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Acorn Day Returning to Sutter's Fort by Dale

10/2/2026

This upcoming free event on 10/10/26 from 10-4 might be of interest and similar to our past FORB/FOSL education events. See you there!

Enjoy.

Dale

Acorn Day EVENT INFORMATION:
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The season is changing, which means acorns will soon begin to ripen and fall. Join us to learn how to process these nutrient-rich nuts into a traditional food staple that has been culturally significant for California Native peoples since time immemorial.

In addition, visitors will also discover why oak trees are crucial to local ecosystems and their role as California's top keystone plant species.

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FEATURED DEMONSTRATORS & GUESTS:
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- Diana Almendariz (Maidu/Wintu) - Acorn processing and cooking
- Christina Almendariz (Maidu/Wintu/Hupa/Yurok) - Black Walnut TEK
- Ooti Maxine - Tule TEK demonstrations
- Sara Calvosa Olson (Karuk) - Author of Chími Nu'am: Native California Foodways for the Contemporary Kitchen
- Theresa LaRose (Pomo/Pitt River) - Elderberry TEK demonstrations
- Dixie Rogers (Karuk) - Basket weaving TEK
- Claudette Rogers (Karuk) - Basket weaving TEK

More demonstrators and guests will be announced soon!

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PARTICIPATING PARTNERS INCLUDE:
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- Cache Creek Conservancy
- CalFire - Tribal Affairs
- California Department of Fish & Wildlife - Tribal Affairs
- Chaw'se Indian Grinding Rock SHP
- Effie Yeaw Nature Center
- Miridae Mobile Nursery
- Northern California Bats
- Redbud Resource Group
- Sacramento Valley California Native Plant Society
- Sacramento Valley Conservancy
- Save the American River Association
- SMUD
- Yolo Sol Collective

With more announcements to come!

Food vendors include Bigfoot Frybread and Hummingbird Sweets & Treats!

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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
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This FREE public event will be held outside of the State Indian Museum (SIM) and includes complimentary admission to both the SIM and Sutter's Fort State Historic Park (SHP).

California State Parks is proud to host Acorn Day in partnership with our non-profit and tribal partners: the California Indian Heritage Center Foundation, Midtown Second Saturday, the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, and SMUD.

For more information or if you have any questions please contact: (916) 324-0971

_If you need to request special accommodations please reach out to: Kyle Floyd / [email protected] _

_Please note: We do our best to avoid postponing or cancelling events, but all events and programs are subject to change due to adverse weather conditions or unexpected issues with staff scheduling, park maintenance projects, natural resource management activities, and data connectivity (for virtual programs). Please contact the park if you have any questions.

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Sutter's Landing Plant Restoration Sunday March 8th and March 22nd

3/6/2026

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Hope you are all enjoying the sun and good weather! We have two events this month.

On March 8 and March 22 we need a few people to join us with Friends of Sutter's Landing to water the native plants we established in our pocket prairie. We will also add more mulch to the existing plants and remove a few weeds if time allows.

Watering starts at 10 am and will take about two hours. We will provide snacks, remember to bring water. Meet at Sutter’s Landing.

We'll be watering on the 2nd and 4th Sundays through September. Sign-ups are here with ReWild our partner in this project.

We hope to see you!

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Sutter's Landing Plant Restoration Sat, Feb 28th 9:30 am - 12:00 pm

2/26/2026

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Saturday, February 28th 9:30am - 12:00pm

Come join the fun!

Friends of Sutter's Landing (FOSL) and ReWild Sacramento are putting more native plants in at Sutter''s Landing Park (SLP). We can thank Alex Binck of ReWild for making this happen. See the flyer below for details. If you can, please RSVP here: https://x.gldn.io/jmlpNUJI30b

Bring: gloves, shoes that protect your feet, water, snacks and tools. The tools we will need are: shovels, rakes, clippers, hand trowels and anything else you think will be helpful. We can also use large garbage bags to collect the weeds with seeds we want to contain.

If you have cardboard we can use as much as you can bring!

