Planning Documents
Right Column
Delta Working Landscapes
In 2005, the California Bay-Delta Program circulated a Request for Proposals for projects that would assist farmers in integrating agricultural activities with ecosystem restoration (the solicitation closed December 15, 2005). Approximately $9 million is available under this program; the money can be used to fund projects for up to three years. The proposals are currently under review; it is anticipated the initial funding recommendations will be released in late May or early June, at which time public comments will be solicited. Final funding decisions are expected by late August 2006.
The Delta Protection Commission has submitted a proposal for $1.2 million titled "Delta Working Landscapes". The project includes collaborative partnership with Ducks Unlimited, The Nature Conservancy, Hart Restoration, Inc., and local landowners and reclamation districts. The goals of this project are 1) to improve the environmental quality of Delta farmlands through a variety of demonstration projects; 2) to understand, through a research program, the interplay of social, political and economic factors that hinder implementing these measures on a wider, regional basis; and, 3) facilitating information exchange through working landscape educational events. Pilot project level improvements will include the establishment of hedgerows, vegetated ditches using native and wildlife friendly plants, and levee and bankside revegetation projects. In addition, a study will be conducted analyzing the various incentives and disincentives to wildlife-friendly farming techniques, with information transmitted through questionnaires and interviews as well as a series of educational working landscape festival events.