Folsom Lake Recreation Uses Changing

By Walter Yost, The Sacramento Bee, Calif.

Feb. 28–It’s been almost thirty years since a management plan was last approved for the Folsom Lake State Recreation Area.

And anyone who has spent time there over the years boating, hiking, horseback riding or simply lying on the beach can attest that times have certainly changed since 1979.

With an average of 1.5 million visitors over the past five years, the recreation area has become one of the most popular places in the California State Parks system. At the same time, parks officials say the patterns and types of recreation uses have changed as communities have developed around the area’s boundaries.

With that usage in mind, California State Parks and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation have scheduled two public meetings next month to offer an overview and hear comments on an updated preliminary general plan and resource management plan for Folsom Lake, Lake Natoma and the Folsom Powerhouse.

The first meeting is scheduled March 5 in the Cavitt Junior High School auditorium, 7200 Fuller Drive in Granite Bay. The second meeting will be held March 11 at the Folsom Middle School auditorium, 500 Blue Ravine Road in Folsom.

Both meetings will be from 7 to 9 p.m.

“We’ve been working on this since 2002. This is an opportunity for the public to see where we are now,” said Jim Micheaels, a planner with the state parks’ Gold Fields District.

“The importance of these meetings is that it will give people who use Folsom Reservoir for recreation a chance to take a look at what our ideas are,” said Jeff McCracken, a spokesman for the Bureau of Reclamation.

McCracken explained that while the bureau owns the majority of the approximately 20,000 acres of water and land within the Folsom Lake State Recreation Area, State Parks manages the recreation.

The dominant physical features of the recreation area are the two reservoirs — Folsom Lake and Lake Natoma — created in the 1950s by damming of the American River system.

Due largely to its proximity to the fast-growing Sacramento metropolitan area, good highway access and opportunities for use year-round, McCracken said the recreation area gets more visitors than any state park in California.

McCracken, who has worked for the bureau 19 years, said he’s noticed a pronounced increase in the number of runners and bicyclists using the area.

“Sometimes you see 30 to 40 people unloading their bikes at a time,” he said.

Along with the preliminary general plan and resource management plan, the public will also have a chance to review related draft environmental documents.

Potential topics of discussion at the upcoming meetings include marina capacity, crime at campgrounds, trails, traffic congestion at major day-use areas, camping and off-road vehicle use.

Because the recreation area is already well-developed, Micheaels said he doesn’t expect the public will see any “drastic changes.”

Among the more modest proposals in the plan, he said, are improvements such as adding more boat launching lanes during the height of boating season and extending boat ramps when the lake level is low.

Micheaels said the plan will also look at entrance stations and improved circulation to the park area — such as better turnarounds.

For further information on the plan and the environmental documents, call Micheaels at (916) 988-0513.

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