Final land management plan for the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area

The Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area (Wildlife Area) comprises approximately 16,770 acres of managed wildlife habitat and agricultural land within the Yolo Bypass (Bypass). The Bypass conveys seasonal high flows from the Sacramento River to help control river stage and protect the cities of Sacramento, West Sacramento, and Davis and other local communities, farms, and lands from flooding. Substantial environmental, social and economic benefits are provided by the Yolo Bypass, benefiting the people of the State of California.

The California Department of Fish and Game (DFG), as part of the Resources Agency of the State of California, has the following mission to guide its planning and operations: “The mission of the Department of Fish and Game is to manage California’s diverse fish, wildlife, and plant resources, and the habitats upon which they depend, for their ecological values and for their use and enjoyment by the public.”

The stated purpose of the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area Land Management Plan (LMP) is to:

• guide management of habitats, species, appropriate public uses, and programs to achieve DFG’s mission;
• direct an ecosystem approach to managing the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area in coordination with the objectives of the CALFED Ecosystem Restoration Program (ERP);
• identify and guide appropriate, compatible public-use opportunities within the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area;
• direct the management of the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area in a manner that promotes cooperative relationships with adjoining private-property owners;
• establish a descriptive inventory of the sites and the wildlife and plant resources that occur in the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area;
• provide an overview of the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area’s operation, maintenance, and personnel requirements to implement management goals, and serve as a planning aid for preparation of the annual budget for the Bay-Delta Region (Region 3); and
• present the environmental documentation necessary for compliance with state and federal statutes and regulations, provide a description of potential and actual environmental impacts that may occur during plan management, and identify mitigation measures to avoid or lessen these impacts.

This LMP was prepared through a partnership between DFG and the Yolo Basin Foundation (Foundation) and with the benefit of an extensive public-input program. DFG provided overall guidance to the planning process and was responsible for all decisions regarding the content of the LMP. The Foundation was responsible for coordinating substantial stakeholder outreach and facilitating stakeholder input in the LMP development.

The Foundation was instrumental in the development of environmental education and interpretation programs at the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area and helped facilitate the documentation of these programs in this plan.
The public-outreach program featured six focus group meetings conducted before initiation of LMP development (2002); a total of 37 Yolo Bypass Working Group Meetings (1999 to 2006; updates on developments at the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area have been a frequent topic of discussion); one advertised public meeting for initial input (December 12, 2005, in Davis, attended by 30 persons); five additional focus group meetings to receive input on the Preliminary Draft LMP (March and April, 2006), one advertised public meeting for input on the Draft LMP and Initial Study.

Appendix A provides a summary of the comments received at the public meetings and examples of the various communication devices that were used to publicize the planning process.