One of the last wildlife sanctuaries along the Lower American River is in danger of disappearing forever.
The Kassis property in Rancho Cordova is one of the last sizable areas of open space along the American River Parkway. This land is home to the river’s bald eagles, deer, bobcats, foxes, hawks, owls, and many more of the Parkway’s wild residents. Endangered Swainson’s Hawk have been spotted in the vicinity. Fisherman routinely find their way to the base of this property to stand quietly in the pursuit of steelhead. Here is where the wildlife escapes to when the river floods their homes on the American River Parkway.
The City is poised to let Trumark, an out-of-town developer, wipe out a critical refuge for wildlife to build 24 million dollar homes with river views.
The upper 21 acres of the Kassis property adjacent to Folsom Boulevard should be developed, but the lower 20 acres of wildlife habitat along the Lower American River is in the floodplain and must be preserved.
Image Source: Summer M. Tribble (daughter of David R. Tribble), CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons