Meeting Time: February 01, 2024 at 5:30pm PST

Where: City Hall Complex - 915 I Street, Sacramento, CA 95814 Published by the Office of the City Clerk Sacramento, CA 95814


Agenda Item

3. Trees in City Parks - Strengths, Opportunities, and Challenges File ID: 2024-00449

   Oppose     Neutral     Support    
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    vincent valdez 10 months ago

    As community composting is growing in Sacramento are there any plans for compost drop off sites at the parks we all know a lot of food waste is created in park activities during the summer time. What a great opportunity to turn waste into a resource as well as educating the community on the benefits of separating waste into appropriate bins.

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    Tim Vendlinski 10 months ago

    It's telling that the City's forecasted maintenance service levels for City Parks and Parkways refer to native plant communities and wildlife habitat as "Undeveloped Park Areas". This reflects the long-held perspective by many elected officials and City staff that natural habitat are simply lands that are not yet "developed". The City continues to ignore calls to establish a citywide Natural Areas Program to permanently protect and steward Natural Areas as a way to meet the goals and objectives of the City Parks Plan, Urban Forestry Plan, General Plan, and CAAP.
    https://www.ecosacramento.net/2024/01/campaign-for-protecting-natural-areas-in-the-city-of-sacramento/
    While the City Council has designated a number of "Natural Areas" throughout the City, these areas are not legally protected, nor are they stewarded by trained scientists, e.g., restoration ecologists, wetlands scientists, wildlife biologists. And when it comes to the discussion of the urban forest, with notable exceptions at Del Paso Regional Park, the City continues to under-value and disregard "wild" populations of native oaks even though these trees are arguably the most ecologically valuable trees in the entire City. The City should not delegate the care of the wild oak population to untrained volunteers. There are numerous examples at Del Paso Regional Park where lessees untrained landscaping personnel have caused severe and possibly irreversible damage to "legacy" oaks within the Park, i.e., oaks that are at least a century old. The City of Sacramento is situated in the middle of the California Floristic Province and a biodiversity hotspot where a unique and rich assemblage of plants and animals is threatened by a range of anthropogenic stressors, e.g., landscape fragmentation, invasive plants and animals, pesticides, illegal camping and dumping, and reckless development.
    https://wildlife.ca.gov/Science-Institute/Biodiversity
    The City's one of a kind ecosystem deserves a professionally-run Natural Areas Program.
    Thank you,
    Tim Vendlinski

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    Steve Schweigerdt 10 months ago

    I'm saddened to see that the budget is so limited Park is no longer planting trees without citizen volunteers organizing it. This stands in contrast to polling (Valley Vision Livability Poll) that shows Natural Areas, Parks, and Trails are the #1 feature of our region that people want to invest in. What is the strategy to capitalize on how much we love trees, parks, and nature and increase the investment? We need tree plantings, a Natural Areas Program, and conversion to a more climate resilient system. Will the Department work with ECOS, Friends of groups, and the Commission to build a constituency that will advocate for adequate funding to get the most out of the Parks System? I'm glad to support that and help recruit!

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    ray tretheway 10 months ago

    I believe it must have been very difficult for the Park's arborist and management team to forward to the Parks and Community Enrichment Commission their recommendation to stop planting trees throughout our beloved city parks. It is difficult for me to understand the City of Trees will no longer be funding tree plantings in city parks. I think of the civic pride and great legacy of our beautiful and shaded parks being disbanded. I think of the Park's Department role to meet the city's adopted climate action plan's goal to rapidly increase tree canopy especially in under resourced neighborhoods. I think of the multitude of youth and adult recreational teams that use our city parks whose fields are unshaded exposing the participants, as well as supporters, to a higher risk of contact skin cancer (trees absorb 90% of both UVA and UVB sun rays ) and to as well a higher exposure to incidents of heat stroke and dehydration. I believe the planting and care of new park trees must be an uninterrupted commitment in order for this generation and the next to fully benefit from the many services and benefits accrued from a shaded park. My hope is for the Commission to embrace the inextricable link between the planting of new park trees to the health and well being of our park users and to the quality of life and environmental health of all our neighborhoods. Thank you for your consideration - Ray Tretheway

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    Heather Fargo 10 months ago

    I am writing in support of trees and shade in our parks. Parks aren’t really parks in Sacramento without trees, which are critical to our comfort and quality of life.

    I am asking that you honor the first sentence of the “Tree Maintenance within City Parks and Parkways” section - “PMD is responsible for the care and maintenance of all trees within the city’s parks and parkways.”

    The City must take full responsibility for planting, watering, and maintaining trees in parks, and NOT transfer full responsibility to volunteers, as stated in the “Tree Plantings” paragraph. This is not being responsible.

    As Commissioners, please ask staff to return with a proposed budget to fulfill this obligation, so the citizens of Sacramento can ask the City Council to fund it. If we are concerned about our quality of life, climate change mitigation, and fulfilling the responsibility of the city for our city parks, the city must fund planting of new trees and replacement planting in our parks.

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    Isaac Gonzalez 10 months ago

    Having not yet seen the presentation, I would just like to state that a condition of many of our trees in our parks show the evidence of the age of the trees, and I believe we need to have a robust plan to begin to cycle in new plantings now as these trees begin to age out and die. Having accessible Green Space in every community in Sacramento must be a priority of this government. Green Space allows for activities and opportunities to promote health. This is especially evident in our underserved and disadvantaged communities. We are the city of trees. We must do our best to be good keepers of those trees and that nickname.