When Warren Truitt and his family arrived in Sacramento in 1981, his 15-year-old son jumped on his bike and discovered the American River Parkway.
“He came home and was so excited,” Truitt recalls. “He said, ‘Dad, you have to ride with me.’”
That launched Truitt’s passion for biking. He rode for 38 years, covering 222,000 miles. “Almost to the moon,” he says.
Riding the bike trail also sparked his interest in conservation efforts to protect the American River Parkway.
He read about an organization called Save the American River Association and its battle with the East Bay Municipal Utility District to keep the lower American River from becoming a creek. He immediately joined the group.
When Truitt retired in 2000 from leadership positions in business and sales, it was a natural fit for him to offer up his free time to the nonprofit. After attending his first meeting, he was convinced the volunteer-based organization could use his help. “They didn’t have anyone with my background, which was business,” he says.
Truitt joined the Board of Directors in 2004 and served two terms as president—from 2007–2011 and 2024–2025.
For more than 20 years, Truitt has been active in the mission to protect the publicly owned American River Parkway, including threats from private and commercial interests.
Truitt explains one of the association’s current goals: to purchase 41 acres along the lower American River. The parcel, known as the Kassis property, is owned by developer Trumark.
Trumark wants to build houses. Save the American River Association, working with Preserve the American River, wants to save the riparian ecosystems and wildlife corridor.
The grassroots organizations are seeking donations to buy the property. If they raise enough, the plan is to donate the land to Sacramento County Regional Parks.
Truitt recalls an especially meaningful win. The California Department of Water Resources wanted to move its Joint Operations Center from Arden-Arcade to a 25-acre site above the Nimbus Fish Hatchery.
“It was going to be a Walmart-size building, several stories high,” Truitt says, with a 14-foot-high fence, 800-car parking lot and 140-foot communications tower. “An ugly site right next to the parkway trail.”
Truitt met with homeowner associations and government officials. “We rallied the greater community,” he says.
About 450 people showed up for a meeting at the aquatic center. “Folks waited outside, rallying and chanting. Eventually, the center gave up. It was one of the best things we did.”
More recently, Save the American River Association joined the citizens group American River Trees to oppose erosion-control work along the lower American River by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Under the Army Corps plans, as many as 700 trees, riparian forests and woodlands would be destroyed. Community advocates oppose the devastation, calling for less-destructive alternatives. A court injunction has stopped the work for now.
But Truitt is most enthusiastic when he talks about the American River Parkway Coalition, 25 community and environmental organizations, including Save the American River Association, that coordinate and collaborate on issues facing the parkway.
“The coalition is a minefield of talent,” he says. “To have those people respond to things that are important to everyone is incredible.”
At 83, Truitt is not shy about recruiting volunteers and supporters. He tells people the American River Parkway Coalition meets the fourth Friday of every month, noon to 2 p.m. Save the American River Association meets the third Tuesday at 7 p.m. He knows public involvement is essential.
Although Truitt has stepped away from his role on the association’s board, there are few signs of him slowing down. He says, “I am deeply grateful to be included, along with other major ‘doers’ of the past, who greatly contributed to the protection and preservation of the American River and parkway.”
For information on volunteering and donating, visit sarariverwatch.org.
Cathryn Rakich can be reached at cathrynrakich@gmail.com. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram: @insidesacramento.
