On April 15, the California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) will celebrate three quarters of a century of habitat conservation with the 75th anniversary of the Los Banos Wildlife Area (LBWA).

Established in 1929, the wildlife area marked the first in a series of DFG waterfowl refuges. It began with 3,000 acres and has grown into a 17,800-acre complex of diversified wildlife habitat. It was the first of 108 wildlife areas DFG manages statewide, for a total of 648,758 acres of wildlife habitat.

The Los Banos Waterfowl Refuge, as it was originally named, was created to provide habitat and sanctuary for wintering waterfowl. In 1948 an agreement between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the DFG, under the Pittman-Robertson and Lea acts, altered the management direction for the area. The focus became to attract waterfowl away from nearby farms where birds would consume massive amounts of agricultural products prior to harvest. A public waterfowl hunting program became one of the other primary management goals.

To accomplish these new goals, large blocks of the refuge were leveled and diked in order to plant waterfowl food. Most natural sloughs and ponds were filled and natural willow thickets bulldozed out. Natural flood plains, sloughs, and marshes were converted to managed blocks of seasonal wetlands. Watergrass, a preferred waterfowl food, became the dominant vegetation of the refuge.

In accordance with the new public hunting mission for the refuge, waterfowl hunting was opened to the public on Nov. 1, 1953, along with a nine-day junior pheasant hunt. Both traditions continue with a waterfowl hunting program on site and junior pheasant hunts on the adjacent O’Neill fore bay. In 1968, the classification of California’s waterfowl management areas changed to reflect a multi-species management approach. Thus, the Los Banos Wildlife Area came into being.

In the 1970s, the focus changed again at Los Banos and other wildlife areas. Stable waterfowl populations and improved agricultural practices reduced the need to attract waterfowl away from farms. A far greater variety of plants were blended in to diversify the habitat. By 1987, pasture and grain crops were added to the mix to attract Sandhill Cranes as well as geese, doves, and pheasants. Willows were planted for the purpose of re-establishing riparian corridors.

DFG will be celebrating what was, at the time, visionary work by the then-named California Division of Fish and Game. After 75 years of wildlife conservation, habitat restoration, and today’s most advanced wildlife management techniques, LBWA is an important link in the chain of adjacent state, federal, and privately managed properties that make up the largest contiguous wetland in California. These areas collectively make up an important component of the 5 percent of historical wetlands that remain in California. The other 95 percent have been filled in, mostly farmed or paved over since the time European settlers arrived.

Los Banos Wildlife Area has historically attracted some of DFG’s most dedicated personnel starting with Roy M. Wattenbarger, the first refuge manager who served 39 years from 1930 to 1969. But it is Roger O. Wilbur, who began his Division of Fish and Game career at LBWA in October 1952, who has dedicated more years than anyone. After 53 years on the job, the current Assistant Manager will be cutting the ribbon of the new nature trail at the celebration. Asked how long he plans to stick around, “As long as I can still do the job,” Wilbur said. “It’s good work.” Citing a fascination with science, especially biology, over his lifetime, Wilbur tells of banding one immature pintail duck early in his career. “It was banded in August at Los Banos, then recovered by a hunter in Alaska in November the same year.” Those kinds of banding programs are still in place today and never cease to fascinate biologists of every generation.

Over the last few years, management of the Los Banos Wildlife Area and its surrounding state and federal lands shifted to broad multi-species and science-based standards. Biological staff now regularly assesses the habitat and species present on the wildlife area complex, which provides essential information for many species, game and non-game alike. DFG staff is monitoring passerine (finches and sparrows), wading bird, shorebird, and raptor use of the areas. Biologists are building a GIS database of habitat and species, investigating the distribution and ecology of threatened and endangered species and continually updating flora (plant) and fauna (animal) inventories.

The LBWA hosts more than 250 species or subspecies of birds, including at least 10 species that are considered sensitive; 33 species of mammals; 19 reptiles and amphibians, including one threatened and three species of concern; and over 330 species of plants, including one endangered and at least three sensitive. The area is critical to migrating shorebirds and is an important corridor for migrating neo-tropical passerines.

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