Sarah Marsh Janish and Billy Abbott discuss the upcoming BirdReturns program, the Sandhill Crane Program, which incentivizes farmers to provide roosting and forage habitat for the Greater Sandhill Crane, an threatened bird species in the Sacramento Valley and CA Delta regions.
BirdReturns Sandhill Crane Application
Applications open on July 25 and close on August 17.
Upcoming Events
- Weedy Rice Workshop - August 5, 2025, 10:00 AM - 1:15 PM, Roberts-Union Farm Center, 4925 Howard Rd, Stockton, CA 95206
- CRC Bird Conservation Programs Informational Workshop - Wednesday, August 13, 2025, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm, Hillcrest Catering, 210 Julie Dr, Yuba City, CA 95991
- Rice Field Day - August 27, 2025, Rice Experiment Station, Biggs, CA
Other Resources
Mention of an agrichemical does not constitute a recommendation, merely the sharing of research findings. Always follow the label. The label is the law. Find out more at ipm.ucanr.edu.
The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speaker's own and do not represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of the University of California. The material and information presented here is for general purposes only. The "University of California" name and all forms and abbreviations are the property of its owner and its use does not imply endorsement of or opposition to any specific organization, product, or service.
UC ANR is an equal opportunity provider and employer
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_03 (00:00):
Hello and welcome to Thoughts on Rice, a podcast
hosted by the University ofCalifornia Cooperative Extension
Rice Advisors.
I'm one of your hosts, SarahMarsh-Yamish, and I'm a rice
(00:21):
farm advisor for Colusa and Yolocounties.
SPEAKER_01 (00:27):
I'm Whitney from DeForest.
I'm the Cooperative ExtensionRice Advisor for Sutter, Yuba,
Placer, and Sacramento counties.
SPEAKER_02 (00:34):
My name is Luis Espino.
I'm the Rice Farming SystemsAdvisor for Butte and Glynn
counties.
I'm Michelle Leinfelder-Miles.
I'm a farm advisor in the Deltaregion.
I work on all sorts of fieldcrops, grains and forages, but
one of those is rice.
And the counties that I coverare San Joaquin, Sacramento,
(00:55):
Yolo-Salano, and Contra Costacounties.
SPEAKER_03 (00:59):
Together, the UCCE Rice Farm Advisors seek to
provide relevant, topical,research-backed information
relating to California riceproduction.
Today we get the chance to talkabout an upcoming incentive
program orchestrated by theMigratory Bird Conservation
(01:20):
Partnership, also known as MBCP,under the Bird Returns Program.
The Sandhill Crane Program seeksto incentivize farmers and land
managers to create new cranehabitat to increase the
resilience of the CentralValley's population of the
Sandhill Crane.
To talk more about the MigratoryBird Conservation Partnership,
(01:41):
Bird Returns, and these wildlifeWe are joined by Billy Abbott.
Billy coordinates avian fieldscience and monitoring of this
program.
(02:11):
Hi, Billy.
Thanks for being here today.
SPEAKER_00 (02:13):
Hi, Sarah.
SPEAKER_03 (02:14):
If you want to give just a quick introduction as to
who you are, what your role is,maybe how long you've been
working in this role, and thenmaybe what that encompasses.
SPEAKER_00 (02:25):
All right.
So yeah, I'm Billy Abbott.
I'm the AB and field sciencemanager here for the Nature
Conservancy California.
I primarily work on the birdreturns program.
And what I'm largely doing isoverseeing all the field work
and gated collection out in thefield, primarily on the farmland
side of things, but it goes intothe wetlands and other our side
(02:48):
science projects as well.
I have been in this position fora little over two years.
I actually started at the NatureConservancy in 2014 as a
technician on this project andhave boomeranged.
I left, went to school, cameback and got this position.
SPEAKER_03 (03:10):
Wow.
So you have a prettylongstanding tradition of being
involved with this organization.
That's really neat.
SPEAKER_00 (03:17):
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's great.
I mean, I love working here andI feel like Like we're doing
something tangible out there tomake a positive impact.
