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WILDLIFE

California Rice is The Environmental Crop

Sacramento Valley rice fields provide unparalleled wildlife habitat to nearly 230 wildlife species.

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Habitat Value

California rice fields provide habitat and nourishment for approximately seven million ducks and geese migrating along the Pacific Flyway each year. Ricelands are increasingly crucial to hundreds of thousands of shorebirds that nest in the fields year round. For example, recent studies have shown that California ricelands currently provide more than half of the nutritional requirements of wintering waterfowl in the Sacramento Valley.

Ricelands provide more than 300,000 acres of equivalent wetland. In other words, this amount of new wetlands habitat would have to be created to support the same waterbird populations that California's ricelands support today. Acquiring and restoring this amount of land to create wetland for wintering waterfowl populations would initially cost nearly $2.8 billion. 

Rice fields provide a substantial wildlife resource benefit that comes essentially free to the public as long as California rice remains viable.

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Conservation

One of the greatest benefits from rice farming in the Central Valley is the environmental gains that accrue to wildlife. California ricelands provide valuable open space and habitat for 230 species of wildlife, many of which are species of special concern, threatened or endangered. This is especially important today, given that 95 percent of California's historical wetlands in the Central Valley are now gone.

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Centerpiece of the Pacific Flyway

Sacramento Valley rice farms not only produce food, they also provide vital environmental bene ts. Approximately 500,000 acres of rice  elds in the region, in conjunction with 75,000 acres of managed wetlands, provide food and other habitat requirements for nearly 230 wildlife species.

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Tricolored Blackbirds and Rice

As a recognized agricultural and conservation organization, the California Rice Commission is committed to providing key information and resources to its growers to help them understand the ecology and specific regulatory protections of California’s wildlife. Of particular concern to rice growers is the status of the Tricolored Blackbird (Agelaius tricolor), as this species occurs primarily in the Sacramento Valley in mid-summer to late fall and is intimately related to rice.

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HABITAT VALUE

SPECIES LIST

WILDLIFE GUIDE

Amazing Takeoff

From a rice field in Colusa County - a large group of geese take to the sky - while other waterfowl stay put. An amazing site. Jim Morris video.

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The Great Lift Off

Thousands of birds take off from a rice field in Grimes, Colusa County. Enjoy!

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California Rice Commission

SACRAMENTO, CA
(PH) 916.387.2264
(FAX) 916.387.2265

CONTACT US
  • Drought
  • People
    • Chefs
    • Blogger Profiles
    • Photo Gallery
  • Places
    • California Ports
    • Contacts
    • Photo Gallery
  • RECIPES
  • COVID-19
  • Salmon
  • Photo Gallery
  • Podcast
  • Wildlife
    • Habitat Value
    • Species List
    • Conservation Programs
    • Wildlife Guide
    • Interactive Rice Field
    • Photo Gallery
  • Sharing Butte Creek
  • Blog
    • Rice News
  • Industry
    • How Rice Grows
    • Water Quality
    • Crop Protection
    • Air Quality
    • Statistics
    • About the CRC
    • Publications
    • Ask an Expert
    • GMO Testing

© 2023 CALIFORNIA RICE COMMISSION

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