Monthly Archives: April 2025

Urbanization in Natomas: NBC Letter, April 10, 2025

On April 10, we received a letter sent to the County Board of Supervisors from the Natomas Basin Conservancy. It clearly expresses their concerns about the future of the Natomas Habitat Conservation Plans, their implementation, and the very species that they are charged with protecting if significant development, as proposed in the county projects are approved outside the permitted areas.

The letter reminds the Board of the 1 mile buffer zone for Swainson’s Hawks (clearly harmed by the Upper West side Project); the 17,500 acres limit to permitted areas; and the need for new take permits and ESA compliance for the projects outside this limit.

They also remind the Board of the millions of dollars and the 25 years years that been invested in implementing these plans. They urge the County Supervisors to require the developers to answer the question “will this project in any way compromise the ability of the NBHCP and/or MAHCP to be implemented as approved the state of CA and the US government?”

Click here to read the letter.

Thank you,
Heather Fargo
President of ECOS Board of Directors

Airport South – What Happened at LAFCo and What’s Next

April 9, 2025

Here is an update on the Airport South Industrial Project!

The Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCo) held the first hearing on Wednesday, April 2, 2025. The Community response during the nearly four hour hearing showed the depth of feeling and opposition to this project. About 80 written comments were submitted and more than forty people spoke against the project.

Some highlights of the hearing included expert testimony on the failure of the EIR to discuss truck ultrafine particulate emissions’ impacts on health of children and residents in the neighborhood. A retired planning commissioner and a retired school district board member spoke to the incompatibility of the project with the adjacent neighborhood. Other issues: I-5 corridor traffic and trucks already disrupting the neighborhood; the incompatibility of the 96 acres of detention basins with airport runway. The hearing is available on YouTube.com in the video below.

In the end, LAFCo continued the hearing (delayed their decision). Staff and lawyers appeared to be concerned about getting their paperwork in order, and because the City has not yet held a hearing on the project. The next LAFCo meeting is scheduled for May 7. Plan to be there and show your opposition.

Meanwhile, please help get more signatures on our petition. Over 1050 people have signed our petition against approving the project.

Click here to go to the petition.

ECOS Letter to LAFCo re Airport South, April 2, 2025

On April 2, 2025, ECOS submitted a letter to the the Sacramento Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCo) regarding the acreage proposed for Airport South Industrial (ASIP) and including it in the City’s Sphere of Influence (SOI).

Click here for more info on this vote.

Click here to read the letter in full.

Big Day of Giving 2025

“The environment is where we all meet, where we all have a mutual interest. It is the one thing all of us share.”
-Lady Bird Johnson

Get ready…get set…and give!

By giving to ECOS, you empower us to keep building a more sustainable, just, and livable region for all. Your support helps break down environmental inequities, strengthen communities, and bring together people and organizations committed to real change.

Your gift clears the air, plants the seeds, and lights the trail toward a better future.

Be the spark that guides us forward!

You can find our donation page for Big Day of Giving at: https://www.bigdayofgiving.org/organization/Ecos

Interested in knowing how your donation will be put to action?

Your contribution funds will help support ECOS volunteers and staff in the areas of policy analysis, legal action, administration, and site maintenance related to the following goals:

  • Protect open space in Natomas from proposed development.
  • Win Yolo-80 lawsuit so that Caltrans follows SB743 and SACOG’s Blueprint on future projects.
  • Expand the public transit network within Sacramento County.
  • Build relationships with high schools for the Environmental Justice Team.
  • Urge Sacramento County to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through better land use toward infill and away from new greenfield/sprawl developments.
  • Conduct our South Sacramento Park 99/infill study.
  • Ensure our region’s climate action plans are comprehensive and meet state laws and goals.
  • Work to achieve a beneficial Water Forum Agreement 2.
  • Ensure environmental/equity concerns are met in multiple multiyear water supply projects.
  • Increase support for a Natural Lands Campaign Resolution for better management of natural areas within urban parks.
  • Craft a strategy for implementing California’s 30×30 initiative in the SACOG Region.
  • Protect Blue Oak Woodlands from harm from a solar field development in east Sacramento County.
  • Continue resistance to the huge Delta conveyance project.

Golden 1 Credit Union Returns!

When you donate during Big Day of Giving using a Golden 1 Credit Union debit or credit card, gifts can be matched by Golden 1 Credit Union — up to $100,000 distributed proportionately!

**If your Apple Pay or Google Pay is connected to your Golden 1 debit or credit card that also counts towards the donation matching.

Give Now

Sacramento’s council never approved an expansion study. Why did it happen? April 1, 2025, The Sacramento Bee

By Tom Philp | April 1, 2025 | The Sacramento Bee

Now opponents are crying foul before a decisive vote over this expansion proposal on Wednesday before the Sacramento Local Agency Formation Commission, also known as LAFCO. They have good reason: This has all the fingerprints of Howard Chan, now the former city manager of Sacramento, acting yet again as if he was as powerful as the mayor when he most certainly was not.

Read more at: https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/article303190516.html#storylink=cpy