Come on out and show some love for Sutter's Landing Park!
Hope to see you there.
Friends of Sutter's Landing

Our mailing address is:
Friends of Sutter's Landing 615 27th St Sacramento, CA 95816-3708 USA

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Sutter's Landing Plant Restoration Saturday, October 25th

10/8/2025

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Friends of Sutter's Landing (FOSL) and ReWild Sacramento received a grant from the City to add more native plants to Sutter''s Landing Park (SLP). We can thank Alex Binck of ReWild for making this happen. To date we have purchased some native plants from the local California Native Plant Society nursery and are caring for them until it gets wet and cool enough to plant them. We hope around November 15th.

Before we can plant these CA Natives we need to clear a few areas of the weeds and thistles that are still there. This spring, working together, we cleared out a tremendous number of thistles and other non natives, however there are still some areas that need work. If we had more cardboard and mulch we could also spread that. Any ideas on how to make that happen?

This is where we need your help and your tools. We plan to meet on Saturday, October 25th at 9 am and talk about the project, goals, what is needed and your ideas, and then start work at 9:30 am. We should be done in a couple of hours. Heavy rain will postpone the event to another date.

Bring: gloves, shoes that protect your feet, water, snacks and tools. The tools we will need are: shovels, rakes, clippers, hand trowels and anything else you think will be helpful. We can also use large garbage bags to collect the weeds with seeds we want to contain.

Come on out and show some love for Sutter's Landing Park!
Hope to see you on October 25th.
Friends of Sutter's Landing

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SLRP Habitat and History Mural Installed! by Dale

4/28/2025

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It's hard to miss the new mural now installed on the south side of the Baler building at SLP. The new mural is a city sponsored project with input from community, tribal, and environmental groups as well as local experts. The mural is meant to be public art that attracts, teaches and inspires those that visit SLP. Seen from a distance as you approach the park it draws you closer where you can recognize species, habitats, cultural objects and landscapes that have been a dominant part of the region across time.

The artist, Liv Losee-Unger created "The Living Balance" with much input from FOSL especially Robert Sewell's amazing photos combined with stories, observations, and knowledge collected by local experts and volunteers over many years at SLP.

If you haven't made it out to SLP recently, head out soon to see for yourself how the mural stimulates you to look closer and appreciate Sacramento's gateway to the American River Parkway. SLP is still undergoing planning and restoration from a time when it was the city's landfill. You can help protect and enjoy it so that others can do the same long into the future.

A teaching tool has been produced to go along with "The Living Balance" mural providing more details on the species and crafts presented. A QR code is provided on the mural to download the teaching tool guide. The code is not active yet but the guide can be downloaded here or from the city's website. Whether you study the teaching tool guide before your visit or after you return, it's something you will want to return to often. The same is true for this new mural!

"The Living Balance" Mural design and educational packet

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Sutter's Landing Regional Park Draft Site Plan Presentation & Comments by Corey

3/4/2025

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Sacramento City Parks, Youth, and Community Enrichment staff will present the draft Sutter’s Landing Park Draft Site Plan to the City’s Parks and Community Enrichment Commission this Thursday, March 6, 2025 beginning at 5:30 pm at City Hall. Please plan on attending and speaking in favor of a nature-focused plan.

A copy of the one-page site plan and link to the document are provided here. The link also includes a page from the City’s Parks Plan 2040 that includes “Key Direction 6: Foster Nature and Trail Connections” including “Designate Natural Areas for the Purpose of Protection and Best Practice Maintenance Planning.”

Key points to raise:

Sutter’s Landing Park provides the City’s greatest (or one of its greatest) opportunities to implement Parks Plan 2040 Key Direction 6 by designating the park’s large “Mound” area and the West SLP properties as “Natural Areas.”

Sutter’s Landing Park provides a convenient and low-cost place for children and their families to connect to nature and the outdoors

Specifically urge the Commission to support designating the Mound and the West SLP areas as Natural Areas and provide for the protection and restoration of the important habitat these properties provide for habitat for sensitive and other species including Swainson’s hawks, red-tailed hawks, White-tailed kites, deer, rabbits, and many others.

