The Sacramento Bee recently editorialized that California is not paying enough attention to the economy and more importantly what drives the economy in certain parts of the state. To borrow from the editorial, “It leaves us to wonder what blueprint California leaders actually have for the Sacramento region” and “we’re not sure who among statewide leaders makes it a mission to foster good jobs in the Central Valley.”
This is a very fair and accurate assessment from our perspective. The editorial calls out certain businesses that have left the region, particularly skilled manufacturing jobs. In the rural parts of the Sacramento Valley, it is important to acknowledge that the economy is largely driven by the 2 million acres of farmland throughout the Valley, which serve as the manufacturing base for food and fiber. Importantly, these farmlands not only provide direct economic production, they also serve many support industries and as the tax base for local governments to serve their citizens, they serve as an important habitat for birds and other species that depend upon the Pacific Flyway, and they provide a bucolic setting cherished by urban California. Reliable water supplies are the lifeblood for all these important purposes and is essential for the future of this region. In this same regard, it is the farmers who are leading the conservation ethic in the Sacramento Valley by adopting bird and fish projects all across the Valley that will help with the Pacific Flyway and the four runs of salmon that migrate through the Valley. Importantly, these farmlands have also allowed the Sacramento metropolitan area to validly say that it is the “Farm to Fork Capital.”
In other words, we do not need to make a choice between the economy and the environment in the Sacramento Valley—we can and do have both as long as there are reliable water supplies in the region. We encourage you to read the Sacramento Bee editorial, as well as an op-ed by former Assemblyman Roger Niello supporting the need to improve California’s business climate. In the Sacramento Valley, we have learned that we can advance the economic engine for the region, while also providing an unparalleled environment and a rural-urban connection that is the envy throughout the world.
We encourage you to read the Sacramento Bee editorial posted below:
“A Factory closes, and California seems to shrug”
Roger Niello: Need to improve California’s business climate?
