Conservation Corner

Public Access to Public Lands: Fremont Weir Wildlife Area

January 3, 2019

As noted here before, the conservation goals of Yolo Audubon are to protect and expand local bird habitat and ensure public access to that habitat, wherever possible. The situation at Fremont Weir Wildlife Area is unusual in that a formerly accessible public recreation area is now much harder to get

The Lower Elkhorn Basin Levee Setback Project

December 4, 2018

Projects that involve water or flood management are typically contentious almost anywhere in California. Nevertheless, a plan to widen the Yolo Bypass on its east side, in the lower Elkhorn Basin, is heading smoothly toward construction. It has support from the Yolo County Board of Supervisors and the affected landowners.

Lesser Nighthawk at Capay Open Space, © Deb Ford

Capay Open Space Park

November 2, 2018

Last winter I discussed the Cache Creek Parkway Plan and the Cache Creek Conservancy and Nature Preserve as parts of an effort to improve and expand habitat and public access along the reach of the creek between Roads 85 and 96B. I can now report on a second on-the-ground element

Southport Levee Improvement Project, © SkyHigh Perspectives, used with permission.

Bird Habitat and the Southport Levee Improvement Project

October 19, 2018

The City of West Sacramento is in the middle of a major upgrade to flood protection along the Sacramento River. Rather than relying on the riverside levee that South River Road sits atop, it is building a much wider levee, and setting it back a hundred yards or so from

Birding In Your Own (Urban) Backyard

March 7, 2017

Although backyard birding in the city is not as thrilling as in more natural landscapes, it can offer conservation lessons. I began to bird in Slide Hill Park in Davis in 1986, when the park was fairly new and the vegetation was still young. I have watched the various groves

Wind Turbine Development at Bogle Vineyards

February 24, 2017

On 25 April 2014 Yolo Audubon Society filed a lawsuit together with Tuleyome and a group of local landowners against Yolo County and the Board of Supervisors challenging the county’s approval of a wind turbine development on Bogle Vineyards, the county stating that no environmental impact report was needed via

Putah Creek Nest-Box Highway

February 15, 2017

This month I want to report on a bird conservation success story that is as close to home as Putah Creek. Yolo Audubon’s own Melanie Truan came up with the idea and made it happen, and has ensured its continuation ever since. Working at the UC Davis Museum of Wildlife

Fremont Weir Wildlife Area lies at the north end of the Yolo Bypass, on the bank of the Sacramento River about six miles northeast of Woodland. Its 1,461 acres contain good bird habitat, including patches of old-growth floodplain forest, extensive wetlands, and willow scrub. According to eBird, it has hosted 157 species.

Yolo Audubon has run field trips there over the years. For example, I led two such trips in Spring, 2005. In those days, the preferred access was on the west side of the weir at the east end of County Road 116A, where there was a small gravel parking lot and a pedestrian gate through a fence.

This all changed about four years ago, when the adjacent private landowner put a locked gate across the road and posted No Trespassing signs. One can still park on the shoulder further west on the county road and walk in, but the same landowner has continued to challenge visitors, declaring them to be trespassers on his land.

One can enter the Wildlife Area from the east side, but the drive from Woodland takes about five times as long, and requires a considerable hike on the Yolo Bypass levee to get into the Wildlife Area.

Local advocates have researched the deeds to the property under the access road, and found a public easement to allow for access. From my perspective, access along a public right-of-way has been denied to us birders by the unilateral action of a private party.

Corrective action is daunted by the complexity of jurisdiction over the area. It is owned by the Central Valley Flood Protection Board, maintained as a floodway by the Dept. of Water Resources, and managed for outdoor recreation by the Dept. of Fish and Wildlife. Most of the area is in Yolo County, but part of the area in question is in Sutter County.

Thus far, inquiries to State agencies to restore access have not succeeded. In light of the complexity of the situation, the next step for us birders is uncertain. However, some conservation groups are considering legal action to remove the gate and restore access. I will keep you informed.

Michael Perrone, YAS Board, Conservation