Grasslands Wildlife Management Area

The Grasslands Wildlife Management Area (GWMA) was established by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1979 and is comprised of privately owned lands on which perpetual conservation easements have been purchased. These easements preserve wetland and grassland habitats and prevent conversion to croplands or other uses not compatible with migratory bird and other wildlife values. Daily management operations remain under the landowner's control. The majority of easement properties are wetlands managed for waterfowl hunting. From 1979 to-date, over 65,000 acres have been placed under conservation easements.

The GWMA is located in western Merced County, California, within the San Joaquin River basin and supports the largest remaining block of contiguous wetlands in the Central Valley. It is divided into eastern and western division separated by the San Joaquin River. In the heart of the western division is the Grassland Resource Conservation District (GRCD), an area of 70,000 acres of private wetlands and associated grasslands, and over 30,600 acres of federal National Wildlife Refuges and state Wildlife Management Areas.

These private wetlands constitute 30% of the remaining wetlands in California's Central Valley and are extremely important to Pacific Flyway waterfowl populations. Over 60 million duck use-day and 3 million goose use-days occur annually in the GWMA. The wetlands support diverse habitats including seasonally flooded marshlands, semi-permanent marsh, riparian habitat, wet meadows, vernal pools, native uplands, pastures, and native grasslands. This habitat diversity supports raptors, shorebirds, wading birds, and other wildlife species. Several federal and state listed, endangered, and threatened plants and animals are present in the area and benefit by the habitat protection provided by the easement program.

Technical Assistance For Landowners:

Technical assistance is available to all GWMA landowners who request it, regardless if they participate in the Easement Program or not. Many are trying to manage their wetland's water supplies more efficiently; others are searching for ways to grow larger, more diverse stands of moist soil food plants to attract waterfowl; and some are looking for ways to improve their hunting habitat. Technical assistance is also provided by the Easement Program staff as members of the San Joaquin Valley Water Bank and Wetland Reserve Program review team.

Partners for Wildlife Program:

In 1990, the Fish and Wildlife Service initiated the Partners for Wildlife cost-share program which pays landowners 50% of the funding necessary to accomplish wetland restoration and enhancement projects on their property. Due to tremendous landowner interest, the program has grown each year. The Partners Program provides many landowners the opportunity to perform wildlife habitat improvements they might not be able to afford without some type of financial assistance.

Typical projects that have been cost-shared in the past include the installation of new water control structures; the construction of swale drains which increase efficiency of habitat management practices, and the construction of levees and waterfowl loafing islands. Typical maintenance regimes like discing, mowing, etc., cannot be cost-shared under this program.