Remnant wetlands in the Central Valley of California play a critical role in supporting over 60 percent of all wintering waterfowl in the Pacific Flyway. Most losses of wetland have been due to development for agriculture, but recently there has been a modest reversal in this trend. More than 7,000 acres of rice fields have been permanently restored to natural wetlands in the Sacramento Valley as a result of U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service Programs. This included 4,300 acres in private lands under a conservation easement acquisition program and 3,100 acres on National Wildlife Refuges due to management changes. Techniques developed by biologists and managers while working with these wetland restoration programs were presented as step-by-step "cookbooks" for wetland owners or managers.
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