Wildlife Conservation Board To Fund Several Projects

The following is courtesy of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife:

At its Aug. 26, 2020 quarterly meeting, the Wildlife Conservation Board (WCB) approved approximately $25.3 million in grants to help restore and protect fish and wildlife habitat throughout California. Some of the 26 approved projects will benefit fish and wildlife — including some endangered species — while others will provide public 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.

Funding for these projects comes from a combination of sources including the Habitat Conservation Fund and bond measures approved by voters to help preserve and protect California’s natural resources.

Funded projects include:

• A $5 million grant to the National Wildlife Federation for the Liberty Canyon Wildlife Overpass Crossing in cooperation with the California Department of Transportation, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), the California State Coastal Conservancy (SCC), the City of Agoura Hills and the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy to construct a wildlife crossing over U.S. Route 101 to facilitate wildlife migration near Agoura Hills in Los Angeles County.
• A $350,000 grant to The Nature Conservancy for a cooperative project with CDFW and California State Parks to complete a suite of planning activities to daylight a storm drain and restore multiple habitat types including arroyo, riparian, intermittent wetlands and coastal sage scrub along the Los Angeles River in Los Angeles County.  
• A $670,000 grant to American Rivers for a cooperative project with the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) to restore approximately 140 acres of wet meadow habitat in the Pine Creek watershed, located on USFS’s Lassen National Forest approximately 30 miles northwest of Susanville in Lassen County.
• A $700,000 grant to California State Parks for a cooperative planning project with the California Tahoe Conservancy to complete plans, designs and permits for pier replacement and recreation access improvements at Kings Beach State Recreation Area, located 10 miles northeast of Tahoe City in Placer County.
• A $700,000 grant to Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District for a cooperative project with SCC and the California Natural Resources Agency to acquire approximately 341 acres of land for the protection of coastal dunes, Sitka spruce and beach pine forest habitats in order to promote the recovery of threatened and endangered species, and provide future wildlife-oriented, public-use opportunities in the community of Samoa in Humboldt County.
• A $4 million grant to the Santa Clara Valley Habitat Agency (SCVHA) and the acceptance of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Habitat Conservation Plan Land Acquisition grants with the approval to subgrant these federal funds to SCVHA to acquire approximately 1,741 acres of land for the protection and preservation of existing regional wildlife linkages and special status species occurrences, as well as rare serpentine bunchgrass plant communities, grasslands, oak woodlands, and pond and riparian habitat areas within the Santa Clara Valley Habitat Conservation Plan/Natural Community Conservation Plan, located west of U.S. Route 101 in Santa Clara County.
• A $1.08 million grant to SCC for a cooperative project with the Huntington Beach Wetlands Conservancy to acquire approximately 44 acres of land for the protection of nesting and foraging habitat for state-listed Belding’s Savannah sparrow and foraging habitat for California least tern and other sensitive species located in Huntington Beach in Orange County.
• A $3.5 million grant to The Nature Conservancy for the acquisition in fee of approximately 3,148 acres for the protection of deer, mountain lion and special status species habitat, and to increase protection of regional wildlife habitat corridors in the Tehachapi Mountain Range located near Bakersfield in Kern County.

For more information about the WCB please visit wcb.ca.gov.