As Congress prepares to start work on a new Farm Bill this week, hunters and anglers say billions of dollars in investments in private-lands conservation are at stake.

The previous Farm Bill expired last year but was given a one-year extension until this Sept. 30. It is an omnibus, multiyear law governing agricultural and food programs, including habitat conservation.

Mark Kenyon, outdoorsman, author and filmmaker at the media production company MeatEater, said the outcome of the bill is crucial for access to lands and waterways in Illinois and other Midwestern states.

"Historically, Michigan, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana; these states had prairie, they had oak savannas, a lot of open ground, the kind of habitat that supports a lot of wildlife," Kenyon pointed out. "Most of that has disappeared, transformed by agriculture."

The last five-year Farm Bill was approved in 2018, but a renewal effort stalled in Congress last year. The House Agriculture Committee is scheduled to begin marking up the bill later this week. Kenyon emphasized the bill contains crucial policy and funding changes certain to affect access to fish and wildlife habitat for five years and beyond.

Kenyon noted a key provision of the bill is to fund private land conservation through a plan to pay farmers and other landowner to convert portions of their cropland to a land trust for wildlife habitat. He stressed there is a lot at stake.

"It's known as the Conservation Title, and this piece of the Farm Bill allocates something around $6 billion a year to conservation programs," Kenyon explained. "So this is no joke, this is actually the largest funding source annually for conservation programs in the nation."

Aaron Field, director of private lands conservation for the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, said most of the bill's conservation programs are funded by the hunters and anglers who will use the preserved lands and waterways.

"The system by which we fund wildlife conservation in this country is heavily dependent on the contributions of hunters and anglers," Field asserted. "Hunters and anglers pay excise taxes every time they purchase hunting or fishing equipment."

Conservation advocates say a new Bureau of Land Management final Environmental Impact Statement takes positive steps toward developing a management plan to conserve public lands in Northwest California.

The Northwest California Integrated Resource Management Plan will manage more than 380,000 acres in Butte, Humboldt, Mendocino, Shasta, Siskiyou, Tehama and Trinity counties for at least the next two decades.

John Haschak, vice chair of the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors, said the plan will help protect both endangered habitat and at-risk communities from the impacts of climate change, including wildfire.

"It provides some of the protections for some of these areas that are very sensitive, like Eden Valley, which is very environmentally fragile areas, and then also the Eel River. It's a wild and scenic river, so just making sure that these are managed properly is very important," he explained.

The lands covered by the plan stretch from the North Coast to the Central Valley and the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. They include isolated redwood groves, oak woodlands, rivers and streams, and are home to elk, bald eagles, sandhill cranes, salmon and steelhead. BLM officials say the plan is a collaborative effort of communities, Tribes, local governments and other partners.

The BLM's final plan establishes management areas to protect recreational uses, including miles of trails for hikers, hunters, anglers, mountain bikers and equestrians, as well as some of the best non-expert canoeing and kayaking in California.

Steve O'Bryan, owner of Pullins Cyclery in Chico, said he has several decades of experience in the region, and he hopes the management plan will keep it in pristine condition.

"I'm pleased to have been a part, maybe, or have some effect on this decision to preserve the land because I've gotten to utilize it most of my life," he said. "And we need to make concerted efforts to conserve some wild spots for the future generations that are headed our way."

A BLM spokesman said the plan will address changing use patterns, provide a broad array of recreation uses, plans for wilderness management, and will protect wild and scenic rivers and areas of critical environmental concern.


get more stories like this via email

Recent bouts of heavy rain are not just leading to flooded basements in Minnesota, they are reducing access to state parks just as summer demand picks up.

Officials with the Department of Natural Resources are offering guidance and safety warnings, as quite a few parks have trail closures due to recent flooding and in some cases, park roadways have been washed out. There are also campground closures in some state forest areas.

Sara Berhow, parks and trails public relations supervisor for the agency, acknowledged the timing could not be worse for safety alerts to go out.

"School has just let out in the last two weeks and a lot of families are wanting to get out and do their summer camping trip," Berhow pointed out.

The DNR said it has to put the safety of visitors first. Berhow urged the public to check a park's website before leaving to see the latest updates. When getting to a site, visitors are asked to obey closure signs for affected areas. In some cases, staff may have not been able to inspect all locations. If a flooded area has not yet been closed off, visitors are asked not to go through it.

