Overview
The Wildlife Branch's Game Conservation Programs includes black bear, bighorn sheep, deer, elk, pronghorn, pigs, upland game (10 species), and waterfowl (21 species). These programs are responsible for game species conservation including: developing management plans and recommending and conducting management actions; designing, conducting and overseeing contracted resource assessment, monitoring, and research; coordinating habitat enhancement projects; developing hunting regulation recommendations, as well as providing special hunting opportunities.
Program Units
- Black Bear Management Unit
The primary goal of CDFW's Black Bear Program is to maintain an ecologically functional black bear population.
- Deer Management Unit
The branch and field biologists of the Deer Management Program work together coordinating programs throughout the state to maintain healthy, viable deer herds.
- Elk Management Unit
The goals of the Elk Management Program are to maintain healthy elk herds, reestablish elk in suitable historic range, provide public educational and recreational opportunities involving elk, and to alleviate conflicts involving elk on private property.
- Wild Pig Management Unit
The primary goal of CDFW's Wild Pig Management Program is to provide recreational opportunities and manage property damage.
- Pronghorn Management Unit
The Pronghorn Management Program's objectives are to maintain healthy antelope herds, provide a variety of recreational activities and to minimize conflicts with humans
- Bighorn Sheep Management Unit
The goal of the Bighorn Sheep Management Unit is to have healthy bighorn sheep populations that benefit from management efforts that aim to conserve bighorn sheep for their intrinsic, ecological, and utilitarian values.
- The SHARE Program (Shared Habitat Alliance for Recreational Enhancement)
SHARE is designed to improve public access to private or landlocked public land.
- Private Lands Management (PLM)
The PLM Program offers landowners incentives to manage their lands for the benefit of wildlife.
- Waterfowl Unit
The Waterfowl Program works cooperatively with others in the Pacific Flyway and within the CDFW to conserve and manage the waterfowl resource.
Program Staff
Mario Klip, Ph.D., Environmental Program Manager
Science Support Unit
- Brett Furnas, Ph.D., Senior Environmental Scientist (Supervisor)
- Vacant, Research Scientist III
- Janelle Dorcy-Ponce, Environmental Scientist
- Cathleen Steinbeiser, Environmental Scientist
- Jennifer Diamond, Research Data Analyst
Contact us at: BigGame@wildlife.ca.gov
Deer Unit
- Brian Leo, Senior Environmental Scientist (Specialist)
Black Bear Unit
- Arjun Dheer, Ph.D., Senior Environmental Scientist (Specialist)
Bighorn Sheep Unit
- Paige Prentice, Senior Environmental Scientist (Specialist)
Elk and Pronghorn Unit
- Brent Wolf, Senior Environmental Scientist (Specialist)
Upland / Small Game Unit
- Ian Dwight, Environmental Scientist
- Andrea Mott, Environmental Scientist
- Matt Meshriy, Environmental Scientist
- Katherine Miller, Ph.D., Environmental Scientist
Waterfowl Unit
- Melanie Weaver, Senior Environmental Scientist (Specialist)
- Caroline Brady, Environmental Scientist
Contact us at: waterfowlmgmt@wildlife.ca.gov
GIS
- Diane Mastalir, Research Program Specialist, GIS Data, Maps, and Modeling
SHARE and PLM Units
- Victoria Barr, Environmental Scientist