To meet habitat goals for the LBWA, the CDFW is seeking a Permittee to graze cattle on Blocks 1, 2A, 2B, 3 and 4, within the Premises, and goats and/or sheep on Block 5 and along Mud and Salt Sloughs (Block 6) within the Premises from February 1 to October 31 each year during the Permit term. The goal of the Premises is to remove invasive plant species to promote native species growth and reduce excessive vegetation thereby reducing fire hazard by aggressively grazing each Block to reach a target of 300 lbs/acre of RDM. The quality of forage between grazing Blocks within the Premises ranges widely per Block as well as per year as described in Table 3, thus prescriptive grazing rotations will be used to ensure that livestock are removing an appropriate amount of vegetation from each Block (Table 4). Current conditions of the Premises are expected to have a similar grazing prescription as historical cattle and goat/sheep grazing operations (resulted in 1.3 – 4.2 AUMs/acre at an average of 2.8 AUMs/acre for cattle and 1.3 AUM/acre for goat/sheep) though may be different due to changes in short– and long– term habitat conditions. Blocks 3 and 4 are expected to have a high grazing intensity, as these Blocks contain irrigated fields, and Blocks 1, 2A, 2B, 5 and 6 with a low to moderate intensity, as these Blocks are overgrown upland, managed wetland and/or riparian habitats. In addition, 40 AU per month of goats/sheep in Block 6 will be able to graze due to the high variability of vegetation quality in riparian areas. The total AUM will fluctuate each year based on the carrying capacity of each Block and the timing of grazing Block use as summarized in Table 6.