Provide any additional comments you have regarding the site plan and/or discuss your personal experiences enjoying Sutter’s Landing Park.

If you can’t attend the meeting, please email your comments to the Commissioner that represents the City Council district in which you live. Even better, you can send your email to each of these email addresses.

*        [email protected]
        *        [email protected]
        *        [email protected]
        *        [email protected]
        *        [email protected]
        *        [email protected]
        *        [email protected]
        *        [email protected]
        *        [email protected]
        *        [email protected]

Thank you in advance for considering this request. I hope to see you at this Thursday’s City Parks and Community Enrichment Commission meeting.

Please let me know if you have any questions or need any additional information.
Sincerely,
Corey Brown
[email protected]

City of Sacramento Parks and Community Enrichment Commission Members/Emails:

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Return of the Salmon Returned!

1/14/2025

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On 11/16/24 FOSL hosted "Return of the Salmon". The tradition for this event began over a decade before when Friends of the Riverbanks regularly hosted monthly events.

Those attending the "Return of the Salmon" event heard the story of salmon as shared by Laura Drath of California Department of Fish and Wildlife. All present learned of this great fish, including its life journey and the centuries its kind have been traveling these waters. Everyone discovered how our lives are linked to one another now and throughout history on the rivers running through Sacramento. People brought questions and curiosity and enjoyed this special event. Laura gave a hands on presentation and took questions at this family-friendly activity on the beach along the American River.

Stay tuned for future events and be sure not to miss any.

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Mid-Summer Volunteer Report by Betsy

8/19/2023

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Enjoying all the native plants well cared for in the gateway garden.

Increasingly, Sutter's Landing Park is very popular this time of year. This year late high river flows covered much of the river area popularly visited. Now summer is in full swing along with all the things, good and bad, that come with it. A group of very dedicated and hard working FOSL volunteers are out almost daily keeping the area clean and helping visitors enjoy nature and the great outdoors in our backyard. An edited version of the most recent volunteer report follows to give a much better idea of what it takes to keep the park clean and how much room there is for improvement in behavior and help by those that come to enjoy it.
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The past two weeks at SLP have been a mixed bag of positives and negatives. I wish the community realized how much effort SLP's volunteers put into keeping the River and Parkway clean, safe, and accessible. Thank you to Catherine, Bea, and Elisa who can always be counted on to make sure the beaches and trails are super clean, and the garbage cans are emptied and lined, each and every Saturday. No matter what, this happens Saturday morning, and it's done by the time visitors arrive in numbers. It's not just trash, either. They check the known sites for hidden camps, they put out still hot and smoking campfires, and haul up whatever makes it way down to the water. Well, we do have to confess that we had to call Mark to come and get the shopping cart out of the River. It went over the bank, and down to the water. Mark always responds to calls for help, and he got the cart up to the dumpster and took its wheels off so it stayed there. Catherine comes back on Sunday morning, and even if its just her sometimes she will manage to clean up, haul full bags of garbage from the garbage cans up to the parking lot dumpster and make sure the cans get relined. Dan comes on Sunday to maintain the Gateway Garden and direct and work on restoration in the Parkway, which at this time is our mighty effort to defeat star thistle in the downriver portion of SLP. Chris, Paul, Kathleen, Dan and Allicia have been key to getting us where we are today. Thank you, Chris, for coming out this past Saturday at 7:00 a.m. to beat the heat and bag some star thistle.

