| Butte Sink Wildlife Management Area | |
|---|---|
IUCN category IV (habitat/species management area) | |
Ducks at Butte Sink Wildlife Management Area | |
| Location | Colusa,Butte, andSutter Counties,CaliforniaUnited States |
| Nearest city | Colusa, California |
| Coordinates | 39°14′13″N121°56′30″W / 39.236998°N 121.941748°W /39.236998; -121.941748 |
| Established | 1980 |
| Governing body | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service |
| Website | Butte Sink Wildlife Management Area |
Butte Sink Wildlife Management Area is located inColusa,Butte, andSutter Counties. It iswetlands managed as part of theSacramento National Wildlife Refuge Complex and is not open to the public.
Within the 18,000-acre (73 km2)Wildlife Management Area (WMA), conservationeasements have been purchased on 10,311 acres (41.73 km2), requiring landowners to maintainwetlands on their property in perpetuity. These lands are privately owned and closed to public access. In addition, a 733-acre (2.97 km2) area (owned in fee title) was established in 1980 to protect wetlands for wintering waterfowl. This area is known as the "Butte Sink Unit" (formerly known as the Butte Sink National Wildlife Refuge), and is also closed to public access.
Major refuge objectives are to provide feeding and resting habitat for wintering waterfowl; provide habitat and management forendangered,threatened, or sensitivespecies of concern; protect and provide habitat for neotropical migratory land birds; preserve a natural diversity and abundance of flora and fauna; and alleviate crop depredation.
TheButte Sink typically supports wintering populations of over 300,000ducks and 100,000geese. As 95 percent of wetlands of theCentral Valley have been lost over the last 100 years, waterfowl have become increasingly dependent on the remaining wetlands within the Sacramento Valley.
This article incorporatespublic domain material from websites or documents of theUnited States Fish and Wildlife Service.