The City of Folsom is proposing a River District Master Plan that includes development of the Lake Natoma shoreline and bluffs. Proposals that have been suggested thus far include an amphitheater on the bluffs, a boathouse, several more parking lots, water taxis, more fishing opportunities, etc. Please keep in mind that 75% of the "River District" is actually Federal and State property, which is mostly the Folsom Lake State Recreation Area. This is not land available for development! The remaining 25% is city and private property. The Folsom Lake SRA has its own General Plan, but that is often overlooked by those who want to develop the waterfront. Remember this line? "They paved paradise and put up a parking lot."

Folsom's business and economic strategy is to monetize a California State Park; a regional, state and national treasure belonging to the region’s citizens and their heirs. The Lake Natoma shoreline is owned by the Bureau of Reclamation and managed and operated by state parks. The Folsom Lake State Recreation Area, of which Lake Natoma is a part, has always been preserved and protected as an extension of the American River Parkway. Lake Natoma and her lands are governed by the American River Parkway Plan and the Folsom Lake State Recreation Area Plan. These multi-million dollar master plans represent many years of public input and a consensus vision.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

SARA is asking that everyone concerned about the future of the American River Parkway contact the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, California Department of Parks and Recreation, the Sacramento County of Regional Parks, Sacramento County Supervisor Sue Frost, and Representative Dr. Ami Bera (e-mail addresses are listed below).

Ask them to immediately notify their constituencies of the proposed plan for a River District Master Plan Study that includes public lands, and solicit comments as well as organize public meetings inviting the greater American River Parkway community to register their comments and concerns.

Additionally, please contact SARA if your neighborhood association, garden club, civic group, etc. would like a SARA representative to attend your meetings to work with you on engaging in the process of protecting and conserving our American River Parkway and the quality of life of those neighborhoods adjacent to Lake Natoma and her lands. 

Drew Lessard, Area Manager
Central California Area Office
Bureau of Reclamation
[email protected]

Sacramento County Supervisor - District 4
Sue Frost
[email protected]

Dr. Ami Bera
U.S. House of Representatives
[email protected]

Ann Edwards
County Executive, Sacramento County
[email protected]

Liz Bellas
Director, Sacramento County Regional Parks
[email protected]

The Bureau of Reclamation must discharge their commitment, as the landowner of Lake Natoma, to protect its natural resources. They are a signatory to the Folsom Lake State Recreation Area and Folsom Powerhouse State Historic Park General Plan/Resources Management Plan (GP/RMP). They have an executed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with California State Parks to manage and operate our region's premiere state park serving the recreational needs of people and protecting the plants and animals that call these wildlands home. Folsom's businessmen and developers cannot simply co-opt public lands but, instead, must work with California State Parks to support and promote the implementation of the GP/RMP and the updated American River Parkway Plan.