Thank you, Tom, for making a spot check of SLP at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, August 6th. We knew that the scofflaws had hidden a barbeque in the their cart and were hoping to get away with starting a barbeque. Despite an initial problem with Sheriff's Dispatch, he got Rangers down to the beach to take care of not one barbeque but two! A previous group who had initially taken their barbeque back to their car, somehow managed to sneak it down anyway to the Boat Launch beach. Sheriff's Dispatch is so much improved that this isn't a complaint, but if Tom had been a new volunteer the Ranger service would not have happened. The first Dispatcher insisted that it was a call for the Fire Department, not Rangers. Tom had to hang up and dial again, and the second time was the charm. A different Dispatcher made a call for Ranger service. Confusion also happened on a call for service Saturday on the unacceptable loud music coming from the party boat. The Dispatcher answering the call for Ranger service said that she couldn't forward noise complaints during the day per Sheriff Cooper's orders. We explained that this was Regional Parks under the jurisdiction of Chief Ranger Orman, and we weren't aware of any directives from him regarding noise complaints. She did put in a request for service, and the Rangers responded, handled the problem, as well as others, as they always do. The County Rangers are indispensable to keeping Sutter's Landing from degenerating to its previous state of illegal camps, drunken parties featuring barbeques and boom box competitions (James remembers the time parks staff had to come out, dismantle and haul away a large wooden stage the scofflaws had built to hold a concert on the party beach), special events that drew upwards of 100 people, and general behavior that prevented families and others from using this part of the River and Parkway.

Thank you to Paul who came this past Sunday, in the heat of the afternoon, to walk the entire beach area and habitat trail for trash and problems. He always manages to ferret out stuff, like a large piece of foam mattress hanging up in a tree, and three unopened cans of beer. The foam mattress wasn't such a thrill, but he was happy with the beer. Afternoon help on the weekends is really needed and greatly appreciated, and Paul comes to the rescue.

Its unfortunate, and this is a way understatement, but we believe Young Chris is back. Chris is the homeless man who is either mentally ill, drug addicted, or both, who for the past three years has terrorized SLP. He turns over the garbage cans and scatters trash everywhere, he builds fires with plastic and other trash, and leaves them burning, and he creates "scenes" on the beach with his erratic behavior. We haven't seen him this year but someone, and the SLP "regulars" say its Young Chris, is on the beach with a hatchet and bowie knife, cutting down trees and branches, and scoring many trees with hatchet marks. I stayed at SLP until 9:00 p.m. this past Saturday hoping he would appear - no luck. Yesterday I came at 7:00 a.m. hoping to catch him - no luck. I did find a hot fire on the Boat Launch beach, a small elderberry tree in the Outdoor Classroom area cut down, and there was a lot more evidence of vegetation clearing and cut branches. The destruction is significant, and if whoever cannot be identified and stopped soon, I don't know in what state SLP will be left. Even Ranger Perez noticed the pile of cut branches just off the main trail to the beach. He thought we were doing some kind of maintenance work it was so extensive. We have given some of the more responsible "regulars" Parkway Watch cards and asked them to please call Sheriff's Dispatch for Ranger service if they see Young Chris, or whoever it is.

The Rangers had the busiest weekend ever, I think, at SLP, last weekend. I'll just say that Friday last week at least a couple of people visiting the beach called Sheriff's Dispatch and asked for Ranger service because one of the large party boats was blasting their music. On Saturday, several people reported the incident to us, and, first of all, the noise must have been unbelievable to get members of the public to call, but more importantly, the people that called wanted to know if law enforcement actions were being taken against the party boat miscreants because of the disrespectful stance they took with the Rangers. It was very upsetting to the people who observed the interaction, as visitors to SLP appreciate the Rangers, and are grateful for their presence. Two calls for Ranger service on Saturday were made for noise and a barbeque on the main beach by the same party boat scofflaws. Ranger Sarah successfully contacted two women and a man with three dogs running loose on the Main Beach (these same people had let the largest of the dogs pee in the Gateway Garden, they thought it was funny, and poop on the main trail to the beach), and they left the park a few minutes after she drove away. The Rangers also made contact with a pregnant homeless lady who has been sleeping on the main beach at night for about two weeks. Although she leaves for most of the day, her presence is causing problems as we knew it would. Even though she is quiet and clean, we are now having problems with other homeless people camping, and a first is some of the public is asking if camping is allowed at SLP after observing her. The Rangers asked after her well being and she said she didn't want/need any help as she liked sleeping at SLP because it was peaceful. Thursday, while she was packing her stuff up at 7:30 a.m., I had to ask another homeless lady who had set up her tent and belongings to please dismantle her camp as no overnight camping was allowed in the Parkway. We have also had a couple of men spend the night in the area of the rope swing, and asked them to please not camp overnight.

