Last week's meeting of the California Wildlife Conservation Board brought good news for ducks and duck hunters as a pair of California Waterfowl projects were approved. Over $2 million in total funding will go towards a project on Grizzly Island Wildlife Area and our own Badger Almond property at Goose Lake.

Grizzly Island Wildlife Area – This project will rehabilitate an existing 70-acre wetland unit that will be managed as a reverse-cycle brood pond (flooded in the summer, dry in the winter). The unit hasn’t been manageable for over a decade due to infrastructure changes. This project will also plant 300 acres of native uplands in an area that was decimated by a wildfire in 2019. It will benefit nesting waterfowl and pheasants, and includes a native wildflower component to benefit pollinators as well. Total WCB funding - $1.3 million.

Badger Almond – This project will install a new solar array to offset electricity costs to provide several hundred acres of wetland habitat in CWA's Goose Lake property, which is part of the vast - and mostly drained - historic Tulare Basin. The project also includes public access components (gravel roads, parking areas, hunting blinds) that will improve CWA's ability to provide hunting access through our Hunt Program. Total WCB funding - $962,000