Progress 07/01/03 to 06/30/07
Outputs
In 2000, Congress enacted the State Wildlife Grants Program to support state programs that broadly benefit wildlife and habitats but particularly 'species of greatest conservation need.' As a requirement for receiving funding under this program, state wildlife agencies were to have submitted a Wildlife Action Plan (comprehensive wildlife conservation strategy) to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2005. The California Department of Fish and Game (Fish and Game), working in partnership with the Wildlife Health Center, University of California, Davis, directed the development of this report, California Wildlife: Conservation Challenges, the state's Wildlife Action Plan, and associated Web publications. California Wildlife: Conservation Challenges is directed at answering three primary questions: 1) What are the species and habitats of greatest conservation need? 2) What are the major stressors affecting California's native wildlife and habitats? 3) What are the
actions needed to restore and conserve California's wildlife, thereby reducing the likelihood that more species will approach the condition of threatened or endangered?
Impacts
Conservation actions were considered for each region, based on the stressors and circumstances in each. Statewide conservation actions are those actions that are important across most or all regions. The following are recommended statewide conservation actions: a. The state should develop policies and incentives to facilitate better integration of wildlife conservation considerations into local and regional planning and land-use decision-making. b. Permitting agencies, county planners, and land management agencies should work to ensure that infrastructure development projects are designed and sited to avoid harmful effects on sensitive species and habitats. c. The state should develop policies and incentives to better integrate wildlife conservation into state and regional transportation planning. Wildlife considerations need to be incorporated early in the transportation planning process. d. State and federal agencies should work with cities and counties to secure
sensitive habitats and key habitat linkages. e. State and local agencies should allocate sufficient water for ecosystem uses and wildlife needs when planning for and meeting regional water supply needs. f. Federal, state, and local agencies should provide greater resources and coordinate efforts to control existing occurrences of invasive species and to prevent new introductions. g. Federal, state, and local agencies and nongovernmental conservation organizations, working with private landowners and public land managers, should expand efforts to restore and conserve riparian communities. h. Federal, state, and local agencies and nongovernmental organizations, working with private landowners, should expand efforts to implement agricultural and rangeland management practices that are compatible with wildlife and habitat conservation. i. In their conservation planning and ecosystem restoration work, state and federal wildlife agencies and land managers should consider the most current
projections regarding the effects of global warming. j. Both state and federal governments should give greater priority to wildlife and natural resources conservation education. k. The state should strengthen its capacity to implement conservation actions and to assist local agencies and landowners with planning and implementation of wildlife and habitat restoration and conservation efforts.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 01/01/06 to 12/31/06
Outputs
The California Wildlife Action Plan (CWAP) was reviewed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) in 2006. The UWFWS requested that the Plan be put out for 60 days of public comments, that three public hearings be held and that the Plan is revised as appropriate based on the new input. In addtion, the UWFWS requested an additional chapter be written to address Monitoring and Adaptive Management with respect to the recommended actions of the Plan. These tasks were completed on schedule and the final CWAP was re-submitted to the USFWS on September 15, 2006. The USFWS approve the CWAP in January 2007. The Wildlife Health Center will edit and prepare the plan for publishing the CWAP as a book, by the end of the project period, June 30, 2007.
Impacts
The California Wildlife Action Plan (CWAP)is utilized by state and federal policy-makers to prioritize funding for wildlife and conservation projects and programs. Californian's enacted a bond act in November, 2006 to authorize up to $135 Million for projects implementing the recommendations of the CWAP. Legislation has also been introduced in the state legislature to implement to recommendations of the CWAP. The US Fish and Wildlife Service has tied funding for wildlife to recommendations of Plan. The CWAP is the only report on the status of declining wildlife species and ecosystems in the state of California and will be used for many years as a guide and reference document for conservation activities throughout the state.
Publications
- The California Wildlife Action Plan is available on the Web at: http://www.dfg.ca.gov/habitats/wdp/. The Plan will be published by the Wildlife Health Center of the University of California and the Department of Fish and Game in Spring, 2007.
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Progress 01/01/05 to 12/31/05
Outputs
The Wildlife Health Center(WHC) completed the California Wildlife Action Plan and submitted it to the Department of Fish and Game and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on time in September, 2005. The Wildlife Action Plan identifies species at risk, major stressors affecting species in each region of the state, and recommends key actions to conserve and restore wildlife and habitats. The Wildlife Action Plan reports for the first time the major problems and stressors affecting wildlife across the state and region-by-region. This plan will be used to guide conservation research, planning and regulatory actions and funding priorities for federal, state, and local agencies. The Wildlife Health Center also updated information regarding over 800 species at risk and prepared range maps for over 400 vertebrate species at risk. This scientific information regarding species at risk will be used for conservation planning and to provide the scientific basis for regulatory
decisions. The WHC designed a web site containing the Wildlife Action Plan, workshop results, and wildlife and habitat information relevant to the plan. The final Wildlife Action Plan will be produced in book form in March, 2006. The plan will be tanslated into Spanish.
Impacts
The California Wildlife Action Plan has been completed and it will be used to guide research, conservation planning, regulatory decisions, and funding priorities at the federal, state, and local level.
Publications
- Bunn, David A.,et al. 2006. California Wildlife: Conservation Challenges, California's Wildlife Action Plan. Prepared by the Wildlife Health Center, University of California at Davis and the California Department of Fish and Game.
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Progress 01/01/04 to 12/31/04
Outputs
The federally funded State Wildlife Grants Program requires that states submit a wildlife conservation strategy report to Congress by October, 2005. The California Department of Fish and Game contracted the Wildlife Diversity Project at the UC Davis Wildlife Health Center to develop the Wildlife Diversity Conservation Strategy Report for California. The Wildlife Diversity Project has assessed the status, distribution, habitats, stressors and conservation needs of wildlife species at risk in each region of the state. The draft report will be submitted to the Department of Fish and Game on February 15, 2005. From March through May, the report will go through a two track review process; a peer review and an internal technical review by the Department of Fish and Game. The final project report and website products will not be completed until August, 2005.
Impacts
Regional Scoping Meetings (November, 2003- March, 2004)--Regional meetings were held with Department wildlife and conservation biologists to develop lists of major stressors of wildlife habitats and important conservation activities in each region. Bioregion Expert Interviews and Review of Conservation Plans and Literature (February, 2004- January, 2005)--Regarding each bioregion, we interviewed 15 to 30 conservation planners, ecologists, federal, state and local biologists and land managers, and conservation organizations and other local experts. In addition, we reviewed relevant wildlife studies and conservation planning documents.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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