Support Sacramento Trees – Your Input Matters!

Trees are more than part of Sacramento’s Landscape, they’re part of who we are.

Sacramento’s identity as the City of Trees is more than a nickname. It’s a legacy rooted in community, health, and resilience. Our urban forest is an essential infrastructure that keeps neighborhoods cool, cleans our air, boosts property values, and enhances quality of life. But protecting this vital resource for future generations demands commitment, dedicated investment, thoughtful planning, and inclusive actions. There are numerous Plan strategies that will help to increase our tree canopy; however, without help from outside public stakeholders, it will be difficult for the City to implement this plan.

Sacramento’s 20-year Urban Forestry Plan (UFP) for trees has entered its final phase and will be presented to City Council for adoption on June 24, 2025. We must act now to make sure trees remain a fundamental part of our city as we grow.

Email your council member and the mayor with the amendment below, and ask them to add language to the plan to ensure its implementation:

Find your Council and Mayor’s email: https://www.cityofsacramento.gov/mayor-council/Find-Your-District
Ask them to establish a collaborative working group comprised of City staff implementing the plan and key tree canopy stakeholders.
Copy (CC) your email to: trees4sacto[at]gmail[dot]com

To Attend Council Hearing 6/24/2025 in Person:

Sacramento City Hall Chambers
915, I Street, 1st Floor Chambers, Sacramento, CA
5:00 pm

Send E-comments to Council Hearing – Go to Council Agenda Item for Urban Forest Plan

The agenda and e-comment portal will be accessible on Thursday, June 19, 2025.
Provide e-comments here.
In “upcoming meetings” section > June 24 Council Hearing.
For assistance with the e-comment process, contact the Office of the City Clerk at 916-808-7200 or clerk[at]cityofsacramento[dot]org.
You can also watch the Council hearing from the above link.

Review the Most Current Urban Forest Plan

As an advocacy group of residents, Trees for Sacramento champions sound public policy and works with the City Council and local organizations to ensure trees are treated as a core component of city planning.

Thank you for your continued support.

Attend the Airport South Industrial Project meeting 6/26/2025

Former Mayor Heather Fargo shares her concerns about the proposed Airport South Industrial Project, a landowner proposed project in the Natomas Basin. Join her in opposing the project and attend the June 26, 2025 meeting – 5:30 at 915 “I” St, in the Sacramento City Council Chambers at New City Hall. The City Planning Commission will make a recommendation to the City Council for their final decision on annexation of this land to the City.

Airport South Industrial Litigation

On June 9, 2025, the Sierra Club, ECOS, and Friends of the Swainsons’ Hawk filed a lawsuit challenging the Sacramento Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCo) actions to approve the Airport South Industrial Project (ASIP).

We did not want to file this lawsuit before the project came before the City, but the law only provides for a 30 day window to challenge the LAFCo decision made on May 7, 2025. We would have preferred to have waited for the City Council vote, but this was not possible.

LAFCo erred in its decision to approve the landowners’ request to expand the City Sphere of Influence to enable 6 million sq. ft. of industrial use of existing farmland. They did so without due consideration of the City’s commitment to the Natomas Basin Habitat Conservation Plan (NBHCP).

Our three organizations strongly believe in the purpose of the NBHCP to balance development with habitat and farmland preservation. The NBHCP has worked well for 20 years, and we want the Natomas Basin Conservancy and the Natomas community to continue to thrive. Approval of the ASIP and other proposed developments threaten their future.

You may be wondering what we hope to accomplish with the lawsuit. We want local government to follow the rules and be fair to the public. Thirty years of agreements (USB, General Plan, NBHCP and more) are being set aside and, as some of you have personally experienced, the process has been stacked against the community and wildlife/habitat protections.

Finally, lawsuits are expensive and we need your help. Please donate to ECOS for our Natomas fund. None of us want to live with the traffic, air quality and other issues. Give generously.

Litigation Links:

A joint press release about the lawsuit from ECOS, Sierra Club and Friends of the Swainson’s Hawk is on ECOS’ can be read here.

A Business Journal article published on June 11, 2025 can be read here.

For Your Calendar

Please note the dates and, prior to the meetings, see the Natomas webpage for updates.

June 23 – 5:30 Sacramento County Supervisors Chambers at 700 H Street. Upper Westside will be heard at the County Planning Commission. The Commission will give a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors. The Final Environmental Impact Report was released today. You can find it here. There is an executive summary.

June 26 – 5:30 Sacramento City Council Chambers at New City Hall 915 I St. Airport South Industrial Project is the only item on the agenda. The City Planning Commission will make a recommendation to the City Council for their final decision on annexation

August 12 – City Council meeting on the Airport South Industrial Project to approve or deny the annexation request and the warehouse project.

TBD – County Board of Supervisors meeting on Upper Westside to approve or deny the project.

