At its June 2 quarterly meeting, the Wildlife Conservation Board (WCB) approved approximately $17 million in grants to help restore and protect fish and wildlife habitat throughout California. Some of the 20 funded projects will benefit fish and wildlife – including some endangered species – while others will provide the public with access to important natural resources. Several projects will also demonstrate the importance of protecting working landscapes that integrate economic, social and environmental stewardship practices beneficial to the environment, landowners and the local community. The state funds for all these projects come from initiatives approved by voters to help preserve and protect California’s natural resources. Funded projects include:
- Acceptance of a $369,240 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Habitat Conservation Plan Land Acquisition grant to assist with the acquisition in fee of approximately 141 acres of land from two separate landowners by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. These purchases will protect core wildlife linkages and endangered species habitat near the community of Jamul in San Diego County.
- A $440,000 grant to Tuleyome to acquire in fee approximately 1,280 acres of land for the protection of habitat such as blue oak woodland, riparian areas and chaparral and to provide for potential future wildlife-oriented public use opportunities near Clearlake Oaks in Lake County.
- A $3,500,000 grant to Tuolumne River Preservation Trust for a cooperative project with the U.S. Forest Service to restore or enhance habitat and to install infrastructure to benefit wildlife on areas decimated by the Rim Fire, within the Stanislaus National Forest, approximately 20 miles east of Sonora in Tuolumne County.
- A $3,820,000 grant to the University of California, Santa Barbara to restore approximately 136 acres of slough, wetland, transitional and upland habitats in portions of the historic northern extent of Devereux Slough, adjacent to the southern city limits of Goleta in Santa Barbara County.
- A $1,850,000 grant to the Imperial Irrigation District to restore approximately 600 acres of shallow, brackish water habitat in the Red Hill Bay area of the Salton Sea, 15 miles northwest of Brawley in Imperial County.
For more information about the WCB please visit www.wcb.ca.gov.
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