Berhow noted it has been a while since early-season rains have impacted a larger collection of state park trails. While some areas might already be in the clear from dangerous conditions, she emphasized they will be in wait-and-see mode for certain spots.

"Once the flooding has receded, we'll need to give park staff time to assess those areas, do any cleanup that's necessary and make sure they're safe to reopen," Berhow outlined.

She added they will move as quickly as possible to get outdoor attractions ready for visitors again. As for campers with reservations, they can make changes through the DNR website, if needed, including looking for another campground if the original site they booked is off limits right now.


get more stories like this via email

By Elizabeth Hewitt for Reasons to be Cheerful.
Broadcast version by Suzanne Potter for California News Service reporting for the Solutions Journalism Network-Public News Service Collaboration

On a bright morning in early January near the confluence of the San Joaquin and Tuolumne rivers in Central California, John Cain looks out over a small, curved lake. The trees are mostly bare for winter, but Cain, senior director of conservation of the nonprofit organization River Partners, points out that the wild landscape in front of him is buzzing. Bright white egrets swoop lazily down into the water while terns whiz by in the air. A California rose bush clings onto bright red rose hips. The low-lying plain across the water is dense with gray branches of adolescent trees.

For more than four months last year, as California was inundated with a series of major storms, this part of Dos Rios Ranch Preserve, about 20 miles west of Modesto, was submerged under water. That’s exactly what it was designed for. And when the floodwaters recede, Cain says, “It’s just an explosion of life out here.”

Until a little more than a decade ago, this area was productive farmland, used for growing crops like tomatoes, alfalfa, melons and almonds. Now it’s set to be California’s next state park after a restoration project spearheaded by River Partners converted the ranch into rewilded riverside habitat. As climate change has doubled the likelihood of flooding in California, and is projected to increase runoff from storms by as much as 200 to 400 percent, this restored floodplain is proving to be a promising approach.

Not only does the area help buffer downstream communities from flood damage, it also maximizes environmental benefits from high waters. “When we step back from the river, when we give the river more room, flooding actually is a very productive process for the ecosystem,” says Cain. “It recharges groundwater. It filters polluted water. It nourishes riparian forests that support all kinds of wildlife. It’s alive.”  

California’s Central Valley doesn’t get much rain, but the 400-mile-long region is naturally shaped by water. Before human intervention, rivers fluctuated with flow from the towering Sierra Nevada range to the east. But over the last century and a half, rivers have been tamed by dams and constricted by levees as land was converted for agriculture and urban development. Some 95 percent of the region’s native riparian and wetland habitat has been lost.

Even as rivers have been engineered with the aim of reducing flooding, communities and farmland have remained vulnerable. Bill Lyons, whose family owned Dos Rios Ranch for about 25 years, says that it was good farmland. But he recalls three times when the ranch was impacted by major flooding, resulting in loss of crops, erosion damage, and debris scattered across farmland.

Lyons’ family — which has been farming for four generations and has a century of history in this region — has long been committed to stewardship of the land. They are concerned with supporting the health of the environment, he says. So the family was interested when River Partners approached them about buying Dos Rios Ranch.

“We looked at it from a point of view that probably its highest and best use would be to be returned to a natural state,” Lyons says.

In 2012, River Partners purchased the property and began restoration work along eight miles of river. Berms that had been built to protect farmland from high water were removed. To date, more than 350,000 trees and shrubs have been planted. River Partners uses existing irrigation infrastructure on former farmland to help young vegetation endure hot dry summers as it gets established. About 1,600 acres have been rewilded so far, and restoration work is ongoing on another 500 acres on an adjacent former farm.

Pausing on a rough single-track road that runs atop higher ground through the preserve, Cain points out a long, shrubbery-covered berm that gently slopes down to the floodplain about three yards below the road. It’s a ramp designed for riparian brush rabbits, an endangered species that has has moved in to Dos Rios. The slope allows them to escape to higher ground when the area floods. To the right of the ramp, birds flit between bare branches of densely planted trees. To the left, a low-lying grassy meadow is primed to take on high water. When the San Joaquin River overflows onto the field, it offers an abundant feast of zooplankton and tiny bugs for juvenile salmon, which studies show grow faster on floodplains than in the river. Instead of aiming to benefit any single species, the restoration was geared towards creating a varied ecosystem.

