California Eyes Three Parks

California officials on April 22 proposed three new state parks in the Central Valley, the biggest expansion of the system in decades. (gov.ca.gov) Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the plan on Earth Day near Fresno under a program called State Parks Forward. If the acquisitions and planning move ahead, California’s total would rise to 283 state parks. (gov.ca.gov) The three proposed parks are Feather River Park in Olivehurst in Yuba County, San Joaquin River Parkway in Fresno and Madera counties, and Dust Bowl Camp near Bakersfield. State officials said the package also aims to add 30,000 acres to existing parks by the end of the decade. (gov.ca.gov) The sites were chosen in part because they sit near communities that have had less access to state parks. Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot said the Central Valley has been “overlooked for new parks” even as the state pushes its Outdoors for All and 30x30 land-conservation goals. (gov.ca.gov) Feather River Park would be the first state park in Yuba County. Local and regional reports said the site covers about 2,000 acres along the Feather River and is planned with river access, a boat launch, a beach and floodplain habitat. (sacbee.com) (appeal-democrat.com) San Joaquin River Parkway would combine public properties on both sides of the river upriver from Fresno into an 874-acre state park. The land is already part of a broader parkway effort led by the San Joaquin River Conservancy, a state agency created to assemble 5,900 acres for habitat protection and public recreation. (yourcentralvalley.com) (sjrc.ca.gov) Dust Bowl Camp is the smallest site, at roughly 2 acres, but it carries the strongest historical focus. Newsom’s office said it would become California’s first state park centered directly on the Dust Bowl migration and Depression-era farm labor camps, and the site is not currently open to the public. (gov.ca.gov) (secretlosangeles.com) The proposal follows the opening of Dos Rios in June 2024, which state officials described as California’s first new state park in a decade. Newsom unveiled this new plan exactly two years after dedicating Dos Rios on Earth Day 2024. (gov.ca.gov 1) (gov.ca.gov 2) (parks.ca.gov) The state said two laws signed in 2025 — Senate Bill 630 by Sen. Ben Allen and Assembly Bill 679 by Assemblymember Gail Pellerin — are meant to speed up parkland deals and help add high-value properties at little or no cost to the state. Those laws now form the legal backbone for the expansion plan. (gov.ca.gov) What happens next is less dramatic than the announcement: state agencies now have to complete planning and acquisition work for each site. For now, California has drawn the map for three more parks; turning that map into open gates will take the next round of state approvals. (hoodline.com) (gov.ca.gov)