Corps closes Pine Flat Campground near Piedra

Published Oct. 16, 2012

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District will close a campground and day-use recreation area, Pine Flat Campground, Wednesday following increasingly problematic safety and maintenance issues at the park.

The 75-acre property on the King’s River near Piedra is owned by the Corps and has been leased to Fresno County for managing public recreation since 1955. Fresno County has enforced a temporary closure of the park for health and safety issues since Aug. 15, 2012.

Recreation at the facility has been marred by violence recently, including stabbing incidents on June 3 and Aug. 12, 2012. Public facilities on the property have also been damaged and marked with rampant graffiti.

“Public safety is our absolute top priority,” said U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District’s Tom Ehrke, park manager for Pine Flat Lake. “We’re confident that Fresno County has had the best of intentions, but closing this day-use area is just the right thing to do right now to keep people safe.”

The Corps has no short-term or long-term plans to reopen this area, which is located several miles downstream of their larger recreation facility at Pine Flat Lake. Recreation operations at Pine Flat Lake are unchanged by the closure of this smaller property.


The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is the nation’s largest federal provider of outdoor and water-based recreation, hosting more than 370 million visitors annually at more than 420 lake and river parks.

 


Contact
Robert Kidd
916-557-5100
robert.d.kidd@usace.army.mil

Release no. 12-041