Judge pauses razing 100s of trees on a Sacramento river, finding ‘irreparable harm’
A Sacramento federal judge granted a preliminary injunction late Thursday to pause razing more than 650 trees clustered along the American River Parkway, citing “irreparable harm” for recreationists who will lose access to the area.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began installing flood protection measures on the Sacramento River, Natomas East Main Drainage Canal, Arcade Creek, Magpie Creek, the lower American River after Congress approved funding in 2016 for these projects. The judge’s order temporarily halts construction on the lower American River, about 3.3 miles of riparian forest rooted around Howe and Watt avenues.
Federal officials planned cutting at least 675 trees and trimming thousands of others to install riprap, or rocks, to strengthen banks. Sacramento and national nonprofits filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and others to find less destructive alternatives to flood protection. The Corps did not consider other solutions, such as a “bioengineering” alternative or smaller rocks, according to the lawsuit filed in August by the Save the American River Association, American River Trees organization and the environmental conservation group Center for Biological Diversity in the Eastern District of California.
An attorney representing the Corps said officials considered a bioengineering alternative. But using smaller rocks will not secure river banks from overrunning, said attorney Devon Lehman McCune during a hearing earlier this month in downtown federal court. The Sacramento region is considered one of the nation’s most at-risk metropolitan areas for flooding, the Corps has said.
The Sacramento nonprofits and Center for Biological Diversity praised Thursday’s ruling.
“Plaintiffs hope that the defendants will now roll up their sleeves without delay and work with us on a bioengineering alternative that saves the trees and provides erosion protection,” Sacramento-based attorney Patrick Soluri wrote in an email.
The Corps declined to comment.
The Corps did consider a bioengineering alternative — such as plant material and some rocks — in a 2015 report, said Judge Dena Coggins in her ruling. But this method was not analyzed in a 2023 supplemental environmental report which “undermined” the chance for the public to express their thoughts during the comment period, the ruling stated.
Residents will also suffer “irreparable harm” if the project moves forward because they will not be able to access the area, the ruling stated. The preliminary injunction is narrow, and only stops the Corps from uprooting trees, Coggins wrote.
“The public interest in preserving the natural landscape along the Lower American River for recreational purposes is especially strong,” Coggins wrote.
The preliminary injunction pauses the Corps’ work while Coggins rules on the allegations contained in the lawsuit. The Corps is accused of violating state and environmental laws with the work along the lower American River.
