Question 1

Who is eligible?

Accepted Answer

Land must be in the area approved for this project, encompassed by this map.

Required Water Management

In addition to the straw management requirements, BirdReturns requires participants to maintain shallow-flooded conditions – saturated soil on the entire enrolled acreage and no more than 4″ depth.

Growers may use surface water or groundwater (or a combination of both) to maintain water on their enrolled field.

Required Field Conditions

BirdReturns requires participants to achieve certain field conditions, mainly by performing post-harvest mechanical treatment(s) which disrupt the soil and encourage straw-soil mixing and straw decomposition so that the field is free of standing vegetation or matted straw. For rice fields which do not already provide suitable migratory bird habitat with their typical practices, some modifications or additional treatments may be required to create suitable habitat. Thus, proper straw management is a critical component of this program’s success and TNC’s ability to continue this incentive.

Rather than prescribe a specific practice, TNC is attempting to maintain flexibility by describing the desired field conditions and allowing growers to implement any one of the following practice combinations after harvest:

Chop + Disc + Roll

Chop + Disc 2x

Example Pictures at the bottom of this page.

Question 2

When do applications close?

Accepted Answer

August 15, 2023

Question 3

When do applications open?

Accepted Answer

July 1, 2023

Bird Returns Colusa County Recharge

Eligibility

Terms

Application Instructions

Resources

Details