Contacts
Lois Grunwald, 805/644-1766
With Help From Partners for Fish and Wildlife, Natural Area Reemerges
He’s been called a quintessential true steward of his land.
Sanger (Sandy) Hedrick Jr., owner of Hedrick Ranches, stands along a patch of his property near the Santa Clara River and waves his hand in the direction of what was once a swath of thick, nonnative arundo donax, a pesky bamboo-like weed that displaces native plants along many Southern California waterways.
The weed is almost entirely gone now from 15 acres of Hedrick’s 400-acre property along the Santa Clara River, where he grows lemons, oranges, and avocados. Springing up in its place are native grasses and shrubs, which provide food and cover for wildlife. Hedrick, whose grandfather bought the ranch property in 1946, has planted native willows, sycamore trees, wild rose, cottonwoods, and coyote bush. Blackberry bushes have returned as well as creeping wild rye.
The area is lush with verdant undergrowth and alive with birds such as tree swallows, house wrens, western bluebirds, and song sparrows that flit from tree to tree in the cool morning. Attached to many of the trees are active bird houses Hedrick and his friends have erected.
He recently sold about 200 acres of adjacent property, which is now owned by the Friends of the Santa Clara River, a nonprofit conservation organization that will permanently protect the site for wildlife conservation. The area is considered a hot spot for birders; many come looking for the yellow warbler, endangered least Bell’s vireo, or southwestern willow flycatcher.
Hedrick is a participant in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program, which supplies funds and technical assistance to landowners who want to restore and enhance wetlands, native grasslands, and other declining habitats, to benefit threatened and endangered species, migratory birds, and other wildlife. A part of the program since 1998, Hedrick has received funds to remove arundo and reintroduce native plants on his property.
A wiry man with a gentle manner, Hedrick names the numerous plants and birds on his property with ease. He sometimes spends afternoons in his riparian woodland watching the many species of birds. Under the shade of a tall cottonwood, he explains why restoring his land along the Santa Clara River to a more native state is important to him.
"I’ve grown up here and become attached to this part of the earth," he said. "I’ve seen the impact we’ve had in developing property along the river. We need to do something to protect these important ecosystems.
"It helps to have the availability of programs such as Partners for Fish and Wildlife to assist us through it."
Since the Service’s Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program began in 1987, it has worked with more than 27,000 landowners to restore or enhance 574,800 acres of wetlands; 884,800 acres of native prairie, grassland, and other upland habitats; and, 4,190 miles of riparian and aquatic habitat.
"It’s people like Sanger Hedrick - who understand and appreciate the natural world in their own backyard - that give real meaning to on-the-ground conservation," said Diane Noda, field supervisor for the Ventura Fish and Wildlife Office. "He is committed to bringing back native habitat, to the benefit of wildlife and people."
The Partners for Fish and Wildlife Projects in California restore habitat for one or more of the Federal and state listed threatened and endangered species. The projects include planting native trees, shrubs, and grasslands, restoring historic wetlands, fencing riparian areas from cattle grazing, prescribed burning to remove nonnative species, and restoration of stream habitats.
Under the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program, landowners enter into a cooperative agreement that requires them to maintain the restoration project for a minimum of ten years. Although it’s not a program requirement, the Service seeks a dollar-for-dollar cost share on a project-by-project basis. In California, 50 percent of the cost of a project is typically borne by private landowners, or other partners, such as state and local government, businesses, or other entities.
This year, Partners for Fish and Wildlife has provided cost share funds for the following projects in Santa Barbara County:
- $10,000 to the Land Trust for Santa Barbara County for removal of fennel, cape ivy, and other invasive plant species from the 782-acre Arroyo Hondo Ranch preserve along the Gaviota coast. Removing exotic species from Arroyo Hondo Creek and other preserve areas will benefit the endangered least Bell’s vireo, southwestern willow flycatcher, tidewater goby, and southern steelhead trout, among other species.
- $15,000 to Santa Barbara County for Santa Barbara for removal of arundo donax in the Arroyo Burro Creek watershed. Removal of the plant will encourage the regrowth of native riparian plants along the creek. The creek provides habitat for plovers, geese, ducks, and other water birds.
- $20,000 to the Land Trust for Santa Barbara County for removal of invasive weeds such as ice plant, mustard, and castor bean, from 39 acres of the 230-acre Carpinteria Salt Marsh. The weeds encroach on the native habitat of rare birds and sensitive plants. The marsh contains intertidal wetlands, uplands, and channels. The project will benefit the federally endangered salt marsh bird’s-beak, the state endangered Belding’s savannah sparrow, and other plants and wildlife.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 94-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System which encompasses more than 535 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 70 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices and 78 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces Federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
- FWS -
Sanger Hedrick is available for interviews
For more information about the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
visit our home page at http://www.fws.gov
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