CDFW News

Wildlife Conservation Board Funds Environmental Improvement and Acquisition Projects

Wed, 31 May 2023 10:17:13 GMT

At its May 25, 2023, quarterly meeting, the Wildlife Conservation Board (WCB) approved approximately $83.15 million in grants to help restore and protect fish and wildlife habitat throughout California and, in some cases, provide new and improved public access, recreational and educational opportunities.

Among the 28 projects approved, the WCB provided a $24 million grant to The Wildlands Conservancy for a cooperative project with the State Coastal Conservancy to acquire approximately 11,691 acres of land in the Carmel Valley in Monterey County for the protection of upland and lowland habitats and the wildlife species they support.

The habitats consist of chaparral, oak woodlands and rolling grasslands along with seasonal creeks that provide riparian corridors supporting numerous species, including threatened and endangered California red-legged frogs and the California tiger salamanders. The property, which exceeds the total acreage of some state parks, will provide wildlife-oriented education and research along with compatible public and private uses.

Funding for these projects comes from a combination of sources including the Habitat Conservation Fund and bond measures approved by voters to help preserve and protect California’s natural resources.

Other funded projects approved by the WCB on May 25 include:

A $2.42 million grant to the Mattole Restoration Council for a cooperative project with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to restore coastal prairie habitat at the Table Bluff Ecological Reserve located 4.5 miles southeast of the city of Loleta in Humboldt County.
A $3.1 million grant to the Xerces Society for a cooperative project with the California Department of Parks and Recreation, resource conservation districts and the Natural Resources Conservation Service to administer a block grant to address the decline of monarch butterflies and other imperiled pollinators by creating high quality habitat across California, targeting both monarch overwintering sites and the monarch priority restoration zones as well as improving connectivity across the landscape in various counties.
A $4 million grant to the South Yuba River Citizen's League for a cooperative project with the Yuba Water Agency to increase spawning habitat, create backwater habitat and reduce bank erosion on the Yuba River one mile north of Smartsville in Yuba County.
A $3.4 million grant to Ducks Unlimited for a cooperative project with USFWS, Sonoma Land Trust, Sonoma County Sanitation District, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and State Coastal Conservancy to develop shovel-ready plans and environmental compliance documentation for up to 6,000 acres of the Sonoma Creek Baylands portion of the San Pablo Baylands in Sonoma County.
A $4.2 million grant to The Wildlands Conservancy to acquire approximately 2,333 acres of land for wildlife habitat preservation, restoration and management, wildlife-oriented education and research, habitat connectivity and future wildlife-oriented, public-use opportunities near Bridgeport in Mono County.
A $3.34 million grant to Western Rivers Conservancy (WRC) for a cooperative project with Sierra Nevada Conservancy to acquire approximately 2,285 acres of land for the protection of threatened and endangered species, wildlife corridors, habitat linkages and watersheds, and to provide wildlife-oriented, public-use opportunities near the community of Weldon in Kern County. At close of escrow, WRC will direct the seller to convey the approximate 1,039 southwestern acres to the Kern River Valley Heritage Foundation and the approximate 1,246 northeastern acres to the Tübatulabal Tribe’s nonprofit organization for long-term stewardship.
A $3.19 million grant to the Mojave Desert Land Trust (MDLT) for a seed bank expansion project to collect, process and store seed, conduct research and develop protocols, create an inventory of California desert seed, and develop and implement outreach and education materials on MDLT-owned lands in Imperial, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

For more information about the WCB please visit wcb.ca.gov.

CDFW Photo: Rolling hills and oaks within the Carmel Valley courtesy of Frazier Haney. The property will be acquired to protect the upland and lowland habitats and provide wildlife-oriented education and research.

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Media Contact:
Mark Topping, Wildlife Conservation Board, (916) 539-4673

CDFW Seeks Public Comment Related to Crotch’s Bumble Bee, Franklin’s Bumble Bee, Suckley’s Cuckoo Bumble Bee and Western Bumble Bee

Wed, 14 Dec 2022 15:16:08 GMT

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) is seeking data and public comments on a petition to list the Crotch’s bumble bee, Franklin’s bumble bee, Suckley’s cuckoo bumble bee and western bumble bee under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA).

The Crotch’s bumble bee (Bombus crotchii) is found between San Diego and Redding in a variety of habitats including open grasslands, shrublands, chaparral, desert margins including Joshua tree and creosote scrub, and semi-urban settings. It is near endemic to California, with only a few records from Nevada and Mexico.

