ecosacramento.net

Laura Gill
City Manager
City of Elk Grove
8401 Laguna Palms Way
Elk Grove, CA 95758

August 25th, 2016

RE: ECOS endorsement of Alternative F location selection for the Wilton Rancheria project

City Manager Gill,

ECOS is a broad coalition of environmental and social organizations working for social equity, public health and environmental sustainability in the Sacramento region, through land use planning, transportation planning, and habitat and agricultural preservation. Habitat 2020, the Conservation Committee of ECOS, is a coalition of local biodiversity preservation organizations including: the Audubon Society, California Native Plant Society, Friends of the Swainson’s Hawk, Save the American River Association, Save Our Sandhill Cranes, Sierra Club, Stone Lakes National Wildlife Refuge Association, and the Sacramento Area Creeks Council.  

We were pleased that in subsequent months the Wilton Rancheria tribe has selected Elk Grove as the primary choice for location of their project.  On August 4th, the members of the leadership of ECOS met and discussed the project with the Wilton Rancheria tribal chairman Raymond Hitchcock. The discussion included an update on the project as well as the concerns that were substantially avoided by the selection of the Alternate F site for the project. 

We would like to reiterate our support for the selection of Alternate F as the site for the Wilton Rancheria project and would like to continue to work with the tribe regarding future environmental concerns and impacts. We are hopeful that the Wilton Rancheria, in recognizing that the casino project will still have a role in stimulating expansive Elk Grove urban growth, will join with us in efforts to protect and restore important wildlife habitat in the ancestral lands of the Plains Miwok along the lower Cosumnes River and the Stone Lakes complex. 

Sincerely,

Board President, The Environmental Council of Sacramento Sean Wirth, Co-­‐chair, Habitat 2020