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The Sagebrush Tells the Story
Field Notes The Sagebrush Tells the Story By Sarah Leal, Susanville Rangeland Conservationist Sarah Leal is a Rangeland Conservationist in Susanville, California and a member of the IWJV’s Wetlands Capacity Team. She assists the Natural Resources Conservation Service in establishing conservation plans on farms, ranches, and other private lands to enhance soil, water, plants, wildlife…
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Klamath Basin Farming and Wetland Collaborative Regional Conservation Partnership Program
The Klamath Basin’s wetlands historically provided an abundance of important year-round habitat for waterfowl and waterbirds. Those same wetlands—and the water that feeds them—also sustain fisheries and people, from farmers and ranchers to the tribes who have called this place home for time immemorial. Wetlands were and remain a vital part of the ecosystem; a…
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Field Notes: What We Can Learn from Working Dogs
By Elizabeth Friedl, ACEP-ALE Easement Specialist, California Easement Team, USDA-NRCS Elizabeth Friedl, a field-based capacity position supported by the IWJV, plays a unique role in the conservation of farm and ranch lands in California. Her work bridges gaps between the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), land trusts, and private landowners to build connections and streamline…
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Giving the Klamath Basin “A Fighting Chance”
The Klamath Basin was once the crown jewel of the Southern Oregon Northeastern California (SONEC) region, supporting sixty percent of the wetland-dependant birds that breed and migrate in the Pacific Flyway. This area once contained more than 450,000 acres of wetland habitat and supported robust populations of fish and wildlife species throughout the watershed, from…
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WRE: Keeping Wetlands Intact in California
The Wetland Reserve Easement program from USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) helps landowners manage their wetlands. Wetlands on private land provide habitat for migratory birds, fish, big game, and other wildlife. Through the Wetland Reserve Easement (WRE) program, California NRCS works with landowners to conserve the benefits provided by these important areas while maintaining…
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Intermountain Insights: Wetland Loss in the Pacific Flyway
A study from the Intermountain West Joint Venture and partners, Functional wetland loss drives emerging risks to waterbird migration networks, identified trends of severe wetland drying in the Southern Oregon Northeastern California (SONEC) region and California’s Central Valley, two of the most significant sites for migratory waterbirds in the Pacific Flyway. The good news? Managers can…
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A Duck Hunter’s Legacy Soars at the Island Ranch
This article was produced in partnership with California USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. The closer you get to the Island Ranch, the louder the cacophony of birdsong. When visitors to California’s Sierra Valley start seeing birds gathered in the hundreds, they can safely assume they’ve hit Dean and Sharon Cook’s property line. “Wouldn’t you want…
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California NRCS Easement Keeps the Family Ranch Intact
This article was produced in partnership with California USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. Land stewardship is a concept with many meanings for many people. For multi-generation ranchers like Jim and Mary Genasci, stewardship is an ethic passed down from those that worked the land before them. Although many generations of Genascis cared for the family’s…
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Klamath Basin Farming and Wetlands Coalesce in RCPP
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced last week that it is investing $3.8 million in the Klamath Basin Farming and Wetland Collaborative project in the Klamath Basin through the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP). This investment will bring some much-needed relief to farmers and migratory birds over the next…
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Restoration and Ranching on Witcher Creek Ranch
Article and photos by Glenn Nader, Witcher Creek Ranch, Canby, California Editor’s Note: Water 4 supports partnership-based conservation tailored to the unique opportunities and needs within landscapes, including conservation easements, agricultural flood irrigation infrastructure enhancements, fish and big game habitat improvement, and water management planning timed to habitat needs. This series of projects on a…
