An excellent reminder and point of discussion from Graswich today, in that part of our mission “to “Preserve, Protect, and Strengthen the American River parkway, Our Community’s Natural Heart”; where strengthen means improving the Parkway, and a clear area of needed improvement is what this note mentions: the needs of all people using the trails.
The paved trail has become, de facto, the bike trail. What needs to be developed is a trail for pedestrians, closer to the river, meandering, with frequent park benches for people to rest, and more carved out picnic areas, while still retaining the natural ambiance we expect from the Parkway.
This will be challenging and expensive, and based on the current management's inability to even provide proper maintenance, will probably only happen when a nonprofit organization contracts with the government ownership of the Parkway to provide guidance for it, (as we call for) bringing in the kind of dedicated management and fund raising that such an arrangement can provide; as it has with the Sacramento Zoo here and Central Park in New York, both managed by nonprofit organizations.
The note.
Ownership rights: Ron Long points out a common misperception about the recreational pavement that runs from Folsom to the Sacramento River. "The name is not the American River bike trail," Ron said. "It's the American River Parkway and Jedediah Smith Memorial Trail. I refuse to call it a bike trail." Ron believes sharing would be easier if folks know the pavement is for walkers, skaters, joggers, cyclists, horses and deer. Exclusive to none.