The Franklin’s bumble bee (Bombus franklini) has the smallest range of any bumble bee in North America, occurring only in northern California and southern Oregon. In California, it historically occurred in Siskiyou and Trinity counties in grasslands and meadows ranging from 540 to 7,800 feet in elevation. It has not been observed in California since 1998 or in Oregon since 2006.

The western bumble bee (Bombus occidentalis occidentalis) ranges broadly from northern Mexico to central British Columbia, Canada. In California, it historically occurred from sea level to over 8,000 feet and was found in a variety of habitat types including shrublands, chaparral, gardens and urban parks. It currently is observed in high elevation meadows, forests, riparian areas in the Sierra Nevada and Cascades as well as in coastal grasslands in northern California.

The Suckley’s cuckoo bumble bee (Bombus suckleyi) is a nest parasite of the western bumble bee. The range of the Suckley’s cuckoo bumble bee is limited to a subset of its host’s range, though with a more montane distribution in the Cascades, with a possibility of occurrence in the Sierra Nevada based on limited historic records.

Threats to all these bumble bees include habitat loss, climate change, disease and exposure to pesticides. Small population size is also a potential threat to the Franklin’s bumble bee. For the Suckley’s cuckoo bumble bee, threats include the decline of its host species.

In October 2018, the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, Defenders of Wildlife and Center for Food Safety submitted a petition to the California Fish and Game Commission (Commission) to list the Crotch’s, Franklin’s, Suckley’s cuckoo and western bumble bee species as Endangered under CESA. The Commission determined listing “may be warranted” and the species became candidates for listing on June 12, 2019. That listing was legally challenged and candidacy was stayed during much of the ensuing litigation. The Commission’s decision was ultimately upheld and candidacy was reinstated on September 30, 2022. Thus, the Crotch’s, Franklin’s, Suckley’s cuckoo and western bumble bee species now have the same legal protection afforded to an endangered or threatened species (California Fish and Game Code [FGC] sections 2074.2 and 2085).

Over the next 12 months, CDFW will conduct a status review to inform the Commission’s final decision on whether to list the species under CESA. As part of the status review process, CDFW is soliciting information regarding the species’ ecology, genetics, life history, distribution, abundance, habitat, the degree and immediacy of threats to its reproduction or survival, the adequacy of existing management and recommendations for management of the species.

CDFW respectfully requests that data and comments be submitted before January 15, 2023. Please submit data and comments to CDFW by email at wildlifemgt@wildlife.ca.gov and include “Bumble bee” in the subject line. Data or comments may also be submitted by mail to California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Wildlife Diversity Program, Attn: CESA Conservation Unit, P.O. Box 944209, Sacramento, CA 94244-2090.

CDFW will produce a peer reviewed report based upon the best scientific information available, which will include a recommendation as to whether the petitioned action is warranted (FGC section 2074.6). The report will be made publicly available on CDFW’s website for at least 30 days before the Commission considers acting on the petition. Please note, the Commission—which is a legally separate entity from CDFW—is charged with making the final determination on whether to list a species as endangered or threatened under CESA (FGC section 2075.5). CDFW serves in a scientific advisory role to the Commission during this process. See the California Fish and Game Commission webpage for details on submitting comments to the Commission and receiving email alerts for upcoming Commission meetings.

The listing petition, CDFW’s petition evaluation report and updates on the listing process are available on the Commission’s website.

Media contact:
Ken Paglia, CDFW Communications, (916) 825-7120

Endangered Voles Begin to Repopulate in Inyo County, With Help from Scientists, Conservationists and Landowner

Fri, 02 Sep 2022 13:37:42 GMT

Trail cam photos showing mother vole and pups.

Trail cam photos showing mother vole and pups.

Amargosa playa landscape

Seven years of carefully planned habitat restoration on private land in the Mojave Desert have yielded hope for the persistence of the endangered Amargosa vole. On Aug. 8, a photograph from a wildlife camera placed by researchers from the University of California, Davis revealed the presence of one, possibly two, vole pups born from parents that were reintroduced to restored marsh habitat on private land in Shoshone Village, Inyo County.

The Amargosa vole was first discovered in the marshes of Shoshone in the late 1800s but had disappeared by the early 1900s because of habitat conversion to agriculture and other uses that destroyed the marshes. The only other place in the world where the voles persist in the wild is near the town of Tecopa, about 8 miles south of Shoshone. Restoration of the Shoshone Spring marsh started in 2015 as a joint effort of Shoshone Village, the Amargosa Conservancy, UC Davis and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW). The restoration was funded by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Section 6 and Partners in Fish and Wildlife grants.