Sunday night, Ranger Andrew drove through, and had time to check out the beach area for alcohol. There was a lot of beer in glass bottles going down. Although he was not on the beach long, and issued warnings only, it was time well spent. About 10 minutes after he drove away, the two groups that we knew were drinking beer in glass bottles left.

As you know, Dan is leading our next effort to begin the renovation of the failed restoration site. We are tackling this large area in sections to gain experience through trial and error vis a vis controlling the weeds and star thistle, watering the new plants for at least 3 years, etc. Its criminal, yes, it is, that the spectacular elderberry at the base of the bicycle ramp in the restoration site area has turned into a toilet for the illegal campers and maybe others. They have hacked an entrance into the elderberry which makes a private "stall" because it is covered with grapevine. I'll file a 311 Report for the Camps Team to come clean up the waste, and also clean up the waste in the alcove off the Party Beach which is also being used as a handy toilet. I think the remedy to the elderberry, and this may also pertain to the second elderberry a few feet upriver of this one in the restoration site, is to seek a permit from US Fish and Wildlife Service to remove the grapevine and open the elderberry(s) up for visibility. We might have to ask to coppice the bush(s), as it have been so beat up over time. Before becoming a toilet(s) it was also a popular place(s) to camp.

Special thanks to James and Paul, Regional Parks Superintendents, for taking time to walk some problem areas of SLP with me, Mark and Tom this past Monday. We also discussed the placement of our two inaugural doggie waste bag stations. They are ready for installation and not a moment too soon.

I'll stop. This report is becoming entirely too long but there is a lot happening at SLP. Watch for an "all hands on deck" call in the coming weeks for two major projects. One, is to clear some remaining invasive grasses in the restoration site gully to "free up" the extensive stands of creeping wildrye, and spread mulch, and a second urgent project to remove a large patch of very invasive bamboo growing in the vicinity of the railroad bridge. Paul discovered the bamboo on Saturday, and it needs to be taken care of ASAP.

Looking forward to seeing everyone this weekend.

Be well and safe.

Your Parkway Pal, Betsy

Another load of the trash and many other items left behind by visitors

Alcohol and BBQs are banned but frequently seen at SLP along with large piles of trash, dog waste and more. Do better people!

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Trails, Habitat, and Wildlife by Dale

3/29/2023

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One of many mature cottonwoods lost recently at SLP

Spring is back, with continuing atmospheric rain events this year, and this is the primary nesting and breeding season for wildlife. During this season, habitat is very important as food and shelter for all wildlife raising their young. Unfortunately, there has been increased erosion and vegetation loss at SLP and the adjacent lower American River Parkway impacting remaining habitat. Much of this damage can be seen along the bluffs above the river where foot and bicycle activity has compacted soils and increased natural erosion. A number of mature standing trees fell into the river during recent storms. Again, this is a natural process but there has been a definite increase in recent years. There has also be a loss of river edge habitat from trampling and removal during human activities at SLP creating a larger beach area with warmer water temperatures for fish.

Example of use of temporary sign to protect wildlife

Sign used to protect ground nesting birds in Portland regional park.

Riparian habitat removed at SLP for Caltrans bridge project

Mature riparian trees removed recently at SLP

Most riparian vegetation removed by Army Corps for upstream levee work

These habitat areas need to be avoided so that vegetation can reestablish with roots to hold more soil in place. On the SLP side of the river there is very little habitat remaining between the waters edge and the levee. The recently constructed Two Rivers trail segment encouraged more off-pavement activity in these habitats with now well established "volunteer" trails and disturbance. Further upstream, most or even all the remaining riparian habitat has been removed for a Caltrans bridge project and Army Corps levee work. Very little habitat remains now from the footbridge at Sac State down to SLP. Much of the mitigation for this work will be planted offsite upstream and it will be quite a while before habitat reestablishes in the remaining areas. This makes existing habitat even more important for wildlife especially with nesting and breeding seasons well underway.

