Grasslands
Los Banos, CA 93635
Plan Your Visit
The Grasslands Wildlife Management Area is primarily composed of privately-owned properties under conservation easement but also includes several Service-owned properties that are open to the public. West Bear Creek is open for hiking, auto tours, and hunting, and East Bear Creek and Blue Goose are open for hunting only. Information about these units can be found on the San Luis National Wildlife Refuge website. Information about Arena Plains and Snobird can be found on the Merced NWR website. For more information about public visitation opportunities, please explore the San Luis National Wildlife Refuge Complex, Merced National Wildlife Refuge, and San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge pages.
Other Facilities in the Complex
Grasslands Wildlife Management Area is part of the San Luis National Wildlife Refuge Complex. A national wildlife refuge complex is an administrative grouping of two or more refuges, wildlife management areas or other refuge conservation areas that are primarily managed from a central office location. Refuges are grouped into a complex structure because they occur in a similar ecological region, such as a watershed or specific habitat type, and have a related purpose and management needs. Typically, a project leader or complex manager oversees the general management of all refuges within the complex and refuge managers are responsible for operations at specific refuges. Supporting staff, composed of administrative, law enforcement, refuge manager, biological, fire, visitor services, and maintenance professionals, are centrally located and support all refuges within the complex.
Other units in the San Luis National Wildlife Refuge Complex include the San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, Merced National Wildlife Refuge, and San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge.
Merced National Wildlife Refuge
San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge
Activities
Services
Most of the lands that comprise the Grasslands Wildlife Management Area consist of private waterfowl hunting clubs, as well as wildlife-friendly agricultural lands. Habitat management activities on hunting clubs--primarily intensive moist soil management within wetland basins--are conducted by the private landowners.
Refuge Planning
National Wildlife Refuge planning sets the broad vision for refuge management and the goals, objectives, strategies, and actions required to achieve it. Planning ensures that each refuge meets its individual purposes, contributes to the Refuge System’s mission and priorities, is consistent with other applicable laws and policies, and enhances conservation benefits beyond refuge boundaries.
Comprehensive Conservation Plans
Comprehensive Conservation Plans (CCPs) are the primary planning documents for National Wildlife Refuges. As outlined in the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act, as amended, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) is required to develop CCPs that guide refuge management for the next 15 years. CCPs articulate the Service’s contributions to meeting refuge purposes and the National Wildlife Refuge System mission. CCPs serve as a bridge between broad, landscape-level plans developed by other agencies and stakeholders and the more detailed step-downs that stem from Refuge CCPs.
Step-down Plans
CCP step-down plans guide refuge-level programs for: (1) conserving natural resources (e.g., fish, wildlife, plants, and the ecosystems they depend on for habitat); (2) stewarding other special values of the refuge (e.g., cultural or archeological resources, wilderness, wild and scenic rivers, etc.); and (3) engaging visitors and the community in conservation, including providing opportunities for wildlife-dependent recreation. Like CCPs, step-down plans contribute to the implementation of relevant landscape plans by developing SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound) objectives, strategies, implementation schedules, and decision support tools to fulfill refuge visions and goals. This ensures that refuges are managed in a landscape context and that conservation benefits extend beyond refuge boundaries.
About
Grasslands Wildlife Management Area, established in 1979 in Merced County, California, consists primarily of privately-owned lands protected by perpetual conservation easements. These easements preserve nearly 95,000 acres of wetland and grassland habitats critical to Pacific Flyway waterfowl, including 30% of the Central Valley's remaining wetlands. While part of the San Luis National Wildlife Refuge Complex, the WMA lands are mostly privately held with no public access, aimed at preventing land conversion while maintaining landowner control.