Pacific Southwest RegionCalifornia, Nevada and Klamath Basin

Newsroom
- News and Features - Newsroom
  
  Providing information and assistance to Congressional offices, other agencies, media outlets, and the general public about Service activities.
- Newsroom
- Field Notes
- Featured Stories and Video
Get
Outdoors
- Get Outdoors - National Wildlife Refuges & Fish Hatcheries
  
  Clean water. Clean air. Abundant wildlife. The National Wildlife Refuge System provides and protects 150 million acres of land and water in the United States, plus more than 418 million acres of national marine monuments. The National Fish Hatchery Sysytem protects imperiled species and game fishes, including Pacific salmon and native western trout. Plants, salamanders and freshwater mussels are also beneficiaries to the work conducted by our scientists.
- Visit a Refuge
- Hunting
- Fishing
- Birding
- Visit a Fish Hatchery
- Connecting People with Nature
Wildlife &
Habitat
- Wildlife & Habitat - Endangered Species
  
  Working to reduce the effects of contaminants and other stressful impacts on fish wildlife and their habitats and to plan, implement and monitor restoration projects so that fish and wildlife resources can be recovered.
- Endangered Species
- Eagle Management
- California Condor Recovery
- Monarch Butterfly
- West Coast Population of Pacific Fisher
- Conserving Habitat
- Conservation Planning
- Environmental Quality
Working
Together
- Working Together - Conservation Partners
  
  Protecting, enhancing and restoring important fish and wildlife habitats on public and private lands through partnerships.
- Partners for Fish & Wildlife Program
- Coastal Program
- Wildlife & Sport Fish Restoration
- Joint Ventures
- Tribal Partnerships
- Schoolyard Habitat Program
Science for a
Better Future
- Science for a Better Future - Conservation Science
  
  Supporting programs, tools, research and projects that integrate and apply the best available science and practices for conserving the nature of the Pacific Southwest Region.
- Science Applications
- Landscape Conservation Coalitions
- Climate Change
- Renewable Energy
Our
Programs
- Our Programs
  
  Conserving the Nature of America by conserving fish, wildlife and plants and serving the people of California, Nevada and the Klamath Basin.
- Ecological Services
- National Wildlife Refuge System
- Fish & Aquatic Conservation
- Migratory Birds
- Law Enforcement
- Wildlife & Sport Fish Restoration Program
- Tribal Relations
Get
Involved
- Get Involved - Volunteer Opportunities
  
  Our volunteers are individuals who want to give back to their communities, parents who want to be good stewards of the land and set examples for their children, retired people willing to share their wealth of knowledge, concerned citizens of all ages who want to learn more about conservation, and passionate people who enjoy the outdoors and want to spread the word about America's greatest natural treasures.
- Volunteer at a Refuge or Hatchery
- Youth Opportunities
- Join a Friends Group
- For Teachers

Environmental Quality

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is a cooperating agency as part of oil spill response. The Service is the federal administrative lead for the Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration program.Photo Credit: Ashley Spratt/USFWS

When hazardous substances enter the environment, fish, wildlife, and their habitats can be injured. The Environmental Contaminants program consists of three related focus areas.

Prevention, investigation and monitoring

This organization within the Pacific Southwest Region's Environmental Quality office coordinates and performs oil spill response to protect natural resources from contaminant exposure and field studies to determine sources of pollution, to investigate pollution effects on fish and wildlife and their habitat, and to investigate fish and wildlife die-offs.

Wildlife operations crews from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, University of California Santa Barbara and California Department of Fish and Wildlife work to protect Western snowy plover nests at Coal Oil Point Reserve in this photo from May 2015. Photo by Chris Dellith/USFWS.

Natural resources damage assessment (NRDA)

The focus of this area in on identification of the natural resources injured, determines the extent of the injuries, recovers damages from those responsible, and plans and carries out natural resource restoration activities.

U.S. Fiush and Wildlife Service biologist Bill Standley surveys a rocky area at low tide near Refugio State Beach as paret of the the agency's onging technical response and support. Photo by Ashley Spratt/USFWS.

Technical support

This area focuses on providing technical support both within the Service and externally on a number of ecological issues. These include endangered species listing and recovery, ESA Sec. 7 and Sec. 10 consultations, Refuge land acquisitions and cleanups, and hazardous waste site remediation.

FWS Division of Environmental Quality

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The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service FieldNotes

FieldNotes showcases the activities, events and conservation work of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service here in the Pacific Southwest Region. The articles inside are written by our employees and reflect the efforts of the Service and our partners in conserving and preserving the unique natural resources here in California, Nevada and the Klamath Basin. After you've visited FieldNotes, follow us on these social media channels...