{"id":194885,"date":"2026-02-26T14:55:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T14:55:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/194885\/"},"modified":"2026-02-26T14:55:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T14:55:08","slug":"photos-sacramentos-native-oak-trees-become-key-issue-in-housing-and-flood-planning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/194885\/","title":{"rendered":"Photos: Sacramento\u2019s Native Oak Trees Become Key Issue in Housing and Flood Planning"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n Hundreds of people marched along
\n the American River in July to protest the Army Corps of
\n Engineers\u2019 plan to remove over 600 trees, including oaks, from
\n the riverbanks for a flood control project. Dozens attended a
\n November meeting of the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors to
\n urge the rejection of a solar energy project that would remove
\n thousands of oaks from land near Prairie City. Sacramentans have
\n also rallied against projects that would remove oaks for flood
\n control along the Sacramento River and homes in Rancho
\n Cordova.\n<\/p>\n

\n Sacramento was once known as the
\n City of Trees, so perhaps it isn\u2019t surprising that some residents
\n are concerned about what is happening to local oaks, despite the
\n impact the projects would have on ongoing issues like the
\n
\n housing
\n crisis<\/a>,
\n flood risk<\/a> and fossil fuel
\n consumption<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cIf you look at the land-use
\n changes in the Central Valley over the last 200 years, so many of
\n the oaks have been removed through conversion to agriculture and
\n cities,\u201d says David Rizzo, distinguished professor of plant
\n pathology at UC Davis. \u201cThere are very few classic oak woodlands
\n left.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n Diseases that are killing oaks in
\n other parts of the state have been largely absent in the Capital
\n Region, Rizzo says. Development and climate change \u2014 higher
\n temperatures and drought \u2014 threaten oaks here. Valley, blue and
\n interior live oak are the most common oak trees in the region.
\n \u201cOak woodlands are a critical habitat,\u201d Rizzo says.\n<\/p>\n

\n Here is a look at projects that
\n involve cutting oak trees.\n<\/p>\n

American River housing<\/p>\n

\n \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\n Interior live oaks are on a site proposed for housing on the
\n American River in Rancho Cordova. The interior live oak is
\n unusual for oak trees because it retains leaves in winter.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n Developers want to build a
\n housing subdivision in Rancho Cordova in one of the few sections
\n of undeveloped private property on the Lower American River,
\n known as the Kassis site after former owner John P. Kassis. The
\n most recent iteration of the project discussed between developer
\n Trumark and Rancho Cordova\u2019s City Council would create
\n
\n 245 units on 41
\n acres<\/a>. The project
\n site near River Bend Park has 147 protected trees, including 10
\n interior live oaks. The project has been discussed for years, in
\n part because of concerns from state and local officials about the
\n potential for flooding.\n<\/p>\n

American River flood
\n control<\/p>\n

\n \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\n A Valley oak in a section of the American River Parkway where the
\n U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans to remove all of the trees for
\n flood protection work.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
\n says it needs to remove at least 675 trees along the American
\n River Parkway as part of a project to better secure the
\n riverbanks against flooding near Watt Avenue. Environmental
\n groups, in a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the
\n Eastern District of California, say the work can be done without
\n all the tree removal.\n<\/p>\n

\n One of their arguments for
\n opposing the project is that the Corps of Engineers did not
\n specify how many heritage oaks would be removed, when they are
\n common along the river and protected under Sacramento County
\n ordinance. They also said the federal agency failed to properly
\n consider project alternatives.\n<\/p>\n

\n A federal judge agreed that they
\n provided enough evidence to raise the question in further legal
\n proceedings when she granted a temporary injunction against the
\n project in November.\n<\/p>\n

Sacramento River flood
\n control<\/p>\n

\n \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\n Oak and other trees along the Sacramento River were part of an
\n extensive trimming project required by the U.S. Army Corps of
\n Engineers.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n That wasn\u2019t the first time the
\n Corps of Engineers drew opposition for plans to cut trees. A few
\n years ago, Reclamation District 1000, which is responsible for
\n levees in Natomas, cut trees along the Garden Highway to ensure
\n its employees could clearly see the levees from the highway. The
\n district said the Corps of Engineers required the work. Residents
\n said the work was unnecessary, especially since the levees had
\n been improved in recent years.\n<\/p>\n

Coyote Creek solar farm<\/p>\n

\n \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\n The Coyote Creek Agrovoltaic Ranch Project calls for the removal
\n of 4,259 blue oaks in eastern Sacramento County.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n On 1,400 acres in eastern
\n Sacramento County, currently used for ranching and home to about
\n 3,500 oak trees, developers are proposing the construction of a
\n solar-power generation farm. The Coyote Creek Agrivoltaic Ranch
\n project was designed for the Sacramento Municipal Utility
\n District, which planned to use the energy to help meet the
\n state\u2019s requirement for more alternative energy sources.\n<\/p>\n

\n SMUD has since backed out, citing
\n \u201cproject uncertainties\u201d including \u201csupply chain constraints,
\n rising prices, tariffs, schedule delays, environmental impacts
\n and pending litigation.\u201d The developers say they will seek a new
\n partner for the project. Three lawsuits are pending against the
\n project, including one filed by environmental groups challenging
\n the environmental impact report approved by county supervisors in
\n November.\n<\/p>\n

\n Never miss a story: Get Comstock\u2019s weekly newsletter<\/a> delivered to your
\n inbox.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hundreds of people marched along the American River in July to protest the Army Corps of Engineers\u2019 plan…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":194886,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[121,123,122],"class_list":{"0":"post-194885","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sacramento","8":"tag-sacramento","9":"tag-sacramento-headlines","10":"tag-sacramento-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194885","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=194885"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194885\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/194886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=194885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=194885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=194885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}