On Saturday, July July 14 thousands of rafters and revelers are expected to take the American River in what has become known as “Rafting Gone Wild,” an event promoted through Facebook.
The event has attracted more than 16,000 invites on the Facebook event page with more than 4,300 people apparently planning to go. The total number of invites marks an increase of more than 4,000 people over last year’s event and local law enforcement and rescue crews haven’t lost sight of the inherent dangers now more prevalent than ever.
Because of the enormity of the event, public safety agencies from across Sacramento Couty are joining forces to enforce any applicable laws.
Sacramento County officials are reminding people that fees will go up for the July 4 holiday, and so will enforcement – as no drinking will be allowed on the American River Parkway between Watt and Hazel avenues.
Entrance fees will go from $5 to $8 for vehicles for the holiday. Vehicles with trailers or other oversize vehicles will be charged $13 instead of $10.
The county justifies the higher fees because of increased work on the holiday.
In advance of the Memorial Day weekend and the start of the summer recreation season, a life jacket trade-in will be held today at Kohl’s store locations in the Sacramento region.
The event, now in its 13th year, is sponsored by the California Department of Boating and Waterways, Radio Disney and UC Davis Children’s Hospital.
The life jacket trade-in gives parents the opportunity to have life jackets inspected by professionals. Life jackets that have been outgrown or are no longer serviceable will be exchanged for new, properly fitted U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jackets while supplies last.
For those who don’t own life jackets, the American River Parkway Foundation announced that it will purchase and supply life vests for “Kids Don’t Float,” a program that lends life vests to children during the summer at seven access points along the American River.
Take the family to the farm in the city Sunday during Soil Born Farms’ annual “A Day on the Farm.”
With something for every member of the family, this kid-friendly event features cooking classes, workshops, nature walks, local arts and crafts, children’s activities, music, food, native plant sale, farm stand and more.
Among the workshop topics are raising chickens and beekeeping.
Soil Born Farms’ American River Ranch is located at 2140 Chase Drive, Rancho Cordova. The fun starts at 10 a.m. and runs through 4 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $5.
For more details, click on www.soilborn.org or call (916) 363-9685.
Activists plan to stage two demonstrations on Saturday to highlight the potential for climate change to increase flood risk in the Sacramento region.
In Sacramento, participants are being asked to meet on the Guy West Bridge over the American River near Sacramento State University at 10 a.m. Saturday and wear blue-colored swim, snorkeling or dive gear. In Davis, organizers plan to converge with umbrellas on the levee overlooking the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area, alongside Interstate 80, at 9 a.m.
In honor of Earth Day, a huge clean-up effort took place on the American River.
The clean-up event was organized by the American River Parkway Foundation, which said every year more and more people are volunteering to clean up the environment.
Help preserve the American River Parkway via text donation.
The program is being implemented in conjunction with the running of the Parkway Half Marathon on April 28 in Sacramento. So in lieu of running 13.1 miles to raise money for the American River Parkway Foundation, all it takes is a little thumb action to text a donation.
Sacfit (Sacramento Friends in Training) is spearheading the text donation campaign. To make a donation, type in “Parkway”, a space, “donation amount” then send to 27138.
May is Bike Month in the Sacramento region, an invitation to try bicycling one day.
The annual effort to get people out of their cars and try pedaling is scheduled during May, in part, because it is one of the best months to bicycle in Sacramento — after the winter rains and before the summer heat.
April is also a pretty good month to bicylce. To that end, rest stops will be in place this month to promote biking in May.
Bicyclists are urged to look for “Energizer Stations” along key commuting routes in the Sacramento area. Most of the stations will be set up along the American River Bike Trail.
Hundreds of volunteers will be taking out the trash in the American River Canyon on Saturday.
The Earth Week cleanup brings volunteers together with several organizations in a major annual spring effort to remove litter and spruce up the canyon near Auburn.
Eric Peach, a Protect American River Canyons (PARC) board member, said Thursday that volunteers will fan out along both the middle and north forks of the American River from the confluence near the city to not only collect discarded garbage.
“Work will also include minor trail maintenance, removal of invasive non-native plant species and graffiti removal,” Peach said.
The Auburn-based PARC will be working with the California State Parks Foundation, which is holding its 15th annual Earth Day restoration and cleanup around the state. Among the projects are cleanups at both the Auburn State Recreation Area in Placer County and at the Folsom Powerhouse State Historic Park in Folsom.
