DFG News Archive

WCB Approves $6.38 Million in Grants for Steelhead Recovery, Land and Habitat Preservation

The Wildlife Conservation Board (WCB) today approved grants totaling $6.38 million for land conservation and protection projects and wildlife recovery work. The board granted $4 million to protect land and critical habitats from development, and $2.38 million for Southern California steelhead recovery projects.

The steelhead projects will restore coastal streams and remove in-stream barriers that have prevented fish from migrating up to historical spawning areas. Areas approved for steelhead project funding are Trabuco Creek in Orange County, Solstice and Las Flores creeks in Los Angeles County, and the Arroyo Burro Estuary and Mesa Creek in Santa Barbara County. Approved grants will also go to a conservation easement project in Butte County and a Del Norte County land acquisition for habitat preservation.

“These efforts will make significant inroads for enhancing the Southern California steelhead population, reestablishing coastal wetlands, and preserving open spaces that contain important wildlife habitat,” said Department of Fish and Game Director Ryan Broddrick. “The Wildlife Conservation Board has taken a noteworthy step to assist DFG in managing the state’s diverse fish, wildlife and plant resources.”

All four steelhead projects are part of the Southern California Wetlands Recovery Project (SCWRP) work plan, which was approved by the SCWRP board of governors in August. The SCWRP was developed in 1998 to implement regional strategies to protect and restore coastal wetlands and adjoining uplands in Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties. The SCWRP involves community groups, local governments, and state and federal agencies in developing priorities for restoration of Southern California coastal streams and wetlands.

Specific grant-related actions taken at today’s meeting include:

• Trabuco Creek Fish Passage Steelhead Restoration
  The WCB approved a $1.19 million grant to Trout Unlimited, South Coast Chapter, to modify the concrete channel that carries southern Orange County’s Trabuco Creek under Interstate 5 and Camino Capistrano Road. Additional partners on this project include Caltrans, Orange County, California Conservation Corps and DFG. By allowing fish access to the upper portions of Trabuco Creek, this project will open up 17 miles of excellent spawning habitat and a refuge for recovery between Topanga Creek and San Mateo Creek. DFG has indicated that this fishway is the most important project in the highest priority watershed for Southern California steelhead recovery.
• Las Flores Creek Stream Restoration
  The WCB approved a $600,000 grant to the city of Malibu to restore a functioning stream channel and fish and wildlife habitat along 2,400 feet of Las Flores Creek, upstream of the Pacific Coast Highway. It is on private and public land within the city of Malibu. The Department of Water Resources and the Resources Agency are partners in this project. It will widen the channel of the creek, stabilize and restore banks and riparian habitat along the southern portion of the creek by re-grading the slopes and replacing exotic plants with native plant species. The project will also improve the water flow conveyance and capacity of the creek and enhance habitat for steelhead trout and other aquatic species.
• Solstice Creek Steelhead Barrier Removal
  The WCB approved a $200,000 grant to the National Park Service, in cooperation with the State Coastal Conservancy, to remove barriers to steelhead migration on Solstice Creek in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. Solstice Creek is known to have historically supported steelhead trout, and the National Marine Fisheries Service has determined there are approximately 1.8 miles of suitable habitat for steelhead between the ocean mouth and a natural waterfall barrier upstream. This project will remove the four man-made barriers that exist between the mouth and the waterfall, dispose of the demolished material and restore the re-grade the impacted areas.
• Arroyo Burro Estuary and Mesa Creek Steelhead Restoration
  The WCB approved a $390,000 grant to the city of Santa Barbara for a project with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, State Coastal Conservancy, Department of Parks and Recreation and Santa Barbara County. The endeavor will expand and restore portions of the Arroyo Burro Estuary, restore portions of Mesa Creek and modify a steelhead fish barrier along Arroyo Burro Creek. Encroaching development has severely degraded the Arroyo Burro Estuary and filled 75 percent of the original estuary. Aspects of the project include expanding a reduced coastal wetland estuary area, and restoring and uncovering, or “daylighting,” an underground stream. The effort will also provide valuable habitat for birds and other wildlife including the federally endangered tidewater goby and rare wetland plant species.
• Llano Seco Rancho Conservation Area Restoration
  The WCB approved a $2 million grant to the Northern California Regional Land Trust for a conservation easement of more than 4,200 acres in the historic Llano Seco Rancho Conservation Area near Durham in Butte County. Other project partners include the California Oak Foundation, the Department of Conservation and DFG. The easement will guard rangeland, grasslands, grazing land and critical agricultural operations. It will also provide an opportunity to conserve the largest remaining stands of valley oak woodlands and unleveled grain fields on the Sacramento River floodplain. Nearly 11,000 of Llano Seco Rancho’s 18,400 acres are already protected as refuges or wildlife sanctuaries by DFG and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
• Lake Earl Wildlife Area, Pacific Shores Unit, Phase II
  The WCB approved a $2 million grant for the acquisition of 250 acres of privately owned land to preserve wildlife habitat as part of DFG’s Lake Earl Wildlife Area. The land is located in the Pacific Shores Subdivision on the north shore of Lake Earl, approximately seven miles north of Crescent City in Del Norte County. The WCB worked with the Smith River Alliance during the past two years to acquire approximately 527 lots in the Pacific Shores Subdivision. Acquisition of the land will allow for further preservation of Lake Earl and its associated habitats, continued development of the wildlife area, and the protection and enhancement of threatened and endangered species.