In this story from today’s Bee thinking about creating more parks and open space in the Central Valley, rapidly developing to accommodate the many who want to live here, is beginning and it is not a moment too soon, and it is all about the water.
As we know, though blessed with the Parkway and still abundant open space, a growing population is inevitable and requires even more. We need to begin seriously thinking about expanding the space we now have, including the Parkway.
Our mission is Preserve, Protect, and Strengthen the American River Parkway, Our Community’s Natural Heart, and the strengthening includes, not only the obvious enhancement of the existing entity but increasing its acreage.
Here is an excerpt.
Central Valley recreation game plan in works
By M.S. Enkoji -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:01 am PDT Wednesday, May 24, 2006
From the major highways of California's midsection, it's hard to miss the wide expanses of earthy brown, the land, terra firma, solid ground.
So what do the people in the Central Valley seek for recreation?
"They like water," said Ruth Coleman, director of California Department of Parks and Recreation. "People are drawn to water."
Whether people live on the cattle ranches of Fresno County or in housing tracts along Interstate 5 in Glenn County, they want to fish, swim, boat, camp near or just plain gaze at water for recreation, the department has found.
After a series of 2005 meetings in the Central Valley, the department has created the Central Valley Vision, a checklist of priorities and needs for shaping the future of public recreation opportunities in the state's heartland.
Now home to a sliver of state parks -- only 7 percent are in the Central Valley -- the expanse of California from Bakersfield to Redding is one of the fastest-growing population belts, Coleman said. As rooftops mushroom quickly, land prices could eventually prevent public acquisition, which is why the department needs a game plan now, Coleman said.
