By Brad Branan, July 2023, Sacramento Magazine
“It is the world that suburban development replaced in Naomas. But suburban development also helped protect some of these areas…”
Click here (and turn to page 64) for the article.
July 3, 2023 — Please join us for the ECOS Habitat 2020 Monthly Meeting on Monday, July 3, 2023 at 7:00pm, where 30 minutes will be spent discussing Natomas development issues, and what we can do about them.
Link to join: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6656164155
To phone in: 669-900-6833, Meeting ID: 665 616 4155
The June 2023 issue of N Magazine featured an article about open land in Natomas.
Click here or on the image below to view the article in PDF.
Enjoy more issues of N Magazine here.
May 28, 2023
Brad Branan is a freelance journalist and photographer who sits on the boards of the Environmental Council of Sacramento and Sierra Club, Sacramento Group, both of which oppose development in the Natomas Basin.
One day, I saw a pair of Osprey build a nest atop a utility pole. Another day, I watched a Great Egret pluck aquatic creatures out of a canal and swallow them like popcorn shrimp. And on yet another day, I saw thousands of Snow Geese fly in unison near Highway 99, creating what looked like a vibrating cloud. The scenes happened on or next to property owned by the Natomas Basin Conservancy, a nonprofit organization that has collected fees from local governments and land donations from developers to protect threatened species since 1997. The Conservancy focuses on 22 plants and animals in the Natomas Basin, an area running from Garden Highway to south Sutter County, and from the Sacramento River to Steelhead Creek. Surveys have found that the Swainson’s Hawk, Giant Garter Snake and other threatened animals have maintained or increased populations during the Conservancy’s tenure. But now the Conservancy’s important work is under threat from three major development proposals
Read more at: https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/op-ed/article275752381.html#storylink=cpy
Photo by Brad Branan: Osprey nest in the Natomas Basin
May 1, 2023 — By Brad Branan, ECOS Board member, representative of Sierra Club Sacramento
ECOS members are leading efforts to protect the Natomas Basin from several large-scale developments proposed for the environmentally sensitive area.
Developers are proposing three major projects in the basin, including the Airport South Industrial Project (ASIP) on 450 acres of farmland outside the city of Sacramento and the County’s Urban Services Boundary line. Together the projects total 8,191 acres, larger than the entire North Natomas area.
The basin is subject to environmental protection through the Natomas Basin Habitat Conservation Plan (NBHCP), which was a federal and state requirement in 1997 to mitigate planned development in the City. The NBHCP was later approved by a federal court. The basin, which includes 54,000 acres in Sacramento and Sutter County, from the Garden Highway to the Cross Canal in Sutter County, provides habitat for the protected Swainson’s Hawk and Giant Garter Snake, among other animals.
The developers of the ASIP need approval from the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCo) so the land can become part of the City of Sacramento.
Habitat 2020, an ECOS committee, opposed the first step taken by the City and LAFCo staff in that process – to make the city and the commission co-lead agencies on the environmental review of the annexation and the project. A law firm hired by Habitat 2020 and Friends of the Swainson’s Hawk sent the commission a letter saying that having co-lead agencies is a violation of state environmental law. They are waiting for a response.
ECOS member and former Sacramento Mayor Heather Fargo, along with the ECOS Climate Committee’s Natomas Team, has been meeting with officials to explain why environmentalists oppose the project. Fargo and other project opponents are meeting with LAFCo members and Sacramento council members and are asking that the proposed annexation be brought to the Council for a public hearing and decision by the city council.
Image: https://www.californianature.ca.gov/pages/resources
April 3, 2023 — Our partners with the Sierra Club are working to advance the adoption of four sites in Sacramento County into the Statewide plan for the 30×30 conservation plan. The intent of this plan follows President Biden’s proposal, adopted by Governor Newson for CA, to set aside 30% of open lands for conservation by 2030. The stated goals are to:
The local sites include the Blue Oak Woodlands in the Southeast portion of the county – affected by rapidly diminishing forest and wetlands due to development, 20 acres on the American River Parkway in Rancho Cordova between River Bend and Gristmill County parks where completion of the parkway trails is needed, the Stone Lakes Wildlife Refuge (one of the most threatened refuges in the nation), and the Natomas Basin where development threatens completion of the existing Natomas Basin Habitat Conservation Plan.”
For more information on how you can help visit the Sierra Club website:
https://www.sierraclub.org/california/sierra-clubs-california-30×30-campaign
U.S. Post: PO Box 1526, Sacramento, CA 95812