“It’s a more resilient landscape that supports a greater diversity of life,” Cain says. The preserve hosts migratory Aleutian cackling geese, a formerly endangered species that’s on the rebound. Beavers have been spotted, as well as deer, which hadn’t been seen in this area for about 60 years, according to River Partners.

Over the last decade, the restored floodplain quickly showed signs of success in supporting wildlife. And in 2023, the area got a chance to show how it performed in heavy flooding.

Lilia Lomeli-Gil walks by piles of branches and brush a few feet away from the backyard fences of houses on the edge of the small town of Grayson, across the river from Dos Rios Ranch Preserve. The debris was left by high water last winter, she explains, as the river overflowed near this small community, home to many farmworkers.

The record-breaking precipitation that hit California last year was devastating for some communities. Thousands of people were evacuated when a levee broke along the Pajaro River, 50 miles southwest of Grayson.

In Grayson, residents watched the rising river warily. A few families evacuated out of precaution, according to Lomeli-Gil, co-founder of the Grayson United Community Center. The water came up within a couple feet of several houses, she says, but the town didn’t sustain major damage. She attributes that to the floodplain restoration work.

“I can only imagine if … River Partners had not opened up the levees,” she says. She believes giving the water room to spread out helped the town avoid flood damage. “I think that made a difference.”

Awareness has been growing that California’s old flood management approach of confining rivers has not been working, according to Brian Johnson, a board member of the Central Valley Flood Protection Board. But during the winter and spring of 2023, the Dos Rios project proved that floodplain restoration is an effective flood control approach. “You need to give the water a safe place to go,” he says, “or it’ll go to a place that’s not safe.”

Across the Central Valley, similar projects are in development, he says. Cost is a limitation — the board’s recommended flood protection measures, including projects like Dos Rios, have an estimated price tag of $25 to $30 billion. But those measures could avoid around $1 trillion damage from major flooding. The permitting process can also be slow and a hurdle. But Johnson says there’s a lot of opportunity to develop similar floodplain habitat restoration projects across the valley.

“In order for it to work at a system-wide scale, we want to be doing it in a bunch of different places,” Johnson says.

Floodplain restoration can also help California weather drought, which is predicted to become more intense with climate change, according to Cain. Not only does growing native vegetation require less water than agriculture, when floodwaters spread across the land, the water seeps down into the groundwater, recharging overdrawn aquifers.

For all its benefits, this type of floodplain restoration isn’t appropriate everywhere, according to Joshua Viers, a watershed expert at University of California, Merced. Dos Rios is well-suited because the confluence of the two rivers makes for dynamic conditions that are particularly good for habitat restoration. In other parts of this heavily agricultural region, other approaches may be more appropriate, he says. Certain crops, like grape vines, can handle some flooding, which also benefits groundwater stores. Some types of farming can be incorporated into habitat restoration; rice fields can support salmon. According to Viers, using a range of different approaches can help manage flooding and support ecosystems along California rivers.

“You can’t do all things in all places,” Viers says. “If you can string these together, you can have mutually reinforcing benefits.”

There are also social benefits to habitat restoration: Through the Grayson United Community Center, Lomeli-Gil has been working to engage Grayson residents with Dos Rios and surrounding restored natural areas. Several locals have gotten jobs with River Partners planting vegetation. And now, California State Parks is aiming to open the new state park to the public later this year.

"It's in our backyard, so how blessed will we be," Lomeli-Gil says.

As other floodplain projects are in development across California, Dos Rios is still expanding.

Cain walks along furrows on a plowed field on former farmland adjacent to Dos Rios. Instead of crops, this plot will soon be planted with young native trees and shrubs. Cain checks little white labels on sticks that mark where each new plant will go: a Modesto ash, box elder, and, his favorite, elderberry.

Cain and his colleagues at River Partners have set a long-term goal of restoring 100,000 acres in the San Joaquin Valley. That would restore about 10 percent of the wetlands that used to be in this area.

On the other side of the bare field, two large wonky Vs of Aleutian cackling geese fly by. Even though they are hard to see from such a distance, their characteristic honks echo across the field.


Elizabeth Hewitt wrote this article for Reasons to be Cheerful.


get more stories like this via email