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1959 - Sacramento County Department of Parks and Recreation established by ordinance 648. It had two full-time employees: William B. Pond, Director and Margaret Woudstra, Director's Secretary.
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"Who will be around in 50 years that will be seriously concerned about environmental conservation? Having resilient ecosystems is a necessity for human health and we as a society need to protect our ecosystems in ways that are sustainable and durable." - The Nation's Health - Howard Frumpkin, MD, DrPH, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Nations Center for Environmental Health.
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1959 - The Regional Parks Acquisition and Development Branch is established with an initial budget of $18,355.
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"Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better." - Albert Einstein
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1960 - Parks and Recreation Commission created by ordinance 669.
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1960 - Ancil Hoffman Park is the first park acquired in the system. Formerly known as Deterding Ranch, this property was named after County Board Supervisor and pro-boxing promoter Ancil Hoffman.
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"The creation of the Parkway is a remarkable story that crowns the history of the lower American River." The Lower American River - Prehistory to Parkway by the American River Natural History Association. |
1961 - Discovery Park acquired.
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| "...According to several studies, children with attention-deficit disorder have fewer symptoms in natural settings. When surrounded by trees and animals, they are less likely to have behavioral problems and are better able to focus on a particular task." - How the City Hurts Your Brain - Jonah Lehrer. |
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1961 - Led by Effie Yeaw and other activists, Save the American River Association (SARA) organized to protect the river from future development in response to the encroachment of development in the Rossmoor Bar area.
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"Climb up on some hill at sunrise. Everyone needs perspective once in a while, and you'll find it there." - Robb Sagendorph
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1962 - The American River Parkway Plan was adopted by Sacramento County and incorporated into the Recreation Element of the County General Plan.
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1962 - The American River Parkway South property was acquired. This area would later be known as C. M. Goethe Park and later River Bend in 2008.
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"Those who dwell among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life." - Rachel Carson |
1962 - The County purchases the Gibson Ranch property from a private owner. Subsequent land purchases in 1974 and 1977 raise total acreage to 345 acres.
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| "To me a lush carpet of pine needles or spongy grass is more welcoming than the most luxurious Persian rug." - Helen Keller |
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1962 - Cliffhouse fishing access leased to County Parks by the State Department of Fish and Game.
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"Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished." - Lao Tzu
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1964 - Sailor Bar acquired from private owners.
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"I believe there is a subtle magnetism in Nature, which, if we unconsciously yield to it, will direct us aright." - Henry David Thoreau |
1965 - County General Plan designates the Dry Creek Corridor as an exclusive agriculture recreation reserve. This was later incorporated into the Rio Linda/Elverta Community Plan in 1971.
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"When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world." John Muir
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1965 - Ancil Hoffman Park dedicated and the golf course opens.
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| 1965 - Board of Supervisors approves a Land Use and Development Plan that includes a nature interpretive center at Ancil Hoffman Park. |
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"I only went for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, I was really going in." - John Muir
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1968 - William B. Pond, first Regional Parks Director, leaves Parks; James Malcolm appointed Director.
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"The world is mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful." - e.e. cummings
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1968 - County signs operation agreement with the California Department of Fish and Game to maintain the Hogback Island Recreation Area.
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"I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and have my senses put in order." - John Burroughs.
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1971 - Sarah Court river access acquired.
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"...Environmental stewardship and economic development need not be in conflict if you are smart about how growth is pursued." - Chamber of Commerce President Mike Bergey, Norman Oklahoma |
1972 - Voters approve $12.6 million bond to expand Parkway operations, continue acquisitions and build what would be eventually known as the Effie Yeaw Nature Center.
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1972 - Sacramento County leases Elkhorn boat launch facility from the State.
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"The environmental movement is looking to use as much of the landscape as possible to clean the air, provide natural drainage and do the kind of nature-friendly work that parks do." - Alexander Garvin, Yale University professor and park planner
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1972 - The County Park Ranger unit created to help reduce illegal camping, crime, damage to facilities, among many other duties along the American River Parkway and all County Parks.
