Sacramento River National Wildlife Refuge

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Sacramento River National Wildlife Refuge
IUCN category IV (habitat/species management area)
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Sacramento River National Wildlife Refuge (the United States)
Location Butte County, Glenn County, Tehama County, California, United States
Nearest city Chico, California
Coordinates 39°42′25″N121°57′15″W / 39.7069°N 121.9542°W / 39.7069; -121.9542 Coordinates: 39°42′25″N121°57′15″W / 39.7069°N 121.9542°W / 39.7069; -121.9542 [1]
Area10,146 acres (41.06 km2)
Established1989
Governing body U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Website Sacramento River National Wildlife Refuge

Sacramento River National Wildlife Refuge is located along the Sacramento River in the Sacramento Valley of California. Landscape is very flat, bordered by the Sierra and Coast ranges, with intensive agriculture (rice, with walnut, almond, and prune orchards along the river). This riparian community is one of the most important wildlife habitats in California and North America.

Sacramento River river in Northern and Central California, USA

The Sacramento River is the principal river of Northern California in the United States, and is the largest river in California. Rising in the Klamath Mountains, the river flows south for 400 miles (640 km) before reaching the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and San Francisco Bay. The river drains about 26,500 square miles (69,000 km2) in 19 California counties, mostly within the fertile agricultural region bounded by the Coast Ranges and Sierra Nevada known as the Sacramento Valley, but also extending as far as the volcanic plateaus of Northeastern California. Historically, its watershed has reached as far north as south-central Oregon where the now, primarily, endorheic (closed) Goose Lake rarely experiences southerly outflow into the Pit River, the most northerly tributary of the Sacramento.

Sacramento Valley Northern part of the Central Valley in California, United States of America

The Sacramento Valley is the area of the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California that lies north of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is drained by the Sacramento River. It encompasses all or parts of ten Northern California counties. Although many areas of the Sacramento Valley are rural, it contains several urban areas, including the state capital, Sacramento.

California State of the United States of America

California is a state in the Pacific Region of the United States. With 39.6 million residents across a total area of about 163,696 square miles (423,970 km2), California is the most populous U.S. state and the third-largest by area. The state capital is Sacramento. The Greater Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nation's second- and fifth-most populous urban regions, with 18.7 million and 9.7 million residents respectively. Los Angeles is California's most populous city, and the country's second-most populous, after New York City. California also has the nation's most populous county, Los Angeles County, and its largest county by area, San Bernardino County. The City and County of San Francisco is both the country's second-most densely populated major city after New York City and the fifth-most densely populated county, behind only four of the five New York City boroughs.

Contents

The refuge is currently in an active acquisition phase, and includes the Llano Seco Unit. Large-scale riparian habitat restoration is ongoing. Riparian habitat along the Sacramento River is critically important for various threatened species, fisheries, migratory birds, plants, and the natural system of the river itself.

Threatened species

Threatened species are any species which are vulnerable to endangerment in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of critical depensation, a mathematical measure of biomass related to population growth rate. This quantitative metric is one method of evaluating the degree of endangerment.

Fishery entity engaged in raising or harvesting fish which is determined by some authority to be a fishery

Generally, a fishery is an entity engaged in raising or harvesting fish which is determined by some authority to be a fishery. According to the FAO, a fishery is typically defined in terms of the "people involved, species or type of fish, area of water or seabed, method of fishing, class of boats, purpose of the activities or a combination of the foregoing features". The definition often includes a combination of fish and fishers in a region, the latter fishing for similar species with similar gear types.

Restoration

There has been an 85% reduction of riparian vegetation throughout the Sacramento Valley and foothills region, and probably over a 95 percent reduction along this area's major river systems. The relatively small amount of Riparian forest woodlands that remains provides a strikingly disproportionate amount of habitat value for wildlife.

Riparian forest forested or wooded area of land adjacent to a body of water

A riparian forest or riparian woodland is a forested or wooded area of land adjacent to a body of water such as a river, stream, pond, lake, marshland, estuary, canal, sink or reservoir.

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References

  1. ↑ "Sacramento River National Wildlife Refuge - Capay & Phelan Island Units" (PDF). U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

PD-icon.svg This article incorporates  public domain material from websites or documents ofthe United States Fish and Wildlife Service .

United States Fish and Wildlife Service US Federal Government agency

The United States Fish and Wildlife Service is an agency of the US federal government within the US Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats. The mission of the agency is "working with others to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people."

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