By KATE CAMPBELL/Courtesy Of Ag Alert
Created: 01/27/2013 12:31:11 AM PST
Winter is usually a time when farming in the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta slows down, but these days delta farmers are busy
managing a different, louder -- and far more mobile -- aspect of their
operations. Increasingly, land used to grow vegetable, field and forage crops
from spring to fall is being transitioned to winter wildlife habitat.
The Cosumnes River Preserve, located off
Interstate 5 south of Elk Grove, includes stands of old-growth valley oaks,
vernal pools and natural wetlands. It also is home to the world's largest
population of giant garter snakes; the area's rivers and streams provide
habitat for protected fish.
And, on nearby Staten Island, a 9,000-acre
agricultural tract outside Walnut Grove, there's one of the most important
sandhill crane sanctuaries in the state.
At sunset on a winter evening last week, the
cranes -- redheaded, with a wingspan of up to eight feet and weighing more than
10 pounds -- swooped over the island's flooded cornfields and settled in for
the night. The birds' haunting bugles joined the avian chorus of quacks and
calls that reaches a crescendo at dusk.
This wildlife phenomenon, which also takes place
in Sacramento Valley rice fields to the north, attracts tourists and wildlife
photographers from all over the world.
To nurture these burgeoning wildlife
populations, increased habitat is created through a carefully managed system of
field flooding and draining, which breaks down rice and corn residue while providing
food and habitat.
Environmentalists and many farmers agree they
want the birds, which are part of the winter migration along the Pacific
Flyway, to continue roosting in the delta far into the future. To encourage
that, they're testing and adopting cultural practices for corn and other crops.
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