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"I believe a leaf of grass is no less than a journey-work of the stars." - Walt Whitman
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1973 - James Malcolm reties; Donald Nance appointed Director.
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"The retreat indoors for many American children has environmental advocates worried that children...might become adults for whom conserving the environment isn't a priority." - The Nation's Health - American Public Health Association
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1973 - Paradise Beach acquired from the City of Sacramento.
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"In the end we will only conserve what we love; we will love only what we understand; and we will understand only what we have been taught." - Baba Dioum
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1973 - Rancho Seco Recreation area acquired.
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1973 - Campus Commons golf course opens.
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"Quality of life doesn't just happen as a byproduct of a free market." - Harriet Tregoing, Smart Growth Leadership Institute Executive Director
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1974 - Arden Bar Park area added to the Parkway. This area will later be re-named William B. Pond in honor of the first Regional Parks Director.
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"Choose only one master - Nature." - Rembrandt |
1974 - Gibson Land Use and Development Plan approved by the County Board of Supervisors with the goal of restoring the ranching facilities and provide continued maintenance of the park.
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"There is nothing pleasanter than spading when the ground is soft and damp." - John Steinbeck
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1974 - U.S. Department of the Interior designated the Jedediah Smith trail as a National Recreation Trail.
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"One touch of nature makes the whole world kin." - William Shakespeare
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1975 - The specific Parkway Plan from the portion of the Parkway located within the City of Sacramento's jurisdiction was adopted by the city.
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1975 - The Therapeutic Recreation Services program for children, teens and adults with special needs is established.
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"Lively, lively, we are lots of people." - Maidu Dance Song |
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1975 - The Department of Parks and Recreation Parkway Division established.
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"The lower American River is the only nationally designated wild and scenic river that runs through a major metropolitan area." - Sacramento Groundwater Authority
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1976 - The Board of Supervisors adopt the first version of the Combining Zone Ordinance to protect the American River Parkway from visual intrusion from adjacent development.
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1976 - Effie Yeaw Nature Center construction completed and dedicated.
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"Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience." - Ralph Waldo Emerson |
1977 - Rhoades schoolhouse restoration is completed and building dedicated.
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1978 - Parks receives commendation from the California Department of Water Resources for operating the American River Parkway as an appropriate use of flood-prone lands.
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| "If one way be better than another, that you may be sure is nature's way." Aristotle |
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1978 - First annual Great American River Clean-up event kicks off.
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"What humbugs we are, who pretend to live for Beauty, and never see the Dawn!" - Logan Pearsall Smith
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1980 - Parks implements the user fees program to help fund all Regional Parks maintenance and enforcement.
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1980 - Completion of the Harold Richley Bridge connecting the north Bank, William B. Pond Recreation Area and the south bank, River Bend Park, trail segments at Arden Way.
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"The human spirit needs places where nature has not been rearranged by the hand of man." - Author unknown |
1981 - The stretch of the American River downstream of Nimbus Dam to the confluence of the Sacramento River is designated as a federal and State wild and scenic river.
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1982 - Donald Nance retires; Eugene Andal appointed Director.
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"Smart growth is smart money." - Boston Globe
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1981 - American River Natural History Association established.
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"There is no Democratic planet Earth. There is no Republican planet Earth. There's just one planet Earth and we all have a responsibility to take care of it." - Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
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1982 - Donald Nance retires; Eugene Andal is appointed Director.
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1983 - American River Parkway Foundation established to help acquire Parkway funds.
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"Studies have found that even a relatively paltry patch of nature can confer benefits." - How the City Hurts Your Brain - Jonah Lehrer |
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1984 - County Parks Rangers officially sworn in as Peace Officers and are permitted to carry firearms.
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"Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you." - Frank Lloyd Wright |
1984 - The Regional Parks Group Picnic Services office established.
