California officials gathered on Earth Day, April 22, to celebrate the creation of Dos Rios State Park, the state’s first new park in a decade.
Gov. Gavin Newsom was joined by several local and state officials at the park, in advance of its expected opening on June 12.
The 1,600-acre park, whose name means “Two Rivers” in Spanish, is at the center of where the Tuolumne and San Joaquin rivers meet, about eight miles west of Modesto in Central California.
This is the first new state park since Eastern Kern County Onyx Ranch State Vehicular Recreation Area was dedicated in 2014.
“Earth Day is always such a beautiful reminder that our planet is a shared space, and its health and future are dependent on our individual and communal commitment to restoration and regeneration,” the governor’s wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, said in the statement.
At the event, Ms. Newsom said the park will provide many a place to enjoy the benefits of community.
“We get to bring local families all of the undeniable benefits of time and community together having adventure, nurturing their souls, and taking in peace,” she said.
The park is the largest floodplain restoration project in California, which cost $40 million from 11 public and private funding sources.
It was done in partnership with River Partners, a nonprofit that acquires, restores, and protects areas along rivers, streams, and other bodies of flowing water.
According to the organization, habitat conservation at the location has already led to the delisting of the Aleutian Cackling Goose, a previously endangered migrating species.
The new park is a partnership between California State Parks and the California Conservation Corps, a state agency for people ages 18 to 25—and military veterans up to age 29—that works in parks and responds to natural or manmade disasters.
The state’s long-term strategy is to set aside half of the lands in the state for conservation. In 2020, about one-quarter of its land and 16 percent of its coastal waters were set aside for that purpose. Officials have said they plan to conserve an additional 6 million acres of land and 500,000 acres of coastal waters in the next few decades.
The new park is a part of the conservation goal, Mr. Newsom said at the April 22 event.
“It’s softening the edges of this state and breathing life, detoxifying our air, detoxifying the water,” he said. “No one’s ever done this, to make a commitment in the next 20 years from now—to set aside half of the lands in this state, to breathe new light into those lands.”
When open, the park will offer residents opportunities to hike or enjoy picnics. Officials have said they are also planning to provide greater river access for swimming, fishing, boating, and other water activities.
The park will also have trails for bicycling and other outdoor recreation activities, according to state park officials.
“The vision for Dos Rios is a journey into the past, revealing a lush Central Valley and a local escape—adjacent to two rivers and a wildlife refuge,” California State Parks Director Armando Quintero said.
