Firefighter rescue crews Thursday morning pulled a man from the American River near Howe Avenue.
A Sacramento Fire Department spokesman said that at about 8 a.m. reports were received of a fisherman who developed trouble in the water when he tried to cross the river.
Tahoe National Forest officials announced that the Western States Trail and other routes closed due to the King fire have reopened.
Given the progress in fire suppression and repair efforts, the road and trail closures associated with the fire in the American River Ranger District have been lifted, according to a Forest Service news release.
Officials announced late Monday that repairs to the Western States Trail and reconstruction of the Swinging Bridge and smaller Pacific Slab Bridge are complete as a result of thousands of hours of volunteer and Forest Service efforts. The trail closure across the north and middle forks of the American River has been lifted.
State and federal wildlife officials are resorting to installing giant water chillers in some of California’s fish hatcheries, as drought, over-allocation of water and climate change all combine this year to make temperatures too warm for some baby salmon and other fish to survive.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service workers installed the coolers at the Livingston Stone National Fish Hatchery at the foot of northern California’s Shasta Dam this summer when water temperatures hit the mid-60s — too tepid for the half-million winter-run baby salmon growing there, said Scott Hamelberg, a federal hatchery manager.
The winter-run salmon are endangered, and the coolers lower the water temperature to a more livable 60 degrees, he said.
The big water coolers are a first for the federal hatchery, necessitated by warmer-than-normal water in California’s third year of drought.
At the American River hatchery east of Sacramento, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife also are installing giant coolers to bring down water temperatures for the hatchery’s young salmon and trout, hatchery manager Gary Novak said.
Certain endangered species of trout at that fishery “don’t really tolerate the heat too well,” Novak said.
Smaller coolers in tanks are cooling various other fish rescued by wildlife officials after California’s drought dried up their home stretch of rivers and streams entirely.
The fish refrigerators are the latest unusual measure taken by fish and wildlife managers to protect fish and California’s $1.4 billion commercial and recreational fishing industry while most of the state remains in the most severe category of drought. In June, state wildlife officials used tanker trucks to evacuate 2 million fish from hatcheries deemed dangerously warm.
State and federal wildlife officials this month are preparing extraordinary measures to protect Chinook salmon returning to spawn in California’s drought-depleted rivers.
Sacramento River fall-run Chinook salmon are making their way upstream from the Pacific Ocean to begin their annual spawning ritual. These fish, primarily produced in hatcheries, make up the most abundant salmon run in California and are the primary catch for an ocean fishery that sustains thousand of jobs.
But the species has had wild population swings over the past decade because of droughts, poor ocean conditions and loss of habitat. Officials are hoping to avoid another wild swing by taking action to help this year’s run, including some measures that have never been tried in California.
At the American River Hatchery near Sacramento, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife is installing water chillers at a cost of nearly $1 million to ensure water coursing through the hatchery doesn’t become lethally warm for salmon and other species hatched and raised there. The chillers, essentially giant refrigeration units, are in place at a few hatcheries around the state but had never before been used on the American River.
More at SacBee.com >>>
Hoping to reduce the Sacramento region’s dependence on Folsom Lake for water, local officials seek $9.7 million in state funds for 17 projects.
Officials with the Regional Water Authoritysaid the money, which could come by the end of October, would pay for groundwater-supply projects that would lessen the reliance on Folsom in dry years.
“Folsom is our biggest risk when it comes to water supply, because it serves statewide water supply and environmental needs in addition to our own,” John Woodling, the authority’s executive director, said in a news release.
The projects include upgrading or installing 13 wells, building four pump stations for lifting water to higher elevations and increasing access to water from the Sacramento and American rivers even when they’re running particularly low.
More at BizJournals.com >>>
Dedication and ribbon cutting ceremonies for Folsom’s Johnny Cash Trail and Bike/
Pedestrian Overcrossing are set for Saturday morning at the intersection of Folsom Lake Crossing Road and East Natoma Street .
Roseanne Cash will attend the ceremonies for the project that honors the memory of her father, said Sue Ryan, City of Folsom public information officer. The public is invited to view exhibits and enjoy entertainment from 9 a.m.-noon. The ribbon cutting ceremony will begin at 10 a.m.
Organizers encourage guests to walk or cycle to the event, because of a limited on-street parking for vehicles.
The $3.8 million overcrossing, which spans busy Folsom Lake Crossing Road, is designed to echo the look of Folsom Prison’s East Gate guard towers, Ryan said. Cash made the prison famous with his big hit, Folsom Prison Blues, which he performed at the prison in 1968.