SPEAKER_03 (03:25):
Well, OK, so we've mentioned The Nature
Conservancy.
Can you tell me a little bitabout what the organization is,
what the mission, what thevision is for this organization?
SPEAKER_00 (03:35):
Yeah, so we're a global nonprofit organization
and we have the goal of comingto science-backed solutions to
conserve lands and waters acrossthe globe.
And we're doing this in a waythat works for both people and
wildlife.
So we're really striving forthose win-win outcomes where
everyone gets ahead.
We do do this work in anonpartisan way.
(03:57):
So we are trying to put forwardour best work regardless of the
political climate and justtrying to stay aimed and focused
on the mission we have.
of conserving the lands andwaters of the world.
SPEAKER_03 (04:09):
It's so important, I think, to maintain just the
value of the world, the value ofthe environment.
And there's a lot ofpartnership, I think, that is
critical towards maintainingthose environments.
Now, I know that the NatureConservancy works in a
partnership with the MigratoryBird Conservation Partnership,
and that encompasses the NatureConservancy and a couple of
(04:32):
other organizations.
Would you care to mention someof those?
SPEAKER_00 (04:36):
Yes.
So currently, Burturn is aninitiative of the Migratory Bird
Conservation Partnership.
Like you mentioned, that is aunion of the Nature Conservancy,
Point Blue Conservation Sciencein Audubon, California.
And we are also currently fundedby the California Department of
(04:57):
Fish and Wildlife.
So across the state agency andour three NGOs, we are working
together to get our bird returnsprogram out there.
SPEAKER_03 (05:05):
Fantastic.
And we had a couple of membersof CDFW on last fall who also
talked about different incentiveprograms but it's great to see
the investment that there is inmaintaining the wildlife
especially in these areasbecause for our part as a rice
advisor and as a person whoworks in agriculture we have a
lot of rice in this area in theCalifornia Central Valley but
(05:28):
it's also not only an agpowerhouse but a critical part
of the Pacific Flyway and so Ithink a lot of the work that you
all do is critical towardssupporting that wetland habitat
for those migratory birds.
Let's explain a little bit ofthe history of the Bird Returns
program.
(05:48):
Can you go into detail aboutthat?
SPEAKER_00 (05:50):
So Bird Returns was started in 2014 by the Nature
Conservancy.
It was solely to meet habitatdeficits for migratory
shorebirds in the shoulderseasons, so late summer, late
spring.
Since then, Then the program hasgrown various different ways.
(06:14):
The Bird Returns is now aninitiative of the Migratory Bird
Conservation Partnership, aunion of Audubon, California,
Point Blue Conservation Science,and the Nature Conservancy.
We started this out on a smallscale just in Rice and the Sac
Valley, and we are privatelyfunded since then.
(06:35):
We have applied for and receivedpublic funds from California
Department of fish and wildlife.
And we have also been trying tomeet the habitat objectives that
we have for these differentseasons.
And part of doing that has beenexpanding into different habitat
types, so private wetlands anddifferent crops on farmland side
(06:59):
of things.
And then we've also seen needfor assisting other species,
such as some of our locallybreeding waterfowl and
shorebirds, as well asoverwintering sandhill cranes.
So along those lines, we haveexpanded our seasonality into
the summer to help with thebreeding birds and then into the
(07:21):
winter to help with the sandhillcranes.
SPEAKER_03 (07:24):
Do you have any data or anything you could share
about the long-term impacts ofthese incentive programs?
Yeah,
SPEAKER_00 (07:32):
I mean, the goal of these is to meet these habitat
targets that are laid out in theCentral Valley Joint Venture.
From the Central Valley JointVenture, we have a spring
habitat target of 13,500 acresand a fall habitat target of
40,000 acres.
We are very close to meeting ourspring targets at this point.
(07:54):
We've still got some work to doon the fall.
But the goal of hitting thosetargets is to sustain the
current population of shorebirdsthat we have in the valley.
So that's just maintaining whatwe have.
Once we get there, which we areworking hard to, we're gonna
increase our habitat targetsthen.
