The grants protect almost 23,000 acres in California, including important wildlife corridor in Ventura County
The Wildlife Conservation Board (WCB) has approved grants of 59.5 million US dollars to support 25 habitats and restoration projects in 21 counties in California. The projects of the WCB meeting of May 22nd will protect the projects almost 23,000 tomorrow in the state's most important landscapes.
One of the awards includes a scholarship of 14.75 million US dollars to the Trust for Public Land (TPL) to acquire about 6,475 acres near the city of Ventura. The country, known as Rancho Cañada Larga, has coastal examples, local grasslands, oak forests, chaparral and bank habitats that support at least 20 special status wild animal species and eight rare plant species. The terrain offers a critical habitat for the Californian rotbone frog and the South California Steelhead and is within the year-round range of the California Condor.
The acquisition comprises 4.25 miles from Cañada Larga Creek-Einer of five main areas of the Ventura River and protects an important part of the Sierra Madre-Castaic link, a wildlife corridor that connects two large water catchment areas and national forests.
The property is also of cultural importance, and active advice is going on with the barbarian venture gene gang of mission indians in order to ensure access rights for ceremonial assemblies, local plant collection and other cultural uses.
“This support is a critical milestone for our efforts to save one of the best -known open spaces from Ventura County,” said Guillermo Rodriguez, Vice President of the TPL Pacific region and director of the California state. “Rancho Cañada Larga is a landscape of exceptional ecological and cultural value, and this financing will help ensure that it is protected for the coming generations.”
Saving the grants of the WCB subsidies Gavin Newsom by Governor Gavin Newsom, 30 percent of California and coastal waters by 2030, an initiative called 30×30. The initiative tries to protect the biological diversity, to expand access to nature for all Californians and to adapt to climate change.
Other financed projects include:
- A scholarship of 6.55 million US dollars to support the return of 1,720 hectares of ancestral land on the Esselen Tribe of Monterey County. The country that is located along the Tularcitos Creek is part of the historic 12,452 hectare Rana Creek Ranch. The acquisition ensures that the Esselen have property using natural -based practices and are managed, which are informed by ecological knowledge of the tribes.
“When TWC acquired the Tularcitos packages with private financing, our vision was always that this country had returned to its original stewards,” said Frazier Haney, Managing Director of TWC.
The country was bought by the Wildlands Conservancy (TWC) with additional funds from the California coastal conserval and comprises Oak Woodlands, Vernal Pools and Roban Life, which support endangered species such as the California Rotbone frog and California Condor. The property also offers access to cultural sites and future wildly-oriented public use.
This landscape forms an important wildlife corridor between the Sierra de Salinas and Santa Lucia, which is connected to the 1.75 million hectare Los Padres National Forest.
“We feel honored to work with the Esselen Tribe of Monterey County in order to make this vision reality,” continued Haney. “This milestone reflects our joint commitment to the care of this remarkable landscape and builds on our ongoing cooperation at the co-stewarding Rana Creek Preserve. We are deeply grateful to the WCB and other partners of the public agency, whose support for the protection of these trendy countries and the guarantee of cultural knowledge and the after-effects that you deserve.”
“The Napa River Ecology Center will be a dynamic center for education and responsibility that should inspire the connection with the Napa River Watershed and the protection of the diverse wild animals,” said Janelle Sellick, managing director of the Park Foundation. “With a unique adaptive reuse of the site and a strong public-private partnership between the Parks Foundation and the City of American Canyon, the project sets a new standard for the joint maintenance of cooperation.”
“The support of this groundbreaking project (WCB) enables us to significantly expand public access and to connect thousands of Hectar -protected public countries from Monte Rio to the Sonoma coast,” said Bert Whitker, director of SCRP. “These efforts protect important redwood forests, habitat for wild animals and clean water resources for future generations and at the same time create new opportunities for relaxation outdoors in one of the most important and ecologically important regions of Sonoma County.”
Paul Ringgold, Chief Program Officer from StrL, found that the grant will help save an important section from Redwood Forest, which contributes to a growing network of protected countries in Sonoma County. “By helping to summarize a larger, more resistant landscape, he reflects the power of the partnership in the further development of the preservation, which benefits both ecosystems and communities,” said Ringgold.
- A scholarship of 5.2 million US dollars to the California Ministry of Water Resources (DWR) in cooperation with the imperial irrigation district (IID) and the US office for recovery to implement the Bombay Beach Wetland Enhancement project on the Salton Sea. The project will restore a little more than 560 acres of wetland life for migratory birds and endangered species such as the desert doll fish and at the same time control dust near the disadvantaged municipality of Bombay Beach. Long -term management is headed by the Salton Sea Conservancy with the support of state authorities and nature conservation groups.
“The project will improve and stabilize wetlands and not remove local species at a 564 hectare location and are intended to improve public access with a new hiking trail and interpretive signage,” said Melinda Dorin, senior program manager of the SEA SEA Restoration Office for the DWR. “The Salton Sea Management Program (SSMP) worked with Audubon California and the landowners to design and implement the project. The WCB money is an important funding piece that offers the bridge from design to construction.”
The chairwoman of the IID, Gina Dockstader, added: “The IID is pleased that another Salton Sea project is approaching the implementation. This is a great example of people who work together on a common goal, and we thank the WCB, Audubon and our agency partners for their roles when achieving this milestone.”
Further information on the WCB can be found at wcb.ca.gov. To explore the newly financed projects, visit the Storymaps pages of WCB.
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Mark Topping, Wildlife Conservation Board, (916) 539-4673