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Recent News Releases

CDFW Continues Recreational Fishery Trap Restriction and Delays the Commercial Dungeness Crab Fishery Due to Meat Quality and Whale Entanglement Risk
November 21, 2024
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) is continuing the temporary recreational crab trap restriction from the Sonoma/Mendocino county line to Lopez Point (Fishing Zones 3 and 4) due to presence of humpback whales and the potential for entanglement from trap gear.
Free Hunting Days Offer Californians Opportunities to Discover the Outdoors and Wild Foods
November 21, 2024
Californians will have two ideal opportunities to acquaint themselves with the hunting experience during California’s 2024-25 Free Hunting Days. Each year the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) director designates two Free Hunting Days. In this license year, they are Nov. 23, 2024, and April 12, 2025. On these days, eligible California residents may hunt without purchasing a California hunting license, provided other requirements are met.
CDFW Offering Waterfowl Hunts at East Bay Ecological Reserve
November 14, 2024
Hunters can soon participate in no-fee waterfowl hunts amid restored salt ponds at Congressman Pete Stark Ecological Reserve at Eden Landing (formerly Eden Landing Ecological Reserve) in Hayward, a California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) land.
CDFW Awards $17M to Critical Restoration Projects Statewide
November 14, 2024
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) today announced the award of $17 million in grants for 18 restoration and protection projects throughout the state, including projects to benefit disadvantaged communities, salmon and steelhead in the Klamath-Trinity watershed, wetlands and meadows and watersheds impacted by cannabis cultivation. Today’s awards continue the ongoing efforts to support critical restoration projects with funding made available in late 2022 through the Nature Based Solutions (NBS) Initiative and Greenhouse Gas Reduction Funds, funding through CDFW’s Cannabis Program, as well as funding dedicated to habitat restoration through Proposition 68.
California’s Floodplains at the Heart of Landmark Agreement: State and Federal Agencies Unite to Address Climate Resilience Through Landscape-Scale Investment
November 14, 2024
Federal and State of California government agencies, overseeing water, agriculture, fish and wildlife, public lands and flood control, have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding to enhance collaboration on landscape-scale, multi-beneficial floodplain water projects in the Sacramento River Basin. The purpose of this agreement is to elevate the opportunity for landscape-scale funding and to streamline planning, design, implementation, monitoring, and information sharing of projects located on the floodplains that enhance flood protection, restore fish and wildlife habitat, improve groundwater aquifer recharge, provide water supply reliability, and sustain farming and managed wetland operations.
CDFW Seeks Public Comment Related to Bear Lake Buckwheat
November 8, 2024
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) is seeking data and public comments on a petition to list Bear Lake buckwheat under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA).
Wild Pheasant Genetics Study Underway at State-Operated Public Hunt Areas
November 7, 2024
California’s wild ring-necked pheasant season opens Saturday, Nov. 9, and for the second consecutive year, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) will collect genetic tissue – a tongue clip – from hunter-harvested wild birds at select state-operated wildlife areas and federal refuges.
CDFW Seeks Public Comment Related to Western Burrowing Owl
November 7, 2024
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) is seeking data and public comments on a petition to list the western burrowing owl under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA). The western burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia hypugaea) faces threats that include habitat loss due to urban and suburban development, ground squirrel population decline, changes in agricultural practices, pesticide poisoning and predation.
CDFW to Conduct Helicopter Surveys in Northeastern California to Monitor Elk Populations, Inform Hunting Regulations
November 1, 2024
CDFW will perform helicopter surveys this month to inventory and monitor elk populations throughout northeastern California. Flights will be conducted throughout November in portions of Modoc, Siskiyou, Lassen, and Shasta counties.
Fall Means Feeding Frenzy for Black Bears
November 1, 2024
Autumn is here, and black bears are entering a temporary physiological state known as “hyperphagia.” During hyperphagia, also known as the fall feeding frenzy, bears consume as much as they can to bring their fat stores to a level where they can survive the quickly approaching winter months.