By 2020, the Shoshone Spring marsh habitat appeared comparable to Tecopa marshes that support wild voles, and thus the team was ready to take the next step: returning voles home to Shoshone. The USFWS and landowner entered into a voluntary agreement, and – in coordination with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) — UC Davis and CDFW have translocated 16 voles from marshes with stable wild populations near Tecopa into the new Shoshone habitat since 2020.

“The goal is to create an independent population in Shoshone to improve resilience of the species,” said Dr. Janet Foley, professor and vole lead at UC Davis. “We were incredibly thrilled to see pups this year on camera – this tells us that the restored marsh has the right conditions to support voles.”

“Amargosa voles live nowhere else on Earth, except these unique Mojave Desert marshes fed by natural springs and the mostly underground Amargosa River,” noted Deana Clifford, CDFW senior wildlife veterinarian and co-lead on the vole reintroduction effort. “By restoring marsh habitat, not only will we help voles, but we will provide critically needed water and habitat that many other species need and will increasingly rely on in the future to survive the predicted impacts of climate change. The two go hand-in-hand – to save the vole, we must save and restore the marshes that support not only voles, but many other species.”

“The Amargosa Vole Recovery Implementation Team is an excellent example of how federal and state agencies, academic institutions, non-governmental organizations and private partners can work together to conserve listed species,” said Scott Sobiech, field supervisor for the USFWS Carlsbad and Palm Springs offices. “We can accomplish more for wildlife through collaborative planning.”

For the landowner, Susan Sorrells, this achievement is part of a long-term commitment to land stewardship. “It is so exciting to discover that the first generation of Amargosa voles have been born at Shoshone Spring, their ancestral home!” she said. “As landowners, we are dedicated to incorporating community and nature, and also to protecting endangered species by assessing and stewarding the entire ecosystem. It has been a delight to collaborate with the Amargosa Vole Team as we work together to bring the Amargosa vole back from the brink. If we are successful, the vole will be the second subspecies, joining the Shoshone pupfish, that has been rescued by implementing this approach.”

For now, the vole team will keep watching for more signs of hope in the marsh and will forge ahead with further plans for future habitat restoration.

Photos:
Amargosa vole close-up; trail cam photos showing mother vole and pups; Amargosa playa landscape.
© All photos courtesy of UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, all rights reserved.

This project is part of a comprehensive multi-partner program to restore the Mojave’s endangered Amargosa vole. Implemented by the “Vole Team” of CDFW, the USFWS, UC Davis, BLM, Shoshone Village, USGS, and the Amargosa Conservancy. Efforts have involved captive rescue and breeding; research on health, demography, genetics and diet; releases and translocations; habitat restoration; and community engagement.

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Media Contacts:
Kirsten Macintyre, CDFW Communications, (916) 804-1714
Jessica D’Ambrosio, USFWS Public Affairs, (702) 609-2440
Kat Kerlin, UC Davis Public Affairs, (530) 750-9195

Public Invited to Comment on Petition to List Southern California Steelhead as Endangered

Fri, 15 Jul 2022 12:43:12 GMT

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) has initiated a status review for Southern California steelhead and invites data or comments on a petition to list Southern California steelhead as an endangered species under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA).

Southern California steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) are found in streams from the Santa Maria River at the southern county line of San Luis Obispo County down to the U.S.-Mexico border. Southern California steelhead as defined in the CESA petition include both anadromous (ocean-going) and resident (stream-dwelling) forms of the species below complete migration barriers in these streams.

Major threats to Southern California steelhead include destruction, modification and fragmentation of habitat due to anthropogenic water use (i.e., dams or diversions for the purposes of providing water for human use) and climate change impacts like increased stream temperatures and intensified drought conditions. Southern California steelhead represent an important steelhead diversity component in California due to their unique adaptations, life histories and genetics.

On June 14, 2021, California Trout submitted a petition to the California Fish and Game Commission to list Southern California steelhead as an endangered species under CESA. On April 21, 2022, the Commission accepted that petition for consideration. On May 13, 2022, the Commission provided public notice that Southern California steelhead is now a candidate species under CESA and as such, receives the same legal protection afforded to an endangered or threatened species. The listing petition and CDFW’s petition evaluation report are available on the Commission website.

CDFW invites data or comments on the petitioned action, including Southern California steelhead ecology, genetics, life history, distribution, abundance, habitat, the degree and immediacy of threats to its reproduction or survival, the adequacy of existing management or recommendations for management of the species. Data or comments may be submitted via email to SCSH@wildlife.ca.gov. Please include “Southern California Steelhead” in the subject line. Submissions may also be sent to:

CDFW Fisheries Branch
Attn: Southern California Steelhead
P.O. Box 944209
Sacramento, California 94244-2090

Submissions must be received by Sept. 30. CDFW has 12 months to review the petition, evaluate the best available scientific information relating to Southern California steelhead and make a recommendation to the Commission. The Commission will then place receipt of the report on the agenda for the next available Commission meeting. The report will be made available to the public for that meeting, where the Commission will schedule the petition for further consideration.

