Wildlife Conservation Board Funds Environmental Improvement and Acquisition Projects

The Wildlife Conservation Board (WCB) approved approximately $70.14 million in grants to help restore and protect fish and wildlife habitats throughout California at its Jan. 13 meeting. The three projects approved will benefit fish and wildlife via funding tools that support biodiversity, watershed restoration, climate resiliency, and working landscapes that integrate economic, social, and environmental stewardship practices beneficial to the environment, landowners, and the local community.

Funding for these projects comes from the General Fund, Budget Act of 2022. It supports the 30×30 Initiative— the goal to conserve 30 percent of California’s lands and coastal waters by 2030, and nature-based solutions.

Funded projects:

• A $26 million grant to Point Blue Conservation Science for a cooperative project with local volunteer educators and students. This project will implement wildlife habitat restoration on working lands in multiple counties across California.
• A $24.73 million grant to Point Blue Conservation Science for a cooperative project with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and Sierra Meadows Partnership to plan. This project will implement and monitor meadow restoration in the Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountains spanning 23 California counties.
• A $19.41 million grant to the California Association of Resource Conservation Districts for a cooperative project with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the California Department of Food and Agriculture, the California Department of Conservation, the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service, and USFWS. This project will expand monarch, pollinator, and other wildlife habitats on public and private lands and assist landowners in implementing carbon farm practices that create habitat and sequester carbon in multiple counties across California.

For more information about the WCB, please visit wcb.ca.gov.