San Joaquin County Local News: Parks & Recreation

11/18/2023
The sport of pickleball is rapidly growing, and residents are hoping the city will add more courts to its parks.

11/15/2023
State and local leaders gathered in Los Angeles to celebrate a new plan that will increase access to the outdoors for all Californians, regardless of who they are or where they live.

11/12/2023
A pilot program that allows Californians to visit many state parks for free—after checking out a pass from their local library—is helping increase access for more people of color and lower-income residents, according to research from the California State Parks Foundation.

11/07/2023
A beachside trail connecting the communities of Morro Bay and Cayucos could finally be built after 20 years. This happened after Chevron decided to sell land needed for the trail to be built.

11/05/2023
Two theme park giants, Six Flags and Cedar Fair, announced they are merging. It could have potential impacts on California theme parks like Six Flags Magic Mountain, Knott’s Berry Farm and Six Flags Discovery Kingdom.

11/03/2023
The Ripon City Council approved an expenditure of up to $35,175 for Grover Tree Service to handle the work. The Modesto-based business will provide tree pruning and other maintenance in several parks and landscaped areas.

10/27/2023
Camille Dixon, the announcer for Disney California Adventure, and her husband, Bill Rogers, the voice of Disneyland, are moving on from this work. They have been at the parks for more than 40 years combined.

10/26/2023
Through this new program, artists, culture bearers, and California Native American tribes will be eligible to receive funding to create artwork throughout state and local parks.

10/25/2023
Harvesting your own Christmas tree is a holiday tradition—and in the next couple weeks, permits to do so are opening up in forests throughout the state. Among them is the El Dorado National Forest.

10/21/2023
The Lodi City Council unanimously approved a construction schedule for the 2024 Lodi Lake Southside improvement project.

10/06/2023
The new parks for Phase 2 of the Tracy Hills development gained Tracy City Council approval, signaling that the design concept for the part of the development on the southwest side of Interstate 580 is ready to proceed.

09/30/2023
Three parks in Stockton will be getting their playground equipment replaced following a City Council vote. It will cost $526,452 to fund the projects, which are at Panella, Weber and Brooking parks.

09/09/2023
The new facility, dubbed the Fitness Court, is part of an initiative by National Fitness Campaign to plan, build, and fund healthy communities across the country.

08/27/2023
The Biden administration is one step away from designating the first national marine sanctuary nominated by a tribe. Tribal members of the Chumash, who have lobbied for the creation of this Central Coast preserve for more than a decade, would be involved in managing it.

08/13/2023
Some 7,000 square miles of ocean on California’s Central Coast could soon become the largest national marine sanctuary in the continental U.S. It could also make history as one of the first federal sanctuaries to be spearheaded by a Native American tribe.

07/07/2023
Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks is inviting public review and comment through Aug. 6 on an environmental assessment evaluating alternatives to restore giant sequoia groves and adjacent fisher habitat in areas severely impacted by the 2020 Castle and 2021 KNP Complex wildfires, and where adequate regeneration is otherwise not anticipated.

07/01/2023
Next year, pink cherry blossom petals in Robert T. Matsui Park—a grove called the Hanami Line—will blanket the Sacramento waterfront. They’ll fulfill the promise of Japanese Sacramentans’ nickname for the city: Sakuramento, after the cherry blossom.

06/28/2023
California lawmakers passed the Western Joshua Tree Conservation Act, permanently protecting the iconic and imperiled species.

06/18/2023
Stage 2 fire restrictions prohibit campfires and charcoal fires in the hot, dry, low-elevation areas of the parks, including Potwisha Campground and Hospital Rock and Ash Mountain Picnic Areas.