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1984 - Regional Parks Branch Center building opens on 3711 Branch Center Road.
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"Richard Fuller, an ecologist at the University of Queensland, demonstrated that the psychological benefits of green space are closely linked to the diversity of its plant life." - How the City Hurts Your Brain - Jonah Lehrer
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1985 - California legislature passes the Urban American River Parkway Preservation Act and the American River Parkway Plan is adopted to protect and enhance wildlife habitat, fishery and recreational resources.
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1985 - Final segments of the Jedediah Smith Memorial Bicycle Trail are acquired and the trail is completed. The paved path stretches 32 miles from Discovery Park to Beals Point at Folsom Lake.
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1986 - County now oversees the Bushy Lake area along the American River near Cal Expo.
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"...Just looking at a natural scene can lead to higher scores on tests of attention and memory. While people have searched high and low for ways to improve cognitive performance, from doping themselves with Red Bull to redesigning the layout of offices, it appears that few of these treatments are as effective as simply taking a walk in a natural place." - How the City Hurts Your Brain - Jonah Lehrer. - How the City Hurts Your Brain - Jonah Lehrer.
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1987 - The annual Strauss Festival kicks off at Elk Grove Regional Park in July on Strauss Island.
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"By far the greatest and more admirable form of wisdom is that needed to plan and beautify cities and human communities." - Socrates |
| 1987 - After purchasing over 200 acres of land along the Cosumnes River, the Nature Conservancy establishes the Cosumnes River Preserve. |
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1987 - Sacramento Softball Complex opens.
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1988 - Grand opening of the Gibson Ranch Camp at Gibson Ranch.
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"One cannot fix one's eyes on the commonest natural production without finding food for a rambling fancy." - Jane Austen
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1989 - Regional Parks celebrates 30 years. The Department manages over 10,000 acres, 25 park area and has 113 full-time employees. Gene Andal is Director during this milestone.
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"Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long enough to play with your hair." - Kahil Gibran
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1989 - American River Conservancy established.
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1989 - Board of Supervisors approves the creation of the Open Space Task Force.
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"Brimming with wildlife and the beauty of the river, the bike trail is what I use for my commute, which is 50 miles -- and about 2,000 calories -- a day. I've often said -- and I'll say it again -- we have the greatest urban bike trail in North America." - Blair Anthony Robertson, Sacramento Bee - December 25, 2008 |
1990 - Regional Parks begins development of Dry Creek Parkway Master Plan. The plan was completed in 1999.
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1990 - Cherry Island Golf Course opened to the public.
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1993 - Regional Parks officially becomes a partner of the Cosumnes River Preserve after purchasing 600 acres to add to the preserve. Additional purchases by preserve partners have expanded the preserve to nearly 46,000 acres.
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"To waste, to destroy, our natural resources, to skin and exhaust the land instead of using it so as to increase it's usefulness, will result in undermining the days of our children the very property which we ought by right to hand down to them amplified and developed." Theodore Roosevelt.
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1995 - Stone Lakes National Wildlife Refuge Association established. This volunteer organization is dedicated to supporting the refuge's mission of conserving, interpreting and restoring refuge wildlife and habitat.
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"Gold! Gold! Gold from the American River!" - Sam Brannan - The Lower American River, Prehistory to Parkway |
1995 - Mather Air Force Base is decommissioned in 1988 and later opens in 1995 as Mather Airport. Parks leases 1,432 acres of property. Mather Golf Course begins operations as a public course.
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1996 - Witter Ranch donated to County. The farm is on the list of historical places.
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"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving he can outwit Nature and spend more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority." - E. B. White
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1997 - McFarland Ranch property acquired .
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1998 - Eugene Andal retires; Ron Suter appointed Director.
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"Never does nature say one thing and wisdom another." - Juvenal
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1998 - Golf Division established within the Department to oversee County golf course maintenance and operations.
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1998 - Dry Creek Parkway acquisition begins.
