San Joaquin County Parks & Recreation Digest

Following litigation, the Tracy City Council voted to take back control of the Ellis Aquatics Center project and instructed staff to proceed with development planning.

17 trees were planted at Yosemite Village Park on Arbor Day April 25 by the Manteca Garden Club with the City of Manteca.

The official groundbreaking was held on April 23 for $15million in upgrades to South Stockton's McKinley Park.

A project to build an aquatics center on 16 acres at Summit Drive and Corral Hollow Road in South Tracy has been further mired in litigation as a new suit is filed.

The Lathrop Planning Commission is reviewing plans for River Islands neighborhood designs which includes a football stadium, lakes, parks, housing and hundreds of thousands of square feet of commercial use space.

California State Parks has recommended $6.7 million for seven local nonmotorized trail projects in various cities, including Galt and Gilroy.

Disneyland’s plan to reimagine the theme park into a more “immersive” experience may require up to $2.5 billion and a plan to privatize some Anaheim streets.

California’s projected budget deficit of close to $38 billion likely means some cuts are coming. Among them, Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed ending the California State Park Adventure Pass, which offers free access to some state parks for fourth graders.

Last year, environmental groups and tribes rallied behind a proposed expansion of the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument. Expansion was tried through congressional legislation, but it stalled.

The Van Buskirk Park renovation will include a new skate park, two full-size basketball courts, and BMX/bike trails with lights and landscaping.

With the opening of 37 new rooms at Tracy’s Temporary Emergency Housing Facility, the city has cleared El Pescadero Park of the final tents that made up a homeless encampment at the park.

The city of Tracy is set to approve even stricter rules about the use of parks, with an ordinance up for adoption that will effectively prohibit the homeless encampments that have characterized some city parks.

The Tracy City Council took a big step toward transforming El Pescadero Park, approving a spending plan of $88 million toward the project, most to come from Measure V revenue.

An estimated 100,000 pizza boxes have been removed from Yosemite’s waste stream. This is because the famed park now serves pizza on trays and puts to-go portions in compostable bags, part of a move to reduce food-related waste.

The 40 Acre Conservation League has recently acquired hundreds of acres of land in Placer County, 70 miles northeast of Sacramento—a significant step toward making outdoor experiences more inclusive.

Utility giant PG&E is set to raise its rates an average of 13% on Jan. 1. That equals an extra $32.50 a month, or $390 for the year.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.