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DFG Launches Agricultural Riparian Buffers Initiative to Benefit Central Valley Wildlife
11/9/07
California's Central Valley wildlife is at risk, and it needs the help of farmers and ranchers. Private landowners are vital to the survival of species in the Central Valley, and a new program offers to rebuild streamside habitat to benefit plants, animals and farmers.
"Nearly all the Central Valley's historic riparian habitat has been lost, which has devastated many wildlife populations," said Marc Kenyon, California LIP Coordinator. "This new program is designed to build long-lasting partnerships with California's agricultural producers by helping them restore these habitats. Properly functioning riparian habitats can benefit farmers, ranchers and the public by protecting stream banks and improving water quality."
The California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) has partnered with Ducks Unlimited to expand the successful California Landowner Incentive Program (LIP), a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service initiative that awards grants to pay for land management activities designed to benefit California's declining plant and animal species.
DFG is currently accepting applications for this new initiative. The deadline for applications is Jan. 31, 2008. For additional information on the LIP practices, eligibility and incentives, logon to www.dfg.ca.gov/lands/lip/.
The new program will make it easy for participating private landowners to restore and manage riparian buffers, strips of densely vegetated land near streams and rivers. Unlike previous programs that required private monies, DFG will administer grant funds to pay the full cost of restoring the habitat and provide added incentives to off-set costs of idling farmland for the next 10 years. Additionally, landowners will receive technical assistance from experienced biologists to help establish riparian vegetation.
The program will focus on properties along the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers and their major tributaries. Ideal projects will involve taking small amounts of marginal cropland or orchards out of production and restoring the land to riparian habitat. These buffer strips, 50 to 200 feet in width, will capture excess runoff composed of sediments, nutrients and fertilizers before they reach waterways and provide vital wildlife habitat.
In turn, DFG hopes to connect existing remnant patches of habitat.
"Species, like the yellow-billed cuckoo, Swainson's hawk and Valley Elderberry Longhorn Beetle, depend on riparian habitat for year-round activities, such as feeding, molting, migrating, nesting and rearing young," Kenyon said. "Connecting habitat fragments will allow these species to expand their ranges and ultimately increase in numbers."
This new initiative complements California's recently published State Wildlife Action Plan. The plan highlights the importance of restoring and managing riparian habitat as the habitat most critical to California's wildlife. More than 225 species depend on this type of habitat, including 42 at-risk species in the Central Valley. The plan further states that habitat restoration should focus on California's privately-owned lands.
"With the help of private landowners, we should be able to realize substantial increases in the population sizes of at-risk species," Kenyon said.
Media Contact:
Marc Kenyon, Landowner Incentive Program Coordinator, (916) 445-3515 Steve Martarano, DFG Office of Communications, (916) 322-8639
11/9/07
California's Central Valley wildlife is at risk, and it needs the help of farmers and ranchers. Private landowners are vital to the survival of species in the Central Valley, and a new program offers to rebuild streamside habitat to benefit plants, animals and farmers.
"Nearly all the Central Valley's historic riparian habitat has been lost, which has devastated many wildlife populations," said Marc Kenyon, California LIP Coordinator. "This new program is designed to build long-lasting partnerships with California's agricultural producers by helping them restore these habitats. Properly functioning riparian habitats can benefit farmers, ranchers and the public by protecting stream banks and improving water quality."
The California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) has partnered with Ducks Unlimited to expand the successful California Landowner Incentive Program (LIP), a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service initiative that awards grants to pay for land management activities designed to benefit California's declining plant and animal species.
DFG is currently accepting applications for this new initiative. The deadline for applications is Jan. 31, 2008. For additional information on the LIP practices, eligibility and incentives, logon to www.dfg.ca.gov/lands/lip/.
The new program will make it easy for participating private landowners to restore and manage riparian buffers, strips of densely vegetated land near streams and rivers. Unlike previous programs that required private monies, DFG will administer grant funds to pay the full cost of restoring the habitat and provide added incentives to off-set costs of idling farmland for the next 10 years. Additionally, landowners will receive technical assistance from experienced biologists to help establish riparian vegetation.
The program will focus on properties along the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers and their major tributaries. Ideal projects will involve taking small amounts of marginal cropland or orchards out of production and restoring the land to riparian habitat. These buffer strips, 50 to 200 feet in width, will capture excess runoff composed of sediments, nutrients and fertilizers before they reach waterways and provide vital wildlife habitat.
In turn, DFG hopes to connect existing remnant patches of habitat.
"Species, like the yellow-billed cuckoo, Swainson's hawk and Valley Elderberry Longhorn Beetle, depend on riparian habitat for year-round activities, such as feeding, molting, migrating, nesting and rearing young," Kenyon said. "Connecting habitat fragments will allow these species to expand their ranges and ultimately increase in numbers."
This new initiative complements California's recently published State Wildlife Action Plan. The plan highlights the importance of restoring and managing riparian habitat as the habitat most critical to California's wildlife. More than 225 species depend on this type of habitat, including 42 at-risk species in the Central Valley. The plan further states that habitat restoration should focus on California's privately-owned lands.
"With the help of private landowners, we should be able to realize substantial increases in the population sizes of at-risk species," Kenyon said.
Media Contact:
Marc Kenyon, Landowner Incentive Program Coordinator, (916) 445-3515 Steve Martarano, DFG Office of Communications, (916) 322-8639
