California eyes three parks

California officials on April 22 proposed creating 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 the San Joaquin River outside Fresno. If approved, the additions would raise California’s total to 283 state parks. (parks.ca.gov) The three proposed parks are Feather River Park in Yuba County, San Joaquin River Parkway near Fresno, and Dust Bowl Camp State Historic Park in Bakersfield. State officials said the program would also add 30,000 acres to existing parks by the end of the decade. (ktla.com; parks.ca.gov) The push centers on the Central Valley, where state officials say many communities have less access to nearby state parks than the coast and mountain regions. California tied the plan to its “Outdoors for All” and “30x30” conservation goals. (gov.ca.gov; parks.ca.gov) Feather River Park would be the first state park in Yuba County and cover nearly 2,000 acres with river access for activities such as rafting and swimming. The planned San Joaquin River Parkway park would span 874 acres and fold part of a 22-mile parkway into the state system in Fresno and Madera counties. (ktla.com) Dust Bowl Camp would preserve the former Sunset Migratory Labor Camp in Kern County, a site state officials say helped inspire John Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of Wrath.” The proposal gives the expansion a recreation piece and a historic-preservation piece at the same time. (ktla.com) California has added only one new state park in the past decade, Dos Rios near Modesto, which Newsom dedicated in 2024. Newsom used this year’s Earth Day event to argue the state should move past years of focusing only on maintenance and start expanding again. (ktla.com; parks.ca.gov; abc30.com) State officials said recent laws — Senate Bill 630 and Assembly Bill 679, both signed in 2025 — are meant to speed parkland acquisitions. Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot said the three proposed sites are already held by entities willing to transfer them to the state at little or no upfront cost. (parks.ca.gov; abc30.com) The San Joaquin River Conservancy said it would begin the transfer process for the Fresno-Madera site on April 23, and local officials said public meetings on park features are coming next. One local estimate put that park’s conversion timeline at about two years. (abc30.com) The proposal now moves from announcement to land transfers, planning and public input. If those steps hold, California’s next three state parks would all open in a region that has long had fewer of them. (abc30.com; gov.ca.gov)