Board / Staff

About Friends of Sutter’s Fort

Friends of Sutter’s Fort is a nonprofit 501c3 and is the cooperating association for Sutter’s Fort State Historic Park. Since our founding in 1990, we have been dedicated to helping California State Parks bridge the funding gap between what is allocated annually to Sutter’s Fort State Historic Park, and what is needed in order to restore historic structures, preserve important artifacts and provide exceptional educational programming to the tens of thousands of students who visit the park each year.

As the nonprofit partner at Sutter’s Fort SHP, we do not operate the park or currently manage programs. We do manage the Museum Store within Sutter’s Fort and host many events throughout the year.

One of our primary goals is helping connect community members, especially elementary school students, with Sutter’s Fort. Friends of Sutter’s Fort collaborates with California State Parks at Sutter’s Fort State Historic Park to engage visitors of all ages in programs, events and services. We support important preservation and restoration work on artifacts and historic structures.

A Transformative Time to Join Our Efforts

As you may be aware, fundamental changes are ongoing at Sutter’s Fort State Historic Park in order to tell a more inclusive historical narrative. This effort began in 2020 in consultation with California Tribal Leaders and is part of State Parks’ Reexamining Our Past Initiative. As a result of this comprehensive overhaul of the interpretive programs at Sutter’s Fort SHP visitors will experience a more inclusive and historically accurate interpretive experience.

Friends of Sutter’s Fort has been working alongside our partners at California State Parks to refocus our work to support these efforts.