Sutter’s Landing is Sacramento’s river gem. Can we protect it and still enjoy it? | Opinion

Several times a week after work, I drive out with a friend and our two dogs to Sutter’s Landing — the beautiful green space park on the banks of the American River that’s just a splash away from midtown.

The park is a favorite of Sacramento’s working class who picnic on the beaches, run their dogs, ride their bikes and play in the water on sweltering summer days.

Opinion

Over the past three years since I moved back to Sacramento, I’ve gotten to know the native landscape of the park. I can easily pick my way through crisscrossing trails, and have even begun to identify native plants and species, such as Swainson’s hawks or the occasional sea lion that wanders up from the delta. I’ve watched so many fiery sunsets over the far bank of the river that I’ve lost count.

So I’ve begun to notice that the park changes every year as summer approaches. Delicate spring flowers start to be trampled by hundreds of feet, beer bottles and trash litter the beaches, and the sounds of birdsong are replaced by stereo speakers thumping.

And most of that is OK by me. I’m always glad to see and hear people having a good time and enjoying one of the region’s most beautiful parks, though I do sometimes wish they’d turn the music down.

Rain or shine, we are out at Sutter’s Landing through every season, enjoying the river with our dogs — because it’s a free activity.

There’s something almost democratic, patriotic even, about sharing a free space with each other, especially as the days heat up and the river becomes one of the few places we can all go to cool off.

While I’m thankful for the volunteers at the Friends of Sutter’s Landing who spend their own time and money picking up trash, replanting trees and native species, and generally educating the public, their advocacy can be a catch-22.

The beauty of Sutter’s Landing attracts Sacramentans in large numbers, whose very footsteps then mar that beauty. So other humans try to mitigate the destruction, including restricting other humans from enjoying the beauty. It’s a never-ending cycle, and we’ve yet to find a comfortable middle ground. Maybe there is none.

One fence too many

But my case in point: Earlier this year, a large chain link fence went up around the park’s west side, below the levee. (Confusingly, the park below the levee is run by the County of Sacramento County, the park above the levee is run by the City of Sacramento and the levee itself is maintained by the American River Flood Control District.)

Because, as it turns out, all those meandering footpaths are hurting the park. Or so the volunteers say.

Tom Biglione, a volunteer with the Friends of Sutter’s Landing, says the chain link fence is meant to discourage travel and restore the “volunteer” footpaths that so many visitors have trodden.

On a busy summer weekend, the park can easily see upward of 500 people, Biglione said, and those volunteer paths are incredibly costly to repair: A similar restoration project in Rancho Cordova’s Rossmoor Bar is costing that city millions.

The California Conservation Corps has been working with the group to mow and tame the landscape, but leave native plants growing, and the fence is likely to stay up until at least the fall to give the new plantings a chance to root.

I appreciate the Friends of Sutter’s Landing, but I worry that sometimes the zeal of their advocacy can sway the city and county to make changes that make it harder for everyday Sacramentans to enjoy the park, and who just want access to the river.

Putting a giant fence around the park may be temporarily good for the habitat, but it’s a months-long visual deterrent to every Sacramentan who just wants to enjoy the river this summer. Surely, there’s a compromise to be made?

We are animals who use the land, too. We tromp through the bush and create those volunteer paths because they’re useful. Sutter’s Landing is one of the few river access spots in town where locals can take their kids and dogs to splash and run in the water.

That’s a precious commodity in this city, where so much of our access is choked off by private property and highways.

Our beautiful parkway

Visitors should be mindful of what the parkway is, Biglione said: A beautiful, preserved park, with some of the last 10% of California’s riparian habitat.

“It is in much better condition than a lot of the other parkways up and down the state, or even just segments of rivers,” he said. “I have personally canoed almost every river in the San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys, and the American River Parkway is a gem. It’s a wildlife treasure.”

I’m grateful for the Friends’ efforts to keep it that way. And there are more big plans for the park coming in the immediate future: The near-mile-long Two Rivers Bike Trail — at the top of the levee — will eventually be paved and fully connected to the H Street bridge, over by Sacramento State, Biglione said. And hopefully, the Saturday Naturalist series for children and families will return, an educational program that was halted by the pandemic.

Educational programs and bike trails are great, but I think the real beauty of the park lies in its natural charms: The silt-muddy beaches. The floating fluff of the cottonwood trees. A rope swing that always seems to magically reappear after every removal, and the happy screams of children diving into cold waters. And my favorite, the dusk-time campfires and stunning sunsets.

The park is a wildlife treasure, as Biglione said, and we do need to keep it litter-free and beautiful. But that doesn’t mean humans can’t or shouldn’t enjoy it. We just have to find a way to live in harmony, between those who want continued use and those who want conservation.

Surely, there’s a path forward that we can create together?