Comments on the City of Sacramento’s Draft Parks Plan 2040

The City of Sacramento, which manages 235 parks with 4,329 acres of parkland, has prepared a Draft Parks Plan (2040). The Parks Plan importantly supports recreational activities for Sacramento’s diverse communities. However, it falls short in one of its key goals to bring nature to all City residents. Currently, most City Parks provide only a facade of nature that consists primarily of exotic grasses and trees. However, the City can effectively bring biodiversity to its parks by planting native trees such as oaks in combination with native shrubs and herbaceous plants. Native plants support native birds, bees, butterflies and other wildlife.

On April 8, 2024, Habitat 2020, the Conservation Committee for the Environmental Council of Sacramento (ECOS), and ECOS submitted our comments on the City of Sacramento’s Draft Parks Plan 2040.

Click here to read the letter in full.

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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

Fall Native Plant Sales

Native Plants are not only beautiful and climate adaptable but they also feed and shelter birds, bees, butterflies and other pollinators. In the Fall Native Plant Sales, you can shop from a wide selection of native perennials, shrubs, and trees, grasses, vines and even some bulbs!

When: In-Person Native Plant Sale, Sept 16, 10am-2pm

Where: SacValley CNPS Nursery & Gardens, Soil Born Farms, 2140 Chase Drive, Rancho Cordova, CA 95670

Contact: Robin Rietz, robinrietz[at]yahoo[dot]com; Chris Lewis, cnpschris[at]gmail[dot]com

More information: SacValleyCNPS.org/PS

Ordering for the Online Plant Sale will be from 8 a.m. on Sat, 9/23 to noon on Mon, 9/25. Pickups will be scheduled for Sunday, October 1, 2023.

Spread the word about pollinator-friendly parks

We’re excited to share the release of Pollinator-Friendly Parks: Enhancing Our Communities by Supporting Native Pollinators in Our Parks and Other Public Spaces.

Pollinator-Friendly Parks provides helpful information about how parks and other greenspaces in towns and cities can provide the maximum benefit for pollinators and other insects. In addition to introductory chapters about the diversity and natural history of native bees, the handbook offers detailed information on how to:

  • create flower-rich habitat,
  • provide places for nesting and egg laying,
  • reduce the use of pesticides in parks and greenspaces, and
  • engage park patrons and community members in your conservation work.

Appendices provide regional lists of recommended pollinator-friendly plants and additional sources of information for further exploration of the topics covered in these guidelines.

ECOS letter on Water Agencies’ Participation in Sacramento Area Turf Replacement Study

On February 14, 2022, the Environmental Council of Sacramento submitted a letter to Sacramento Area Water Agencies regarding their participation in a Sacramento Area Turf Replacement Study. Below is the content of the letter.

To: Sacramento Area RWA Water Agencies

The Environmental Council of Sacramento’s Water Committee has begun a project to calculate the potential water savings from conversion of ornamental grasses (turf) to drought-tolerant landscaping in the American River water purveyor area (i.e. Regional Water Authority member agencies). We are interested in your input and participation in this study. This letter describes the study plan. For more information or to participate, please contact Katrina Harrison, PE, ECOS Water Committee member and Project Manager, at kandchf[at]gmail[dot]com or (408) 644-9108.

The Water Committee has met with representatives of the Department of Water Resources (DWR) to share methodologies and inquire about data sources. DWR staff has been helpful but has suggested relying on publicly available datasets. Therefore, Water Committee plans to calculate the area of current ornamental grasses using 2019 or 2020 publicly available fine scale (~1 foot pixel size wherever possible) aerial and infrared imagery. Aerial images include National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP), Bing imagery, Planet, and NearMap.

This imagery dataset will be analyzed using the machine learning, or neural net, algorithms of the software program eCognition to determine turf grass area. Land classifications will be digitized in several sample areas, and the computer model will be trained using those areas including calculating the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) as well as a Tree Grass Difference Index. The aerial imagery processing will be validated manually to develop a calculation of the accuracy and estimated error bounds of the analysis.

Following calculation of the area of turf grass, ECOS Water Committee members plan to use California Native Plant Society information on the evapotranspiration and density of different plant palettes – lawn versus drought-tolerant landscaping – to determine the difference in water use. This difference will be multiplied by the area to determine potential water savings.

We appreciate any insight or methodology suggestions you may have. We would like to share our draft results with study participants and will make the final product available to the Water Forum for its consideration in the ongoing Water Forum 2 discussions. If you have an interest in participating, please contact Katrina Harrison at kandchf[at]gmail[dot]com or Ted Rauh at tnrauh[at]att[dot]net. We would appreciate hearing from you before the end of February so that your input can be included in the study.

Click here to view a PDF of the letter.

Spring Native Plant Sale 2022

When: Online Sale from Wednesday, March 9th noon; to Sunday March 13th 5 p.m.

Pickup on a Sunday: either March 20th from 10:00-2:30 or March 27th from 10:00-2:30
Where: Elderberry Farms Native Plant Nursery
2140 Chase Drive, Rancho Cordova, CA 95670 (On the American River Parkway at Soil Born Farms)

Contact: Gina Radieve, gina[dot]radieve[at]gmail[dot]com or Chris Lewis, cnpschris[at]gmail[dot]com

More information: SacValleyCNPS.org/PS

Native Plants are not only beautiful and climate adaptable but they also feed and shelter birds, bees, butterflies and other pollinators. Come find a wide selection of native perennials, shrubs, and trees, grasses, vines and native annuals! We’ll have plants from Cornflower Farms, and Elderberry Farms Native Plant Nursery.

Use this link – SacValleyCNPS.org/shop – to browse the entire list of plants we grow and sell. Not all plants will be available at every sale. The site will show which plants will be for sale two weeks before the upcoming sale starts.

The native plant sale is one of our best opportunities to connect our community members with their community of native plants. We have a wide variety of positions available. Currently we are looking for:

  • Plant Puller – help us gather the orders and bring them to the pickup area
  • Plant Loader – help us get the plants from the pickup tables into customers’ cars
  • Customer Service Specialists – greet all customers and call in their orders

If you are interested in any of these opportunities, please reach out to Lorena at Volunteer[at]sacvalleycnps[dot]org.

Hosted by the California Native Plant Society Sacramento Chapter, a member organization of ECOS.