Splash offers four or five Vernal Pool Public Walks in Spring each year. Join them as they highlight the many critters and/or flowers in Mather Field!
Monthly Archives: March 2024
Highway Tolling in the Sacramento Region 4/4/2024
JOIN US! ECOS CLIMATE COMMITTEE
Thursday, April 4, 2024 6:00 PM start
(re-scheduled from March 21)
Link to join: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6656164155
To phone in: 669-900-6833, Meeting ID: 665 616 4155
Highway Tolling in the Sacramento Region
6:00 PM: Welcome and Introductions
6:10 PM: Kathleen Hanley (Principal Transportation Planner, SACOG) will discuss the Capital Area Regional Tolling Authority (CARTA) that was recently approved by SACOG’s board. SACOG (Sacramento Area Council of Governments) decided that this JPA (Joint Powers Agreement) for managed lanes on our highways was necessary to provide better travel options. This will first be applied to Interstate 80, between Sacramento and Davis.
6:40 PM: Open discussion: We will discuss the status of Caltrans’ plans to add lanes to this freeway, and concerns expressed by CARB (California Air Resources Board), as well as environmental groups, including ECOS. Note that the California Transportation Commission (CTC) was to have decided whether the State should provide funds for this project recently, but delayed a decision to its May 16 meeting. Note that CTC and CARB boards will have a joint meeting on April 11.
7:00 PM: Updates and Announcements
- Status of SACOG’s Blueprint 2025
- Status of application for federal Climate Pollution Reduction Grant, submitted by SMAQMD (Sacramento Metro Air Quality Management District)) on behalf of 7 area counties
- ECOS contract with SacRT for Educational Outreach and Communication Support Services, and community meetings at Stockton Blvd and Del Paso Blvd (jointly with SMART, Sac Metro Advocates for Rail & Transit)
- Status of application for Governor’s Office of Planning and Research’s Extreme Heat and Community Resilience Program Grant Opportunity
- Update on Sacramento County’s Climate Emergency Mobilization Task Force
- Sacramento City meeting April 9, Truxel Bridge plans
- Others?
- Ralph’s birthday is today 😊
ECOS Comment Letter on the DSEIR for the WattEV project
On March 18, 2024, ECOS submitted a comment letter on the Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact (DSEIR) for the Sacramento County WattEV Innovative Freight Terminal (SWIFT) Project, Control Number: PLER2023-00069. We believe the document has substantial omissions and should be revised and recirculated.
American Planning Association Sacramento Valley Section Awards Program Nomination
On March 18, 2024, ECOS submitted a letter of support for the nomination of the City of Sacramento 2040 General Plan and Climate Action & Adaptation Plan for an American Planning Association Sacramento Valley Section – Comprehensive Plan Award.
11th Annual Gardens Gone Native Plant Tour 4/27/2024
April 27, 2024, 9:30am – 4pm
The Gardens Gone Native tour is a free garden tour featuring thirty plus California native plant home and school gardens in the Sacramento region. Gardens are comprised predominantly of California native plants in the urban landscape. These gardens feature a variety of ways in which native plants can flourish in the home garden. Some are professionally designed while others are more functional and are a mix use of natives, food production, and living spaces. You will find delightful and sustainable gardens that harness water, create habitats, and add a sense of place. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask garden hosts about their choices and challenges. After registration you will receive the map and tour brochure information the week before the tour begins.
Registration: https://www.sacvalleycnps.org/gardens-gone-native-tour/
Video: 2023 tour https://www.cbsnews.com/gooddaysacramento/video/gardens-gone-native-plant-tour/#x
Contact: gardensgonenative[at]gmail[dot]com
Website: https://www.sacvalleycnps.org/gardens-gone-native-tour/
FB/insta: gardensgonenative
The Sacramento region has approved too much sprawl already; a reckoning is here
By Tom Philp | March 6, 2024 | The Sacramento Bee
The politics of the Sacramento region have long been fueled by its expansion, with land speculators, developers, builders and trade unions funding political campaigns. But the extraordinary power of this political bloc needs to be checked before they cost the region hundreds of millions of dollars in state funding and blow up Sacramento’s climate goals.
Click here to read the full article: https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/article285860766.html#storylink=cpy
Related to inhibiting sprawl, SACOG is tasked with developing a new 25-year housing plan that lowers GHG emissions in Sacramento’s six-county region. The Land Use and Natural Resources Committee of SACOG will receive important new information on the region’s future housing demand on March 7, 2024. To watch a recording of the meeting, go to https://www.sacog.org/meetings/meeting-agendas; Advanced Search – insert meeting date, then see Item History.
