Conservation Stories
CRC Providing a New Habitat Assessment Service
We are pleased to now offer a free habitat assessment service to our members. This service is designed for growers that are interested in increasing the wildlife value of their properties. The Habitat Assessment Service is outlined below.
READ MORE
CRC and its Conservation Partners Awarded RCPP Grant
We are very pleased to announce that the CRC and our partners have been selected for a nearly $5.5 million Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) Award. This will continue to fuel our storied legacy of working collaboratively with our many valued conservation partners to enhance waterbird habitat on working ricelands.
READ MORE
Pilot Salmon Project Showing Promising Survival Rates
Early provisional data from real time receivers reporting to the CalFishTrack system are showing great promise for the survival of our first rice field-reared salmon release this season. As of today, 4.5 percent of our salmon have made it to Benicia. This is the last real-time receiver that hears the pings from our fish as they sprint toward the Golden Gate.
READ MORE
First Season of Bid4Birds Program Completed
Our California Ricelands Waterbird Foundation just wrapped up the inaugural season of the Bid4Birds program, which incentivizes rice growers to utilize their fields as temporary seasonal wetland habitat for migrating shorebirds and other waterbirds.
This season, the Foundation enrolled six rice growers into Bid4Birds, involving 18 rice fields in the Sacramento Valley, creating about 1,500 acres of vital shoulder season habitat. During site visits, 45 different species of birds were observed and documented utilizing enrolled fields.
For more information, please contact the Rice Commission’s Wildlife Programs Manager, Luke Matthews, at lmatthews@calrice.org or (916) 607-8988.
Important Progress made in Pilot Salmon Project
We recently reached a milestone with year two of the Rice Commission’s Pilot Salmon Project, when UC Davis researchers took the juvenile salmon that were raised in rice fields and released them into the Sacramento River.
READ MORE