09/27/2024
THE AMERICAN RIVER PARKWAY NEEDS YOUR HELP
Hi Fellow Parkway Travelers,
While I am pleased to announce that the Parkway Half Marathon and Point to Point Marathon Training Run events are open (I'll send out a separate FB post on those), there is a more pressing matter concerning the fate of our Parkway. The information is below and I hope you take a little time to read it through.
As many of you have seen, the drastic Army Corps of Engineer Riverbank Project is turning our beautiful Parkway and riverside trails into a desolate river channel, with no regard for preserving the old growth Oak and Cottonwoods, as well as the diverse undergrowth and trail system many of us run, walk, hike and cherish, be it for recreation, fitness, or escape from the concrete jungle.
I've taken the liberty of documenting the Howe Ave and Watt Ave corridor up to William Pond Park, with both pictures and video, and have rendered a pictorial in this post showing the stark difference between what has already happened downstream from the Howe Ave Bridge and what we stand to loose upstream.
I call it the "This or That" choice.
And I couch the choice that way because we have a way to change the direction of the project so that it meets its objective, but also preserves integrity of the Parkway experience.
As of this post, I have met with Congressman Bera's office, (who very much supports an alternative that would preserve the Howe ave to William Pond riverbank corridor), and have been advised by them that the current barrage of emails from concerned citizens have paused the next phase (Upstream from Howe Ave) until 2026 for reconsideration of the project parameters.
But we need to keep the intensity - like finishing those last miles of a race!
As such, following is a link you can click to add your name to the list. It's as simple as typing in your name and clicking a button.
https://www.sarariverwatch.org/american_river_trees_petition
You can also send your own email to the US Army Corps of Engineers, which I also encourage for added impact.
[email protected]
We all need to do our part on this. Together, we can make a difference. And everyone counts. There are never enough voices to support a good cause and I think we can all agree - this is a good cause to voice our concern.
