Native plants, wildlife return to American River Parkway spot cleared of homeless camps over flooding concerns
SACRAMENTO – Volunteer steward Roland Brady has seen his share of trash along the American River Parkway.
"I was in three cleanups last week, I'll be in two cleanups this week," said Brady.
The nature area gets an estimated five million visits each year – that's more than even Yosemite National Park.
"We're really fortunate because we have the slice of nature right in the middle of the urban environment," Brady said.
But the parkway is also home to more than a thousand homeless encampments. And just this past year, there's been more than 1,600 tons of trash removed, setting new records.
"Some of the trash is over 20 years old where there was camping going on illegally, but was being tolerated," Brady said.
Brushfires also continue to be a problem along the parkway, with 49 blazes just in this past year.
And park officials say drug use around homeless camps is another growing issue.
"The needles are everywhere," Brady said.
But now one spot that's been cleared of homeless camps is bouncing back.
"Bannon Island was pretty much the epicenter for camping," Brady said.
The area was closed off this past winter due to flooding concerns and all tents and trash were removed.
The native grapes and cottonwood trees are now growing back, and wildlife is returning.
"You can see how quickly the island ecology is coming back," Brady said.
The parks department says the overall cost of responding to illegal camping last year was $6.1 million, more than six times higher than it was in 2015.
But Brady says it's worth the price to preserve this area for future generations.
"I'm just really encouraged by the priority that the county is putting on this and the funds that are being made available to restore the parkway," Brady said.
The county has also hired more park rangers and four new full-time employees to work on fire prevention.
