California announces first new state park in a decade and sets climate goals for natural lands

MODESTO, Calif. (AP) — California will open its first new state park in a decade this summer, Gov. Gavin Newsom and state officials announced Monday, as the state sets targets for cutting planet-warming emissions on natural lands.

The 1,600-acre (648-hectare) Dos Rios tract in the state's crop-rich Central Valley is set to open June 12 as California's 281st state park. Located near the confluence of the Tuolumne and San Joaquin rivers, it is surrounded by vast almond orchards and dairy pastures. Californians will be able to use the park for hiking and picnicking, with plans for swimming and boating access in the future.

Ali Manzo, a Central Valley native and California State Parks interpreter, said the new park will help bring people together and allow them to develop a deeper respect for nature.

“Dos Rios is not just a park," Manzo said. "It's a community treasure that offers peace, adventure and a vital connection to nature.”

Manzo joined the governor, First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom and civil rights icon Dolores Huerta to announce the new park.

The Earth-Day announcement comes as Newsom unveiled new targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions on natural lands. The plan sets out to reduce the risks of wildfires, expand forest cover and restore wetlands. Newsom said the targets would move the state closer toward achieving its mandate of carbon neutrality, meaning it will remove as many carbon emissions from the atmosphere as it emits, by 2045.

“These are stretch goals, unquestionably,” the Democratic governor said. “The good news is we're making real progress.”

Newsom did not say what success would look like for implementing the targets. His administration did not release an estimate for how much the plan would cost the state, which is facing a massive projected budget deficit.

The targets come out of a law Newsom signed in 2022 requiring the state Natural Resources Agency to work with other agencies to create a plan to reduce emissions from natural lands.

The plan aims to reduce the risks of wildfires across nearly 53,000 square miles (138,000 square kilometers) of land by 2045 through methods that include burning vegetation that can make wildfires more intense. The state also plans to plant 4.2 million trees, manage and restore 1.6 million acres (647,000 hectares) of grasslands, and protect more than 233,000 acres (94,000 hectares) of wetlands and seagrasses along that timeline.

California has spent about $9.6 billion since 2020 on efforts address climate change using the state's natural lands.

Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot called the plan “a big deal” because the state has focused much of its climate policy on reducing emissions from other areas, such as the energy sector, and less so from natural lands.

“We know we have to reduce pollution significantly, but we also need to improve the health of our landscapes to actually remove carbon dioxide from the air,” Crowfoot said.

In recent years, the state has approved the eventual phasing out of the sale of new fossil fuel-powered cars, lawn mowers, large trucks that transport goods through ports and trains powered by diesel.

Sophie Austin reported from Sacramento. Austin is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Austin on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter: @sophieadanna

Gov. Gavin Nerwsom and first partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom plant a valley oak during the dedication for the new Dos Rios State Park in the Central Valley near Modesto, Calif., Monday, April 22, 2024. (Paul Kitagaki Jr./The Sacramento Bee via AP)

American labor leader and civil rights activist Dolores Huerta speaks during the dedication of the new Dos Rios State Park in the Central Valley, near Modesto, Calif., Monday, April 22, 2024. (Paul Kitagaki Jr./The Sacramento Bee via AP)

Gov. Gavin Newsom and first partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom laugh during a speech by Dolores Huerta during the dedication of the new Dos Rios State Park in the Central Valley, near Modesto, Calif., Monday, April 22, 2024. (Paul Kitagaki Jr./The Sacramento Bee via AP)

California Gov. Gavin Newsom talks during a ground breaking ceremony at the Dos Rios property, in Modesto, Calif. on Monday April 22, 2024. The property is located in the state's crop-rich Central Valley region, where the state will open its first new state park in a decade this summer. The announcement comes as the state sets targets for cutting planet-warming emissions on natural lands. (AP Photo/Sophie Austin)

Civil Rights activist Dolores Huerta speaks during a ground breaking ceremony where the state will open its first new state park in a decade at the Dos Rios property, in Modesto, Calif. on Monday April 22, 2024. The announcement comes as the state sets targets for cutting planet-warming emissions on natural lands. (AP Photo/Sophie Austin)

Civil Rights activist Dolores Huerta participates in a ground breaking ceremony where the state will open its first new state park in a decade at the Dos Rios property, in Modesto, Calif. on Monday April 22, 2024. The announcement comes as the state sets targets for cutting planet-warming emissions on natural lands. (AP Photo/Sophie Austin)

First partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom plants a tree during ground breaking ceremony where the state will open the first new state park in a decade on Monday April 22, 2024 at the Dos Rios property, in Modesto, Calif. The announcement comes as the state sets targets for cutting planet-warming emissions on natural lands. (AP Photo/Sophie Austin)

California Gov. Gavin Newsom breaks ground at a new state park in a decade on Monday April 22, 2024 at the Dos Rios property, in Modesto, Calif. The announcement comes as the state sets targets for cutting planet-warming emissions on natural lands. (AP Photo/Sophie Austin)

PHOENIX (AP) — A judge on Friday rejected an effort by GOP lawmakers to use the term “unborn human being” to refer to a fetus in the pamphlet that Arizona voters will use to weigh a ballot measure that would expand abortion access in the state.

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Christopher Whitten said the wording the legislative council suggested is “packed with emotion and partisan meaning” and asked for what he called more “neutral” language. The measure aims to expand abortion access from 15 weeks to 24 weeks – the point at which a fetus can survive outside the womb.

It would allow exemptions to save the woman’s life or to protect her physical or mental health. It would also prevent the state from adopting or enforcing laws that would forbid access to the procedure.

Arizona House Speaker Ben Toma, who is a co-chair of the legislative council, said the group will appeal the court’s decision to the state Supreme Court.

“The ruling is just plain wrong and clearly partisan,” said Toma, a Republican.

Aaron Thacker, communications director for Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, noted that the final decision on the ballot itself remains in the air.

“There’s still a lot of scenarios at play," he said. "Even after the secretary certifies the signatures, the courts have to decide if counties can put it on the ballot or not."

Arizona for Abortion Access, the organization leading the ballot measure campaign, sued the council earlier this month over the suggested language and advocated for the term “fetus,” which the council rejected.

Attorney General Kris Mayes wrote in a motion to submit an amicus brief that “fetus" and “pregnancy” are both neutral terms that the council could adopt.

“It’s incredibly important to us that Arizona voters get to learn more about and weigh our measure in objective and accurate terminology,” said Dawn Penich, communications director for the abortion access group.

Democrats have centered abortion rights in their campaigns in this year’s elections. Organizers in five other states have also proposed similar measures that would codify abortion access in their state constitutions: Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Nevada and South Dakota.

Arizona organizers submitted more than double the amount of signatures needed for the measure to appear on the ballot.

FILE - Arizona abortion-rights supporters deliver over 800,000 petition signatures to the capitol to get abortion rights on the November general election ballot July 3, 2024, in Phoenix. A judge on Friday, July 26, rejected an effort by GOP lawmakers to use the term “unborn human being” to refer to a fetus in the pamphlet that Arizona voters will use to decide on a ballot measure that would expand abortion access in the state. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)