Category Archives: Wildlife

Bike Trail, safety, Water, Wildlife

Conservancy deal would add Camp Pollock site to American River Parkway

In what could mark a turnaround for a troubled section of the American River Parkway, a nonprofit group is poised to take over a former Boy Scout camp across the river from downtown – with plans to transform it into a major recreation spot.

The Sacramento Valley Conservancy is expected to get the state’s go-ahead this month to begin what could be a half-million-dollar upgrade of Camp Pollock, a rustic campground established by the Boy Scouts in 1923.

The State Lands Commission agreed Wednesday to buy the property from the Scouts. It will lease the land to the conservancy, which plans to open it to the public as a nature and recreation center.

Conservancy Executive Director Aimee Rutledge said her group hopes to have the site open for public visits soon after it takes control in January. “This is the first step in a long-term project we are really looking forward to,” she said.

The 11-acre property, nestled among cottonwoods and willows just west of Highway 160, is relatively small. But the effect of Wednesday’s state agreement is potentially large.

Camp Pollock sits near a forbidding section of the 23-mile-long parkway. Known as an illegal camping area for several hundred homeless people, the area has gained a reputation among some parkway users as a place to avoid.

More at SacBee.com >>>
Bike Trail, safety, Water, Wildlife

Folsom Dam to Boost Water Releases

River levels in Sacramento County will rise within a matter of days with a boost in water releases at Folsom Dam.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced Friday that is will increase water releases though Monday to make room for the expected rainfall. Officials want outdoor enthusiast to be aware of the increased velocity of the river.

The American River is expected to rise by 2 feet.

From Fox40.c0m >>>

safety, Water, Wildlife

City Considering Multi-Mode Bridge Across American River

The City of Sacramento is hosting a survey online to determine need for a multi-mode bridge across the American River.

The city says the survey is entirely unscientific and is only used to see who’s interested.

“Currently there are only two options that allow access across the American River for all modes of transportation year-round; Interstate 5 and State Route 160,” wrote Project Manager Fedolia Harris in a news release. “These limited connections create longer trips impacting air quality and discouraging walking and bicycling between the Central City and South Natomas.”

The survey will be online from Nov. 27 to Dec. 14. Results will be released some time after.

To participate in this survey, click here.

From Fox40.com >>>

Bike Trail, safety, Wildlife

California’s River Parkways Get $34 Million In Funding

More than $34 million in funding is being allocated to 33 proposed river parkway projects statewide by the state Natural Resources Agency. Of the total, nearly a third – over $10.2 million – is going to projects in the Central Valley.

The projects will create recreation opportunities for families, restore fish and wildlife habitat, provide flood management, and enhance California’s river parkways, the state says.

“Our river parkway grants help communities connect children with nature, promote public health by providing families with greater outdoor recreational opportunities, and protect the rivers that provide us with clean water,” says Secretary for Natural Resources John Laird. “The river parkways program is a great example of local agencies working together with the state to create increasingly sustainable communities in California.”

Central Valley projects getting money include:

• American River Conservancy – Cosumnes River Parkway – $1,800,000. The money will be used to buy 2,566 acres of riparian habitat and blue oak woodland to protect native fisheries and wildlife corridors adjacent to the main fork of the Cosumnes River in El Dorado County.

More at CentralValleyBusinessTimes.com >>>

Bike Trail, Events, safety, Water, Wildlife

Weekend cleanup on tap for American River Parkway

A cleanup this weekend will target the lower portions of the American River Parkway where homeless campers have left litter.

The American River Parkway Foundation is staging the cleanup on the stretch of land just east of the confluence of the American and Sacramento rivers. The cleanup occurs between Mile 1 and Mile 3 on the parkway.

“It’s been more challenging to control the impact the homeless have had on the parkway, but we want to make sure that the community can come to this area and enjoy its natural resources,” said Dianna Poggetto, executive director of the foundation.

More at SacBee.com >>

 

Bike Trail, safety, Water, Wildlife

Fight looms over Sacramento’s fenced-off levees

Two rivers converge in Sacramento. By at least one important measure, however, they couldn’t be more different.

The American River provides wide-open public paths on both levees that frame it, all the way to Folsom Lake. A cyclist or an ambitious hiker can freely travel more than 30 miles along the river’s edge.

The Sacramento River, however, brings a walker or cyclist up short. From the confluence with the American River, the public path along the Sacramento runs about five miles, to 25th Avenue, where it abruptly ends in a locked gate spanning the levee. It is the first of 12 such impediments that chop up public access to the Sacramento River shore in the Pocket and Little Pocket neighborhoods.

The city of Sacramento is reviving a long-stalled plan to bring down the fences. The goal is an unbroken public path running another 10 miles to Freeport. The idea is stirring old emotions that kept the plan in the shadows for 15 years.

More at SacBee.com >>

Bike Trail, safety, Water, Wildlife

Army Corps of Engineers awards levee contracts

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District has awarded five levee construction contracts totaling $16.2 million to small businesses, the Corps announced Tuesday.

The projects aim to reduce flood risk along the American River in Sacramento.

The work will be done next year as part of a joint effort between the Corps, Central Valley Flood Protection Board and Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency. The projects will strengthen certain levee sites by installing water seepage barriers, widen and raise levee heights and improve erosion protection along the river.

“These levee projects demonstrate the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer’s continued efforts in reducing Sacramento’s overall flood risk,” Col. Bill Leady, commander of the Sacramento District, said in a news release.

More at BizJournals.com >>>

Wildlife

Valley elderberry longhorn beetle may fall from ‘threatened’ list

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - valley elderberry longhorn beetle
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - valley elderberry longhorn beetle

Federal wildlife officials say the valley elderberry longhorn beetle, a native of the Sacramento Valley, no longer needs Endangered Species Act protection.

The inch-long, red-and- black beetle has been listed as a threatened species since 1980, a result of land development and levee construction that eliminated more than 90 percent of the Central Valley’s riparian habitat.

In a Federal Register filing Monday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said the beetle has recovered enough that legal protection is no longer necessary.

More at  ModBee.com >>>
Bike Trail, Events, Rafting, Wildlife

14,000 pounds of trash picked up along American River Parkway trail

The American River Parkway bike and recreation trail got some needed sprucing up last weekend as 2,000-plus volunteers hit the trail, collecting more than 14,000 pounds of trash during the American River Parkway Foundation’s annual cleanup event.

“For 2,000 people to spend their Saturday morning helping restore probably the best civic amenity in Sacramento, that says a lot about how important this parkway is to the community,” foundation executive director Dianna Poggetto said.

The cleanup also shows that plenty of people use the parkway as a dumping ground. Materials collected included used diapers, cans and bottles, cigarette butts, rusted bicycles, clothing and fishing lines.

More at ModestoBee.com >>>

Bike Trail, Events, Rafting, safety, Video, Water, Wildlife

Hundreds Of Volunteers Join In 18th Annual American River Cleanup

 

Hundreds of volunteers were out scaling the American River on cleanup patrol.

The annual Great American River Cleanup in Rancho Cordova had thousands of volunteers on land and water Saturday.

“It’s mostly people dropping their stuff and not bothering to pick it up,” said a volunteer.

For 18 years in a row, the Great American River Cleanup covered a 23-mile span along the river in efforts to beautify the parkway.

“We have roughly 2,500 volunteers today,” said Stacy Springer, a volunteer manager.

More at CBSLocal.com >>>