“People around the world know Folsom because of that very famous song,” says Mayor Kerri Howell. “This very distinctive overcrossing will serve as an iconic and symbolic feature of Folsom history and will be a unique gateway for pedestrians, cyclists and motorists.”
The 2.5 mile Johnny Cash Trail will eventually extend from the Historic Truss Bridge to Green Valley Road , traversing prison property and linking El Dorado and Placer counties to Folsom’s Historic District and the American River Parkway , Ryan said.
Exhibits at the event will showcase plans for the Johnny Cash Trail Art Experience. The Folsom City Council recently approved artists’ concepts for the project, and development of a fund raising campaign.
More at FolsomTelegraph.com >>>
Concert promoter Danny Hayes sees Discovery Park as an ideal venue for his Aftershock heavy metal rock festival. Nearly 38,000 fans attended the two-day event on the American River earlier this month, prompting Hayes to talk about adding a third day and raising the daily attendance cap.
“We’re definitely coming back,” said Hayes, CEO of Los Angeles-based Danny Wimmer Presents. “The numbers prove there is a market there.”
Bill Davis doesn’t share his enthusiasm. The Sacramento resident argues that large, for-profit events such as Aftershock are inappropriate for the American River Parkway, a 29-mile ribbon of open space that starts in Discovery Park and stretches east to Folsom.
Davis is a board member of Save the American River Association, which last year sued the county to stop it from approving foot races, food truck festivals, concerts and other activities that the group contends are harming the ecologically sensitive riparian forest. Formed in 1961, SARA helped establish the American River Parkway, a recreational centerpiece of the Sacramento region. “Our concern is the impact on the park’s resources and wildlife,” Davis said.
Sacramento City Councilman Steve Hansen also has concerns. Hansen lives in Alkali Flat, a mile from Discovery Park, and heard the festival’s heavy metal music loudly and clearly on both nights.
“It’s a difficult balancing act, between large events and use of the parkway,” Hansen said. “Not every venue is appropriate for every event.”
Sacramento County is responsible for maintaining and managing the parkway, which is both a wildlife corridor and a place where about 5 million people come to play every year. County officials say the parkway is a public resource and its use should be available to any event that complies with the guidelines in a county parkway plan.
In 2014, the county expects to issue permits for 71 events on the parkway, including a Girl Scout camp, 5K runs and concerts. That’s an increase from 2012 and 2013, when there were 66 events permitted each year.
Aftershock is the latest flashpoint. Attendance has risen sharply since the festival drew 12,800 its first year in the city in 2012. In 2013, 30,000 people attended the two-day event. The growing popularity has prompted Danny Wimmer Presents to talk about expansion.
A 37-year-old man was arrested and accused of igniting the massive King Fire, which has burned 71,000 acres of Sierra foothills east of Placerville while sending up a huge column of smoke visible from the Bay Area, officials said Thursday.
El Dorado County authorities took Wayne Allen Huntsman into custody Wednesday on suspicion of felony arson and jailed him in lieu of $10 million bail.
The King Fire, which began Saturday and now ranks as one of the largest wildfires burning in California, has forced thousands from their homes and closed a stretch of Highway 50, the popular route between Sacramento and South Lake Tahoe.
Strong mountain winds were pushing the inferno north Thursday through the El Dorado National Forest. But no structures have been damaged because of the fire’s trajectory through sparsely populated hills, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
More than 2,000 homes remain threatened, however.
More at SFGate.com >>>
This Saturday, September 20, offers opportunities to help the community as well as have fun.
During the hours of 9 am to noon the annual Great American River Clean Up will be held. To volunteer and enjoy the outdoors while helping to keep the American River Parkway clean; details and more information can be obtained at the American River Parkway Foundation website.
Highway 50 in El Dorado County was closed again early Thursday because of backfires being set in hopes of slowing the King Fire, which more than doubled overnight to 70,994 acres and was only 5 percent contained, authorities said.
The highway was shut down at midnight between Ice House and Sly Park, just hours after it had been reopened, as crews set fires to slow the blaze’s growth. Officials were to decide Thursday morning whether to reopen the heavily traveled trans-Sierra road.
The fire that began Saturday is threatening 2,000 homes in Pollock Pines east of Placerville. About 3,700 firefighters are battling the flames on the ground and by air.
The fire, the cause of which is under investigation, is one of the largest and most closely watched of 11 out-of-control blazes burning in California.
The state’s largest blaze this year is a collection of fires in the Klamath National Forest near the Oregon border called the Happy Camp Fire. On Wednesday, firefighters continued to gain on the 126,000-acre blaze and had it 68 percent contained.
More at SFGate.com >>>