Grasslands Wildlife Management Area

Grasslands Wildlife Management Area (WMA) was established in 1979 and is located in western Merced County, California within the San Joaquin River basin. Unlike typical national wildlife refuges, Grasslands WMA is comprised mostly of privately-owned lands on which perpetual conservation easements for the benefit of wildlife have been established between landowners and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. These easements preserve wetland and grassland habitats for wildlife, as well as some wildlife-friendly agricultural lands. The preservation of these areas prevents conversion of the land to uses not compatible with migratory bird and other wildlife values, while allowing daily management to remain under landowner control. The Grasslands WMA can be divided into eastern and western divisions separated by the San Joaquin River. In the heart of the western division is the Grassland Resource Conservation District, an area of 70,000 acres of private wetlands and associated grasslands, and over 30,000 acres of federal national wildlife refuges and state wildlife areas. These wetlands constitute 30% of the remaining wetlands in California's Central Valley and are extremely important to Pacific Flyway waterfowl populations. These lands are used by over 1.5 million wintering ducks and geese and more than 300,000 shorebirds and other waterbirds. Grasslands WMA supports diverse habitats including seasonally flooded marshlands, semi permanent marshes, riparian habitats, wet meadows, vernal pools, native uplands, pastures, and native grasslands. In addition to waterfowl, these habitats support shorebirds, wading birds, songbirds, raptors, and other wildlife species. Several federal and state-listed endangered and threatened plants and animals are present in the area and benefit by the habitat protection provided by the easement program. From 1979 to the present, more than 90,000 acres have been incorporated into the Grasslands WMA conservation easement program. The Grasslands WMA consists of 94,576 acres of perpetual conservation easements on private lands. Of this total acreage, 11,150.6 acres of Service-owned fee-title land are managed as part of the San Luis NWR, and 4,497.7 acres are managed as part of the Merced NWR. The Grasslands WMA is the largest concentrated easement program for wildlife in the State of California. Information about the Service-owned fee-title refuge units (shown on the map) can be found on the San Luis NWR website (for West Bear Creek, East Bear Creek, Blue Goose units) and the Merced NWR website (for Arena Plains, Snobird units). For public visitation opportunities, please explore the San Luis NWR, Merced NWR, and San Joaquin River NWR.

The public is not permitted on the Grasslands Wildlife Management Area, as the Service did not acquire public use rights. It can be viewed from adjacent public roads, primarily Santa Fe Grade Road, which bisects the north and south Grasslands in a northwest-southeast direction, north and south of Los Banos.