The National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997 requires that the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) develop and implement a comprehensive conservation plan (CCP) for each National Wildlife Refuge (NWR). A CCP will provide a 15-year guide, using the best available scientific knowledge, to help managers achieve the purposes for which each refuge was established, and to work toward to mission of the refuge system. The Act lays out directives for managing NWRs in a way that ensures the long-term conservation of fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitat: the fundamental mission of the refuge system.  Maintenance of biological integrity and diversity is one of the directives laid out in the Act.

The newly formed California/Nevada Refuge Planning Office is responsible for producing CCPs for NWRs in California and Nevada. In 1999, we will be completing CCPs for Stillwater NWR Complex and Antioch Dunes NWR. In addition, we will be starting to work on plans for San Joaquin River NWR, Kern NWR Complex, and Ellicott Slough NWR.

Your input is an integral part of the planning process and helps us identify the issues, alternatives, and solutions that make the refuge system work for both wildlife and people. The issues to be addressed are numerous but may include public use, refuge boundaries, biodiversity, and livestock grazing. Issues specific to an individual refuge will arise during the public participation period.

If you would like to be added to our mailing list to receive planning updates and notifications of public meetings, please write to:
Don DeLong, Team Leader
California/Nevada Refuge Planning Office
2233 Watt Avenue, Suite 230
Sacramento, CA 95825

Or call (916) 979-2085. The e-mail address is don_delong@fws.gov.

Your comments, suggestions, and questions are needed.