For more information on the petition, please visit the Commission website.

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Media Contact:
Kirsten Macintyre, CDFW Communications, (916) 804-1714

Photo: Southern California steelhead, CDFW photo by Kyle Evans

Partners Return Winter-Run Chinook Salmon Eggs to McCloud River: Drought Action Moves Endangered Salmon Back into Their Historical Habitat for First Time Since Construction of Shasta Dam

Tue, 12 Jul 2022 17:02:29 GMT

The Winnemem Wintu Tribe, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) on Monday celebrated the return of endangered winter-run Chinook salmon eggs to the McCloud River upstream of Shasta Reservoir for the first time since the construction of the Shasta Dam in the 1940s.

The partners collected approximately 20,000 fertilized winter-run Chinook salmon eggs from USFWS’ Livingston Stone National Fish Hatchery near Redding and drove them more than three hours over 80 miles to the Ah-Di-Na Campground within the Shasta-Trinity National Forest on the banks of the McCloud River. The eggs were placed into specialized incubators alongside the McCloud River’s cold waters where the species once spawned. Another 20,000 eggs will be transferred to the incubators in the McCloud River in early August. Both cohorts will be released into the river as fry.

The historic return of winter-run Chinook salmon eggs to the mountains upstream of Shasta Reservoir is in urgent response to reduce the extinction risk during a third year of severe drought. It is not a species reintroduction program. The drought action, however, is expected to inform future long-term recovery and reintroduction efforts as biologists learn how the species uses its historical habitat. Once the eggs hatch later this summer, salmon fry will swim into the McCloud River for the first time since construction of Shasta Dam in the 1940s blocked the migration of adult salmon back to these same mountain waters. Rotary screw traps in the river will collect the salmon fry, which will then be transported downstream of Shasta Dam and released to the Sacramento River to migrate to the Pacific Ocean.

The return of winter-run Chinook salmon eggs to the McCloud River was accompanied by a tribal celebration by the Winnemem Wintu, which has long advocated for the return of salmon to their ancestral homeland. Staff from CDFW and tribal representatives will camp alongside the incubators and monitor the eggs and the young salmon as they develop and disperse into the river over the next few months.

“We are asking that the river receive these eggs. We are asking that the old-time ways continue and that they grow in that way,” said Winnemem Wintu Chief and Spiritual Leader Caleen Sisk in explaining the native words, songs and ceremony immediately preceding the eggs’ return to the McCloud River. “We put down that song so they have a fighting chance.”

CDFW Director Charlton H. Bonham said, “While we have carried out a number of different actions to see this iconic species through another year of drought, there’s no denying that Monday’s work just feels huge. It’s historic and healing and incredibly hopeful for the future. We are so grateful for the wisdom and guidance the Winnemem Wintu Tribe provided about their ancestral lands and waters, which helped shape this effort. We’re proud to help deliver these eggs and this species home to the McCloud River.”

Scott Rumsey, acting regional administrator for NOAA Fisheries’ West Coast Region, said, “Given the drought and the harsh reality of climate change, these endangered fish face the longest odds they ever have. The Winnemem Wintu Tribe has long sought to return them to the McCloud. This crucial collaboration with the tribe, state, and other agencies, now reflects more support for the species than ever before and is finally taking an important step toward making that happen."

Paul Souza, regional director of the USFWS’ Pacific Southwest Region, said, “We know the impacts of drought can have devastating impacts on some of our most precious aquatic species, but it is heartening to know that when we come together with our partners, we are capable of quickly accomplishing lifesaving measures like this for winter-run Chinook. We are proud to work with such dedicated federal, state and tribal partners to help safeguard this endangered fish against drought through the implementation of creative solutions.”

Media Contact:
Peter Tira, CDFW Communications, (916) 215-3858

Photo Information: Winnemem Wintu Chief and Spiritual Leader Caleen Sisk is joined by CDFW Senior Environmental Scientist Matt Johnson and Taylor Lipscomb from the Livingston Stone National Fish Hatchery on the shores of the McCloud River as winter-run Chinook salmon eggs are returned for the first time since the construction of the Shasta Dam in the 1940s.

Photo Credit: Brandon S. Honig, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service