Habitat Management
Resource Management - Refuge History - Habitat Types - Habitat Management - Waterfowl Surveys - Monitoring/Research - Endangered Species

Managing Refuge Lands
Managers, biologists, and Refuge workers maintain more than 35,000 acres of wetlands and uplands on the Complex. The Refuges' seasonal marshes are drained during late spring and summer to encourage plant growth on the moist exposed soil. Reflooding in the fall makes seeds and plants available for wildlife.

This water management replaces some of the habitat the Sacramento River's historical flooding provided. Additionally, prescribed management techniques including burning, discing, mowing, and pond excavation help create and maintain wetland diversity and productivity.

Meeting the needs of wildlife requires special continuous habitat management. Permanent ponds may be drained every three to five years and the vegetation burned. This keeps them from being choked with plant life and deepens pond bottoms. Watergrass habitats are irrigated to bring seed heads to maturity while uplands are periodically burned to return nutrients to the soil.