California Department of Fish and Wildlife

December 9, 2020 – The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) is directing approximately $550,000 in grant funding to 45 nonprofit wildlife rehabilitation organizations to immediately support care for injured, sick and orphaned wildlife. The funds are made available from taxpayer contributions to the Native California Wildlife Rehabilitation Voluntary Tax Contribution Fund. “California’s injured, […]

Walnut Creek December 9, 2020 – Cleanup operations and an investigation are ongoing into an underground gasoline spill stemming from a cracked pipeline in Contra Costa County.   Kinder Morgan, the pipeline operator, is responding with support from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA), the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Office of Spill Prevention […]

November 5, 2020 – The commercial Dungeness crab season in the central management area, which was scheduled to open Sunday, Nov. 15, will be delayed due to the presence of whales within fishing grounds and the potential for entanglement. In mid-November, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) Director will re-assess entanglement risk in […]

September 30, 2020 – According to a 2019 United Nations report on species extinction, an estimated one million animal and plant species worldwide are now threatened with extinction, many within decades, more than ever before in human history. Still, there is plenty we can do to address the challenges facing listed species. Several state and federal […]

September 21, 2020 – Every autumn, as Daylight Saving Time concludes, the number of vehicle-wildlife collisions on California roadways increases. As drivers adjust to less daylight during the evening commute during the first week of November, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and Caltrans issue a reminder to be alert and aware of […]

September 15, 2020 – The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) has extended closures on 49 properties that lie within or immediately adjacent to U.S. Forest Service (USFS) boundaries through Monday, Sept. 21. The closures were put into place on Saturday, Sept. 12 due to unprecedented and historic fire conditions. All closures are CDFW […]

August 20, 2020 – The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) is temporarily closing some of its public lands in response to multiple active fires in Colusa, Lake, Lassen, Merced, Monterey, Napa, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Sierra, Solano, Sonoma and Yolo counties. The closures will help ensure safety and accommodate the needs of fire […]

Ventura, Calif. July 21, 2020 – State and local officials announced a comprehensive civil settlement with Crimson Pipeline, L.P., and its contractor CD Lyon Construction, Inc. and CD Lyon, Inc. (collectively CD Lyon), the companies responsible for a June 2016 crude oil spill in Hall Canyon, Ventura. The spill occurred from a crude oil pipeline […]

July 4, 2020 – In late April, a dead owl was found on a nature preserve in San Luis Obispo County. CDFW’s Wildlife Investigations Lab (WIL) performed the necropsy and found excessive bleeding on the owl’s leg and abdomen. With no associated wound or apparent trauma, additional toxicology testing was performed. Cause of death: fatal […]

May 13, 2020 – The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), in conjunction with the California Animal Health and Food Safety Lab, San Bernardino has diagnosed Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease (RHD) in a black-tailed jackrabbit carcass submitted from private property near Palm Springs in early May. Samples submitted to the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in […]

On the first day of its April remote meeting, the California Fish and Game Commission revised its agenda and took up the ability for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) to temporarily delay, suspend or restrict recreational fishing if the director of CDFW, in consultation with the president of the Commission, finds that […]

April 1, 2020 – California’s recreational ocean salmon fishery will be delayed statewide through the month of April, despite plans made earlier this year for the fishery to open in some locations as early as this Saturday, April 4. The delay is the result of an in-season action taken Tuesday by the National Marine Fisheries […]

March 5, 2020 – A two-year effort by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) to monitor a popular northern California “dumping ground” for hazardous materials has been very successful, resulting in 34 citations, multiple towed vehicles and three felony arrests over the last 24 months. Since early 2018, CDFW’s Law Enforcement Division has […]

February 6, 2020 – OR-54, a female dispersing wolf approximately 3-4 years old, was found dead in Shasta County on February 5, 2020.  OR-54 was born into Oregon’s Rogue Pack most likely in 2016. She was the fourth Rogue Pack wolf known to have spent time in California. OR-54 weighed 83 pounds when collared by ODFW biologists in October 2017. On January […]

Dec. 23, 2019 – The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) reminds the public it is still illegal to collect or possess roadkill animals and violators could face citation, even after Jan. 1, 2020. SB 395 – Chapter 869 (Archuleta), also known as the “Wildlife Traffic Safety Act,” was enacted with the intent to […]