News Room

CDFW has begun releasing juvenile fall-run Chinook salmon into the Klamath River now that river conditions have improved with cooler temperatures and increased flows that give the young salmon their best chance at survival and reaching the Pacific Ocean.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation have announced a joint effort at the Nimbus Fish Hatchery in Sacramento County to increase production of fall-run Chinook salmon by 500,000 smolts to help combat effects of the drought.

CDFW has announced that the Shasta Valley Wildlife Area in Siskiyou County will be closed to waterfowl hunting for the entirety of the 2021-22 season as a result of lost wetlands and waterfowl habitat due to drought conditions.

As California’s 2021-22 waterfowl hunting season approaches, hunters may find that wildlife areas have limited space, particularly early in the season.

The USDA Forest Service has announced the temporary closure of nine national forests in northern California effective Sunday, Aug. 22 at 11:59 p.m. through Monday, Sept. 6 at 11:59 p.m. due to extreme fire conditions. A 10th forest, the El Dorado National Forest, was closed earlier this week due to wildfire.

Due to drought and poor water conditions at Lake Sonoma, thousands of juvenile coho salmon have been relocated from the Warm Springs Fish Hatchery in Geyserville. The fish were trucked to a conservation facility at a high school in Petaluma where they will be reared until conditions improve.

CDFW and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries announced a Voluntary Drought Initiative today designed to protect populations of salmon, steelhead, and sturgeon from the effects of the current unprecedented drought.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), along with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), will hold an online outreach meeting Thursday, Aug. 26 from 4 to 6 p.m., for licensed hunters to provide comments and recommendations regarding public hunting programs in the Sacramento Valley.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) is asking recreational anglers to voluntarily change how, when and where they fish to minimize stress and mortality among fish populations suffering from drought conditions.

CDFW has undertaken the largest wildfire protection and resiliency effort in its history, working to safeguard nearly all of its wildlife areas, ecological reserves and the surrounding communities from wildfire ahead of peak wildfire season this summer and fall.