{"id":6193,"date":"2026-04-22T13:49:23","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T19:49:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenlatinos.org\/?p=6193"},"modified":"2026-04-22T13:49:25","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T19:49:25","slug":"california-advances-landmark-protections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenlatinos.org\/es\/california-advances-landmark-protections\/","title":{"rendered":"California Advances Landmark Protections for the San Joaquin Valley, Expanding Access and Safeguarding Nature-Deprived Communities"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 4\/22\/2026<br>MEDIA CONTACT: Edder D\u00edaz Mart\u00ednez, Communications Director, 602-832-6039, edderdiazmartinez@greenlatinos.org<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>FRESNO, California<\/strong> \u2014 Pedro Hern\u00e1ndez, California State Director for GreenLatinos, issued the following statement following the announcement of <em>\u201c<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/storymaps.arcgis.com\/stories\/e81341d7b0fc4b0d8979add162947668\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\"><em>State Parks Forward.<\/em><\/a><em>&quot;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a testament to the growing momentum behind the park equity movement, California State Parks and the Natural Resources Agency have announced <em>\u201cState Parks Forward,\u201d<\/em> the largest expansion of the state park system in decades. This initiative commits to expanding the nation\u2019s largest state park system by more than 30,000 acres, including the creation of three new state parks spanning nearly 330 miles across the headwaters and floor of the San Joaquin Valley:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>San Joaquin River Parkway State Park<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Dust Bowl Camp State Park<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Feather River Parkway State Park<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe San Joaquin Valley is more than flyover country\u2014it is a region that has lost much of its native ecosystem, yet remains an essential pillar of life for both human and wildlife communities across California. These new designations will strengthen protection and stewardship, safeguarding critical ecosystem services such as groundwater recharge and wildlife habitat, while advancing the state\u2019s commitment to closing the \u201cnature gap\u201d in one of the state\u2019s most underserved regions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a lifelong resident, I know these three new sites will play a critical role in closing that gap by expanding equitable access to nature, restoring critical habitats, and ensuring that more families can benefit from safe, nearby outdoor spaces. Across the San Joaquin Valley, communities have long faced disproportionate barriers to parks, open space, and environmental investment - all while experiencing some of the highest rates of cumulative pollution burdens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Together, these parks reflect a more inclusive vision for California\u2019s state park system\u2014one that recognizes both ecological value and lived experience. This historic initiative marks a transformative commitment to conservation, public access, and park equity, ensuring that communities across the San Joaquin Valley and throughout California can experience the many benefits of protected lands and outdoor spaces for generations to come.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>###<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Acerca de GreenLatinos<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>VerdeLatinos <strong>(NOTA: GreenLatinos es UNA PALABRA)<\/strong> es una comunidad activa de l\u00edderes latinos, envalentonados por el poder y la sabidur\u00eda de nuestra cultura, unidos para exigir equidad y desmantelar el racismo, con recursos para ganar nuestras batallas ambientales, de conservaci\u00f3n y de justicia clim\u00e1tica, y motivados para asegurar nuestras pol\u00edticas, Liberaci\u00f3n econ\u00f3mica, cultural y ambiental.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>VerdeLatinos <strong>(NOTA: GreenLatinos es UNA PALABRA)<\/strong> es una comunidad activa de l\u00edderes latinos\/a\/e, envalentonados por el poder y la sabidur\u00eda de nuestra cultura, unidos para exigir equidad y desmantelar el racismo, con recursos para ganar nuestra justicia ambiental, batallas de conservaci\u00f3n, clim\u00e1ticas e impulsadas a asegurar nuestra Liberaci\u00f3n pol\u00edtica, econ\u00f3mica, cultural y ambiental.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 4\/22\/2026MEDIA CONTACT: Edder D\u00edaz Mart\u00ednez, Communications Director, 602-832-6039, edderdiazmartinez@greenlatinos.org FRESNO, California \u2014 Pedro Hern\u00e1ndez, California State Director for GreenLatinos, issued the following statement following the announcement of \u201cState Parks Forward.\u201d In a testament to the growing momentum behind the park equity movement, California State Parks and the Natural Resources Agency have announced [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1527,"featured_media":6194,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[74],"federal_programs":[142,124],"state_region":[116],"class_list":["post-6193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-releases","tag-press-releases","federal_programs-california","federal_programs-public-lands","state_region-ca"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenlatinos.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenlatinos.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenlatinos.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenlatinos.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1527"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenlatinos.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6193"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenlatinos.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6193\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6195,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenlatinos.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6193\/revisions\/6195"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenlatinos.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenlatinos.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenlatinos.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenlatinos.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6193"},{"taxonomy":"federal_programs","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenlatinos.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/federal_programs?post=6193"},{"taxonomy":"state_region","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenlatinos.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/state_region?post=6193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}