The Coyote Creek Solar Project will be before the Sacramento County Planning Commission on October 6th. The commission will decide whether or not they should recommend the project to the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors.
Solar is an important part of our energy future, however this project is being proposed in the wrong location. This approximately 1,200 acre industrial solar facility will be located in the eastern part of Sacramento County. This is an unacceptable location to site such a facility because:
They are proposing to cut down as many as 4,787 native oak trees, many of which are older mature oak trees that take decades to grow that large;
It will destroy habitat for numerous local and protected wildlife species;
It will disrupt an important wildlife corridor in an area where there is very little Oak Woodland Grassland habitat remaining;
There are many far more appropriate sites in the county;
SMUD does not need this project to be able to close local fossil fuel plants or meet its 2030 net zero carbon goals;
It disrupts the ability of the South Sacramento Habitat Conservation plan to achieve its conservation goals;
It runs counter to Sacramento County general plan directives for the use of this area;
It will destroy sacred ground and the associated cultural resources for local tribes;
It will be a visual blight in a very scenic part of the county;
It will negatively impact operations and events in the Prairie Creek state vehicular recreation area, immediately adjacent to the proposed facility. These events generate 57 million dollars for the local economy and that revenue would be at risk with the degradation of a massive industrial solar facility being installed immediately adjacent to their facility.
It is important the planning commissioners know the level of opposition to this project.
Please join us at the upcoming October 6th, 2025, Sacramento County Planning Commission meeting to tell them that you oppose destroying thousands of oak trees, native wetlands, native grasslands, and numerous local and rare wildlife species.
The meeting will be held at 700 H street, Suite 1450, Sacramento, CA at 5:30 pm.
Public comment is not necessary if that makes you uncomfortable. We need to fill that chamber!
If you cannot attend in person, please email the Commission. You can contact Sacramento County Planning Commission members by emailing comments to BoardClerk@saccounty.gov or reach out to your District Commissioner directly, contact information can be found at https://sccob.saccounty.gov/Pages/CCPCPublicMeetings.aspx
Thank you for your commitment to conserving our natural resources! I hope you are finding time to get out and enjoy the fall bird migration, northern pintail, white-fronted geese, and sandhill cranes are all arriving, and the weather is cooling down, such a great time of year!
- Cliff Feldheim, Sacramento Audubon Conservation Chair, sacaudubonconservation@gmail.com
Vegetation and Land Cover Types within the Solar Development Area and Project Site
Source: Coyote Creek Agrivoltaic Ranch Final EIR https://planning.saccounty.gov/Documents/Coyote%20Creek%20Agrivoltaic%20Ranch/FEIR/FEIR_Coyote%20Creek.pdf