible with the Parkway environmental values and permitted recreational uses,  for reasons including the threat to other users, hazards to wildlife, and waste problems.  Also, there are currently numerous off-leash dog parks throughout the region and plans for adding more.

Public input in the next five months is critical to the Parkway’s future.  I hope that CNPS members who care about preserving its natural attributes now -- and for generations to come -- will speak up at one or more of these important meetings. Parkway support letters to your supervisor (with a cc to Sunny Williams, Project Planning Manager)  are an equally important part of the tabulation when the Update Committee considers public opinion

Parkway Plan Update Meetings
January 3 and January 24, 2006  6-9:00 P.M
Sacramento Public Library  821 I Street

Peggy Berry, 944-1184
Supervisor Illa Collin Appointee

New American Parkway Plan Update Meeting Schedule

A Sac Valley CNPS Native Plant Nursery Along The American River Parkway?