You have less than one week to apply for a special program to help wildlife endure the drought. The California rice industry has teamed up with the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) to fund a special $8 million Drought Relief Waterbird Program. This program seeks to create waterbird habitat through the operation of groundwater wells to winter flood rice fields for migratory birds. The program will be rolled out on an expedited timeframe, given the rice harvest schedule this year.
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Ducks Unlimited and California Waterfowl are thinking hard about ways that rice growers can make their fields as valuable as possible for ducks, even in this severe drought when decomp water will be hard to come by this fall.
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Due to the dry conditions and a serious need for shorebird habitat the California Ricelands Waterbird Foundation has made two changes to its program this year to increase the flexibility for growers.
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The California Ricelands Waterbird Foundation is currently soliciting applications for its Fall 2021 Bid4Birds habitat program. Applications are submitted through the Foundation website and the enrollment window is open until Thursday, June 24, 2021.
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The California Ricelands Waterbird Foundation (Foundation), in collaboration with the Migratory Bird Conservation Partnership, is happy to announce the upcoming enrollment period for the Fall 2021 Bid4Birds habitat program.
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The Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) is currently taking applications for conservation practices to create habitat for both shorebirds and waterfowl. The deadline to start the application process is this Friday, May 28. Any interested growers should contact their local NRCS office (listed in the table below) to start the process by that date.
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The Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) is accepting applications now, for shorebird habitat and cover crop practices starting this fall and winter. Those interested need to apply by May 28.
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The Department of Water Resources (Department) and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) put out a statement last week that applies to water transfers in 2021. This statement applies only to farmers enrolled in the California Ricelands Waterbird Foundation’s Nesting Habitat Program and, in summary, allows farmers that are transferring water to leave vegetation on their transfer fields. The statement is as follows:
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The California Ricelands Waterbird Foundation (Foundation) is looking for rice acres that will be left fallow this growing season and that currently have cover crops or other eligible volunteer plants on them. Enrolled farmers will receive payments to leave their fields undisturbed for the waterfowl nesting season (through July 1) and allow the Foundation and its project partners access to monitor nesting activity.
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Any rice grower that is planning to idle rice acres this growing season, the California Ricelands Waterbird Foundation (Foundation) might have a program opportunity. The Foundation is currently soliciting applications for rice fields that can provide quality nesting cover for waterfowl. We are interested in rice fields that will be idled this summer that currently have cover crops or other eligible volunteer plants on them. This Program pays rice farmers to leave their fields undisturbed for the waterfowl nesting season (through July 1) and allow the Foundation and its project partners access to monitor nesting activity.
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