The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously yesterday to approve the American River Natural Resources Management Plan (NRMP).
The goal of the NRMP is to provide relevant and defensible information to the Parkway Managers so that they can make informed decisions for managing, maintaining and enhancing Parkway resources. In general, the NRMP provides a clear understanding of existing Parkway resources, the effects of disturbances such as flood, fire, invasive species and human impacts, as well as opportunities for protection and enhancements.
“We are so excited to get to work implementing the American River Natural Resource Management Plan," said Liz Bellas, Director of Regional Parks. "This plan includes 65 site-specific projects, and we expect to get started on 12 of them within the first 10 years, including establishing low-growing native vegetation under power lines in the Discovery, Woodlake, Cal Expo, and Watt areas of the Parkway; developing a conceptual naturalization plan for a stormwater runoff channel at Woodlake; developing a wildfire rehabilitation plan; and establishing a community science program."
In addition to the NRMP, staff have developed a draft NRMP Monitoring Plan that provides Regional Parks with a framework for monitoring and reporting the progress of general and specific management actions set forth in the NRMP.
The Monitoring Plan will include ongoing coordination with stakeholders and/or project proponents to ensure that project implementation and monitoring activities are integrated into the overall monitoring and reporting goals of the NRMP. These monitoring and reporting goals cover biological resources, physical resources, cultural resources, human use impact reduction, as well as agency and community coordination.
The Monitoring Plan will be brought to the American River Parkway Advisory Committee for endorsement, and to the Recreation and Parks Commission for final approval.
Regional Parks would like to thank the organizations who participated in the development of the NRMP, including:
- American River Equestrian Trail Patrol
- American River Natural History Association
- American River Parkway Advisory Committee
- American River Parkway Foundation
- California Department of Water Resources
- California Native Plant Society
- Wildlife Conservation Board
- Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency (SAFCA)
- Sacramento Running Association
- Save the American River Association
- Sierra Club
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
- The Water Forum
