Press Release: ECOS launches campaign to save wildlife habitat and farmland in Natomas

September 11, 2023

“We think the annual Farm to Fork month, with so many people celebrating the locally grown food in the region, is a perfect time to highlight how important farms are to people and wildlife.” stated Heather Fargo, former Mayor of Sacramento and lead of the Natomas Campaign for the Environmental Council of Sacramento (ECOS).

ECOS is calling on the public to protect Natomas open space and embarking on a major campaign to educate the community about how important the Natomas farmlands and open space are to wildlife in our region and beyond. Natomas is a special place; it is a vital part of the Pacific Flyway and home to 22 protected species, in addition to providing food for our region and the world.

The Natomas Basin Habitat Conservation Plan was established in 1997 to ensure the basin’s natural resources are not lost with the growth of the Natomas community. Unfortunately, loss of these resources is likely to happen because of proposed residential and industrial development projects covering more than 8,200 acres of land intended to remain in agriculture.

The first of those projects is the Airport South Industrial Project, a 450-acre warehouse district proposed for land south of I-5 and adjacent to the West Lake neighborhood in North Natomas. If approved, it would put over 6 million square feet of warehouses on foraging habitat for the endangered Swainson’s Hawk.

“ECOS wants Sacramento to remember the value of open space and farmland as a way to support wildlife and combat climate change. We Sacramentans have a role in protecting one of the Earth’s biodiversity hotspots,” said Fargo.

A new message is on display on a digital billboard along I-5 in downtown Sacramento. It has a simple message – save Sacramento’s wildlife habitat and farmland.

Targeted to those who enjoy the local dining experience offered in the city, it simply says, ““There’s no Farm to Fork without farms” and “Natomas farmlands feed people and wildlife”.

The billboard is timed to coincide with the annual Farm to Fork Festival that includes the Tower Bridge dinner and the street festival on Capital Mall on Sept 22-23.

The billboard kicks off a major new campaign by ECOS, continuing its 50 years of efforts to protect the environment.

“The establishment of the Natomas Basin Habitat Conservation Plan was important for regional sustainability thirty years ago. Now with climate change, it is essential that we stop sprawl and protect biodiversity in this area. The NBHCP provided for development on 17, 500 acres, and the proposed projects are outside of that,” said Susan Herre AIA AICP, President of the ECOS Board of Directors.
ECOS is partnering with Sierra Club, Habitat 2020, Audubon Society, Friends of the Swainson’s Hawk and California Native Plant Society.

Map of the Natomas Basin The proposed projects are in red and are labelled.

More information is available on the ECOS website – https://www.ecosacramento.net/

Contacts: Heather Fargo, former Mayor of Sacramento, ECOS Natomas Team Lead: h-fargo[at]comcast[dot]net, (916) 600-6615; and Susan Herre, President of ECOS Board, susanherre[at]gmail[dot]com

The ECOS Mission: Our mission is to achieve regional sustainability, livable communities, environmental justice, and a healthy environment and economy for existing and future residents. ECOS strives to bring positive change to the Sacramento region by proactively working with the individual and organizational members of ECOS, neighborhood groups, and local and regional governments.

Click here for a PDF of this Press Release.

ECOS at Farm-to-Fork 9/23/23

ECOS will have a table to Sacramento’s Farm-to-Fork Festival on September 23, 2023! If you’re at the event, be sure to stop by our booth to learn more about our Natomas Team and the work they are doing to protect wildlife, habitat, and farmland in Natomas. The ECOS booth will be #533, located in front of 555 Capitol Mall, Sacramento, CA 95814.

Habitat: Natomas Development Issues

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

Agenda

  1. 7:00 Welcome, Introductions, 10 min (Burness)
  2. 7:10 Natomas Development Issues, 30 min (Lamare, Fargo and Whitney)
    a. Neighborhood meetings
    b. New development proposals
    c. South Airport project timeline
    d. City and LAFCo response to ECOS et al letter
    e. Meetings w/ City council and Co board members
    f. Grant application
  3. 7:40 City Parks Initiative, 10 min (Tura and Fargo)
  4. 7:50 Sacramento City General Plan Update Discussion—Should we engage? 20 min (Burness intro)
  5. 8:10 Coyote Creek Sola Voltaic Project, 15 min (Leary, Delfino, Kelly)
    a. Video footage of site
    b. Project timeline
    c. Funding support
    d. Meetings with Co board members
  6. 8:25 Kassis Project, 15 min (Berry, Weiland)
    a. Meetings with Cordova City management re code violations
    b. New application
  7. 8:40 Other Environmental Issues and Updates, 20 min
    a. Mather Preserve Management (Burness)
    b. Tunnel Project (Burness)
    c. Habitat Acquisition Initiative (Schweigert)
    d. 30×30 Effort (Burness)
    e. Aerojet Cleanup (Heple)
    f. Other
  8. 9:00 Adjourn

Opposing development on land that was planned to support threatened species

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.