That people camp on the American River Parkway in violation of county law is well established. What might come as a surprise is just how settled some of them are.

On a December weekday before the last storm, a metal door attached to two trees blocked access to a campsite otherwise surrounded by thick brush. Another site under the 12th Street bridge had a television powered by a generator. Upriver, Fred Gurr had a large cooler, an office chair and other items clustered around his site, which he shares with his black cat, Bug Out.

“I’ve lived here for four years,” said Gurr, a veteran who said he became homeless after losing a job. “I’ve been at the same location the whole time.”

Just last year, county supervisors approved funding to hire more rangers to enforce an illegal camping ban, clean up the parkway and connect homeless people with services. Now, county rangers are ticketing far fewer people for illegal camping, with 602 citations through the end of November, roughly half the pace of the 1,278 issued last year.

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