FOSL and FORB are working with the City and County to get more signage in place and control access in disturbed areas. Signs like those used in popular parks in Portland would help lessen impacts and remind people to enjoy nature without disturbing wildlife. Expect to see signs and perhaps barriers to help remind all that wildlife need help by protecting habitat and avoiding nesting or other sites with young animals. Hopefully more habitat restoration work will be planned, approved and funded to get underway soon.

Example of use of temporary barrier to protect habitat damage by volunteer trails

Example of barrier to protect plant restoration work

Volunteer trail at SLP now used by off-pavement bikes and many more people

Finally, spending time outdoors is unique and precious providing many values. But not everyone has an easy time getting outdoors. Too often, a lack of local parks or being made to feel unwelcome limit such experiences. What if you don't have vision to experience nature? It's not uncommon to encounter a "five senses" trail with stations designed for our individual senses but these typically require sighted navigation. For many blind and low vision people, accessing outdoor spaces like parks can be challenging. Trails are often unsafe or difficult to navigate, signs don’t usually include Braille, and guides generally aren’t trained to help disabled visitors, and so on. I did a "Making Tracks" community radio program recently about a new type of trail that changes that. This seems like something that could fit well at SLP and the Parkway.

Now get out there and enjoy nature but remember to share it with wildlife and everyone else

Signs of predation during ground nesting season

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Heavy Work, Impacts & Thanks Around SLP

11/19/2022

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Familiar boat occupied SLP area for much of the year now partially sunk again downstream...

It's been a busy year again at SLP and the lower Am River Parkway area surrounding it. Likely record breaking numbers of visitors came to relax, picnic, party, enjoy and sometimes damage the area. It's also been a time of record volunteer efforts to keep the area clean and safe for visitors with regular and ongoing efforts to remove trash from visitors, campers, off-leash dog waste and more. There has also been effort to restore some damaged areas and replant the parking lot entryway. Kudos for all the hard work!

Fires, goat grazing to manage vegetation, utility and levee maintenance work were all common sights again this year and will continue to be in the future. A much bigger change has been large bridge and flood control projects just upstream reducing aquatic habitat in and along the river along with upland habitat loss. Only narrow strips of habitat were available on the south (SLP) side of the river before this work started and much less exists now. Mitigation efforts were mostly elsewhere in the Parkway. Remaining habitat is more important than ever and increased restoration will be needed. Recreation access has been detoured for months and will continue in 2023. Unfortunately the off levee location selected for the Two Rivers Bike trail extension after other major construction is completed will further reduce existing habitat while likely increasing human disturbance it remaining areas.

Bridge Widening Just Upstream From SLP (video)

Larger numbers than ever seen before of vehicles and other camp sites occupied many areas around the lower Am River Parkway as people without homes gathered together. Fires, trash and habitat destruction continue to be common impacts. The struggle to find long term housing solutions beyond the Parkway continues in spite of funding and political pressure.

The same is apparently true for the AfterShock rock concert which brought 160,000 people to Discovery Park with noise and other impacts across the lower Am River for the 10th year with little if any value to the Parkway. The event is already scheduled to return next year as well.

Meanwhile the long delayed Am River Parkway Natural Resource Management Plan and its Monitoring Plan are still in draft form under review with many questions and concerns about how adequate funding and oversight will be possible in spite of all the ongoing pressures already in place.

With the pressure from everyone coming out to enjoy nature and recreation at SLP combined with the impacts from construction and maintenance activities throughout the lower Am River Parkway, remaining habitat is more important than ever for wildlife.

Examples of wildlife in the immediate area:

River Otter Viewing in Lower Am River Parkway (video)

Fall Wildlife Viewing & Giving Thanks at SLP (video)

It is very important that habitat and wildlife are given higher priority to preserve and restore these values if the lower American River Parkway is to provide wildlife, recreation and environmental services for all who enjoy it.