WEST FAMILY UNIT
California Department of Fish and Game Youth Hunt Area

in 2008, California Waterfowl received large grant from the California Wildlife Conservation Board that included money to improve the West Family Unit. The West Family Unit is a management unit of Grizzly Island Wildlife Area in Suisun Marsh that is designated as a youth hunt area. This means that only hunters under the age of 16, and their adult chaperones can hunt here.

The scope of work includes removing all existing blinds, installing 6 new ones (including one that will be wheelchair accessible), making a new parking lot and access point, and improving the wetland habitat throughout the unit.

Major water control structure failures kept the area flooded and prevented any work from being done in 2008. We had high hopes for 2009, and had planned on completing the entire project. However, continued water control issues kept the area flooded late into the year and required construction to be delayed until early October.

We began removing all the existing blinds in early October and installed one new, 3-man stainless steel blind, and three new 2-man poly blinds. Construction crews then began to grade the new parking lot, build the new stand-up blinds and moving dirt to improve the habitat. Then we received over 4 inches of rain in a very short period of time on October 13th and 14th! The rains caused flooding throughout unit and prevented us from doing any more work in the ponds. This meant no standup blinds would be installed for the 2009/2010 waterfowl season. We were able to continue construction on the new parking lot and the new registration kiosk as planned.

The funds will still be available for work next year, and we will ensure that ALL the remaining work will be completed before the 2010/2011 waterfowl season.

For more information on this project, or others in Suisun Marsh, contact Robert Eddings, Suisun Marsh Regional Biologist at robert_eddings@calwaterfowl.org.