THE ISSUE
Developers are at it again. Our open space in Natomas is threatened. This precious land would be covered by acres of concrete, warehouses, and exhaust-spewing semi trucks.
Every day food-producing farm land, open spaces, and critical habitat disappears in the name of profit.
But we believed our Natomas Greenbelt was protected! Thirty years ago, as Natomas was just beginning to grow, state and federal governments required the Natomas Basin Habitat Conservation Plan (NBHCP). This agreement preserves the open space around us and allows for development within city limits.
Now—plans to carve out hundreds of acres from protected land are moving forward. The first project is for fields of warehouses—some of which would directly abut Natomas neighborhoods!
WHY IT MATTERS TO NATOMAS RESIDENTS
Natomas residents would be impacted by these projects directly. We would find ourselves competing with a dramatic increase in semi truck traffic, and, our schools, homes, walking and bike trails will be adjacent to warehouses. Instead of supporting wildlife habitat we would destroy it.
WHY IT MATTERS TO ALL OF US
As California strives to be a leader in the Climate Change transition, how can we justify paving over wildlife habitat and open land, while plenty of land, appropriate for warehouses, is currently available within city limits?
Farmland helps to keep our region cooler, absorbs winter flooding, produces food, and provides vital habitat for species trying to survive in a shrinking world. These values are important if we want to pass along a healthy planet to our children.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Natomas neighborhoods are coming together to fight for our community. Please join us! Developers may have the big bucks, but by working together we can protect our families, the surrounding habitat, and our future. Please click the Join link below, to find the best way for you to make an impact.
RIGHT NEXT DOOR
In Natomas, farmland is essential habitat for threatened species. Farmland provides other benefits as well — food production, cleaner air, airport buffer, prevents urban storm water flooding, and more. But now, a number of development projects are proposed on that farmland. Examples are: the Airport South Industrial Project, Upper West Side, Grandpark, and WattEV, as shown on the map.
The first three are located outside of Sacramento County’s Urban Services Boundary (USB) on land zoned agricultural in the County’s General Plan. Their total acreage outside the USB is over 8,000 acres. If these projects are built, existing wildlife preserves will be degraded and the remaining open land will be inadequate as wildlife habitat. Loss of biodiversity and injury to the listed species will result. The Natomas Basin Habitat Conservation Plan (NBHCP) itself could fail.
Click here to learn more about the Natomas campaign.