Although a Notice of Preparation has been filed for GrandPark Southwest, no public meetings are scheduled

Actions

Sign the petitions – one concerns Upper Westside and is directed to the Board of Supervisors. The other concerns Airport South Industrial and is directed to LAFCo and the City Council. Sign the petitions here.

Let your elected representatives know how you feel by sending an email, making a call, or testifying at the hearings.

Donate to the ECOS Natomas fund.

Learn more on ECOS’s Natomas website.

Regards,

Heather Fargo

President of the ECOS Board of Directors, ECOS

Lawsuit Filed Against LAFCo Over Approval of City of Sacramento Sphere of Influence Expansion Onto Farmland and Habitat

June 9, 2025

Today, Sierra Club, the Environmental Council of Sacramento (ECOS) and Friends of the Swainson’s Hawk (FOSH), represented by Patrick Soluri, of the firm, Soluri-Meserve, filed a lawsuit in Superior Court challenging the approved expansion of the City of Sacramento’s potential boundary in North Natomas. The 474-acre expansion requested by private landowners is intended to allow them to develop 6 million square feet of megawarehouse space on farmland next to wildlife preserves managed by the Natomas Basin Conservancy, and the Westlake Community, including the Paso Verde School.
The lawsuit challenges the project’s deficient environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act. It also challenges the failure of the Sacramento Local Agency Formation Commission (SacLAFCo) to follow its own policies in its approval of the landowner application. The Project site is currently zoned and used for agricultural purposes. Its ongoing status as agricultural land is critical to maintain continued effectiveness of the Natomas Basin Habitat Conservation Plan (“NBHCP”), an enforceable legal agreement between City, Sutter County, and Federal and State wildlife agencies which has guided urban development in the Natomas Basin for over 25 years.

Click here to read the media release in full.

Decarbonizing California’s Transportation – Is It Working? 7/17/2025

The transportation sector is the largest contributor of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and threatens healthy air quality in communities. What is working and not working in California? Join us for an update of strategies to improve it, and examples of local transportation decarbonization efforts.

Environmental Council of Sacramento Climate Change Committee Meeting: July 17, 2025
Decarbonizing California’s Transportation – Is It Working?
Hybrid meeting: On Zoom and at Mogavero Architects, 1322 T St., Sacramento
Link to join: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6656164155 | To phone in: 669-900-6833, Meeting ID: 665 616 4155
6:30 PM: Social period (for those in-person) / 7:00 PM: Welcome and Introductions, Zoom start

7:10 PM: California’s Climate Goals Are in Jeopardy! Neil Matouka, Net-Zero California

California’s ambitious decarbonization goals rely on several federal, state, and local implementation policies. This makes our goals vulnerable, given the change in federal administration, and the unpopularity of certain necessary actions at the regional and local levels. Neil Matouka will show us an indicators dashboard for statewide tracking of our climate goals (ZEVs, Renewable Portfolio Standard, land conservation, etc.), and show climate impact resources available to support decision makers and community members.

At Net-Zero California, Neil manages its Clean Power program, developing and implementing data-driven policies to address climate change challenges. Neil launched California’s Fifth Climate Change Assessment at the Office of Planning and Research, and served as the Air Resources Board’s Local Government Climate Action Planning Liaison, working with communities to develop climate solutions and transition to an equitable, low-carbon future.

7:30 PM: Communities Matter! – Environmental imperative, safety imperative, socioeconomic imperative. Larry Rillera, California Air Resources Board

Larry Rillera will present key clean transportation regulations and incentives, and give examples – such as Sacramento’s Green Technical Education and Employment. Larry will also discuss outreach and engagement, and how we can get ready for an upturn.

At the Air Resources Board, Larry serves on interagency teams and public-private-partnership ventures, engaging with communities, tribes, and businesses to decarbonize the transportation sector, including heavy-duty vehicles. At the California Energy Commission, Larry developed financing solutions for solar panel manufacturers, electric vehicle charging stations, and ZEV manufacturing. He has also developed career pathway programs at schools and with community-based organizations.

7:50 PM: Join the discussion!
Questions will include:

What are opportunities and barriers to decarbonize the transportation sector?
What is the state of environmental justice in this work?
How can we at ECOS (and others) get involved?

After Q&A, we’ll have updates and announcements (open to all).

Click here to view the agenda (in PDF).

ECOS Comments on scope and content of the EIR for the RiverArc Project

On May 23, 2025, ECOS submitted a letter containing our comments on the scope and content of the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the RiverArc Project.

Below is an excerpt.

Given the critical importance of developing a sustainable water supply under increasingly unpredictable environmental conditions, we support improving regional water resource coordination through such coalitions as the Water Forum. ECOS Water Committee supports the concept of environmental benefits to the Lower American River intended through implementation of this project.

Click here to read the letter in full.