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"In wilderness is the preservation of the world." - Henry David Thoreau
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2003 - The McFarland Living History Ranch opens to the public. This project was made possible by the Galt Area Historical Society.
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2005 - The $1.8 million Hayer Bridge and Trail project is completed, improving connectivity between the Dry Creek and American River Parkway.
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2006 - The Jedediah Smith Memorial Bicycle Trail is voted the nation's number one bike trail by www.Trails.com.
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2006 - Ron Suter retires; Gary Kukkola appointed Director.
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"If you watch a game, it's fun. If you play it, it's recreation. If you work at it, it's golf." - Bob Hope
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2006 - Mather Boulevard Bike Trail construction phase I begins.
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"Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts." - Rachel Carson
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2006 - Fair Oaks Bluff Park Preserve purchased after nearly 10 years of negotiations. This area is added to the American River Parkway.
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"Let the river roll which way it will, cities will rise on its banks." - Ralph Waldo Emerson |
2006 - American River Parkway Plan Update Citizen's Advisory Committee completes update of the draft updated American River Parkway Plan.
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2006 - Soil Born Farms and California Native Plant Society begin operations on agricultural areas of the American River Parkway.
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"What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered." Ralph Waldo Emmerson.
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2006 - Board of Supervisors take action to support inclusion of the Park Ranger Peace Officers of POST reimbursable training program.
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2006 - Land acquired adjacent to Effie Yeaw Nature Center to buffer sensitive nature area and protect site from future adjacent development.
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"The horseman dreamed of a capital-to-capital trail - Sacramento to Carson City. The bicyclists wanted a paved path from the confluence of Nimbus Dam, hikers wanted the same, and the Audubon Society and the environmentalists wanted access to all the natural elements and the fishermen and canoeists and kayakers wanted access to the river." - William B. Pond, taken from the Lower American River: Prehistory to Parkway
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2006 - Board of Supervisors approves a ban on possessing and drinking alcohol within the American River Parkway along the shores between Hazel at Watt Avenue on major summer holidays. The State Legislature follows suit in 2007 be signing Assembly Bill 951 to make the American River officially a "Dry Creek" on major summer holidays.
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"The last place you want to build anything on is virgin land. In American it's the first place, but it should be the last place." - Thomas Hylton, former journalist |
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2006 - Old Fair Oaks Bridge is designated a Historic Bridge by the Keeper of the National Register of Historic Places.
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2006 - State Parks Bonds Act provides per capita funding to accomplish renovation of deteriorating infrastructure and facilities within County Parks and fund building inspection at the Effie Yeaw Nature Center.
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"This desire for parkland and capitalizing on natural assets is really taking hold." - David Goldberg, Smart Growth America Communication Director
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2007 - Therapeutic Recreation Services staff relocated to refurbished Florin East Grammar School.
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"The American River Parkway is often referred to as the "Jewel of Sacramento" and it has been estimated that the parkway helps generate $259,034,030 in annual economic activity on the local economy and has over 5 million visitors annually." Regional Parks: The History of the Department of Regional Parks, Recreation and Open Space - July 2004 |
2008 - Gary Kukkola retires; Janet Baker appointed Director.
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2008 - C.M. Goethe Park renamed River Bend.
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2008 - The County and City of Sacramento pass ordinances that requires that all children 12 and under must be wearing proper life jackets before they enter any waterways in Sacramento County.
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2008 - Environmental review of the updated American River Parkway Plan 2006 is completed and the plan is adopted by the County of Sacramento, the City of Sacramento and endorsed by the City of Rancho Cordova.
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"The American River Parkway Plan was adopted in concept in 1962 by Sacramento County and incorporated into the Recreation Element of the County General Plan. Adopting the Parkway concept was a declaration of the County's intent to preserve an open space greenbelt along the length of the American River in Sacrament County." - American River Parkway Plan 2008
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2009 - The County forwards the adopted American River Parkway Plan to the State Legislature for adoption under section 5832 of the Public Resources Code.
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