About the Parkway

Related Organizations

There are several organizations and agencies in both the public and private sectors with an interest in preserving the Parkway. Many of these organizations work together regarding different aspects of this common goal, the most notable being the San Joaquin River Conservancy.

The San Joaquin River Conservancy is a public agency which develops, operates and maintains the San Joaquin River Parkway. Its purpose is to preserve and enhance the San Joaquin River's extraordinary biological diversity, protect its valued cultural and natural resources, and provide for educational and recreational opportunities. The Conservancy was authorized by the State of California in 1992 and established by the Counties of Fresno and Madera and the City of Fresno. State legislation authorized the Conservancy to coordinate the various interests of responsible agencies and to acquire and manage public lands for multiple uses within the Parkway. The Conservancy has no zoning, land use, or taxing authority, but can receive public funding allocations and donations from all public and private sources.

The Conservancy is governed by a fifteen-member regional board which includes elected officials of both Fresno and Madera Counties and the Cities of Fresno and Madera, three public members, and representatives of state and local agencies. The duties of the board are to provide leadership and develop policies and procedures to acquire, preserve, and maintain the lands on both sides of the San Joaquin River from Friant Dam to Highway 99.

The Trust for Public Land (TPL) is a national nonprofit organization established to conserve land for public recreation and open space. Over half of its support comes from land transactions. Property owners make a donation to TPL by selling land to it at below its fair market value. TPL then recovers this donation when it resells the land to a public agency, which provides permanent stewardship.