(08:15):
And the goal of that is to helpsome of these shorebird
populations, which have declineddrastically here in the Central
Valley, but also across NorthAmerica, to help start rebound
them, start increasing thosepopulations.
Yeah.
And then along the way, we aredoing a bunch of science to try
(08:35):
to make sure what we're doing isas effective as possible.
So we have studies currently onlike Bendic invertebrates.
So like the main food source ofshorebirds is invertebrates that
live on the floor of thesewetlands, like in the mud.
We're trying to understand howthey are affected by different
flooding regimes, differenthabitat types like wetland
(08:58):
versus farmland.
We also have We just wrapped upa four-year drought study that
was tagging, putting MODIS tagsor satellite tags on Dowitchers
and Dunlin and trying tounderstand how they respond,
where they're going underdifferent water conditions and
(09:18):
different water years.
And then like on the SandhillCrane side of things, we have
social attraction experimentsthat are trying to expand their
local range and build resiliencewithin that Sandhill Crane
population.
So it's not only we're trying todo what we're doing better so we
can help those populationsrebound.
SPEAKER_03 (09:40):
OK, so we've kind of talked a little bit about the
Sandhill Crane program, but thereason we're on today is to talk
about that one in particular,because as I understand it,
applications for this programare about to open are open.
Let's what's the applicationlooking like?
SPEAKER_00 (10:00):
OK, so the applications for the Winter
Sandhill Crane Program will openeither late this week or early
next week.
And once they are open, theywill remain open until August
18th at 9 a.m.
So anytime in there, people areencouraged to apply.
SPEAKER_03 (10:22):
Okay.
And so just for listeners' sake,we're recording July 22nd.
So maybe look for that July25th, maybe July 20th.
something like that?
SPEAKER_00 (10:34):
Yes, yeah, somewhere right in there.
And you can check the websitebirdreturns.org under the
Sandhill Cranes tab, and it'lllet you know that it's open or
not.
SPEAKER_03 (10:44):
Hey, everyone, Sarah here with a little interlude and
extra information.
After Billy and I had ourconversation, the deadlines for
the Bird Returns Sandhill Craneprogram firmed up.
And so this is just auxiliaryinformation to add to what we're
talking about here.
But essentially, the BirdReturns hill crane program
application process openedfriday july 25th 2025 and will
(11:09):
remain open until 11 59 p.m onaugust 17th that's a different
date than the date that billyand i were talking about but
yeah just keep in mind open fromjuly 25th and closes on august
17th all right back to our chatso what are the field or land
(11:30):
requirements that you guys arelooking for enrollment in this
program?
SPEAKER_00 (11:35):
So on the focus sandhill crane program, we're
asked, it's a farmlands program.
So this is in farmlands.
And there's two habitat typesthat we ask for in the sandhill
crane program.
There's roosting habitat, whichis where those cranes are
sleeping.
And there's forage habitat wherethose cranes are eating.
And that's the two primarybehaviors these cranes are
(11:55):
engaging in while they're in thecentral valley.
Both program, both roost andforage fields are eight-week
enrollments.
And there's varying start datesthat the farmers can select.
So for the roost habitat, whatwe're asking for is a field
that's 30 to 200 acres.
(12:15):
It's got to have access toreliable water source to
maintain flooding.
And what we're asking for themto do is maintain flooding for
that eight-week period betweenthree and nine inches.
Before their flooding periodstarts, they need to knock down
or minimize the stubble that'sin the field.
So they can either mow it, chopit, disk it, chisel it, whatever
(12:40):
works, just get that stubbledown.
Be asked that those roost fieldsdon't have tree edges, and that
is for protection of the cranesfrom predators.
And then The fields can beanywhere between 30 and 200
acres.
So there's quite a bit of rangein there.
(13:01):
And that's the basics of theroost program.
For the forage side of things,these fields can be anywhere
from 30 to 500 acres.
The difference of this habitatis that the forage is
un-flooded.
So after it needs to be in arice field, a corn field, or
some other grain like barley,wheat, something along those
(13:25):
lines that can act as food forthe cranes.
And after harvest, we ask thatthey mow the stubble down so
it's short.
Farmers, if they choose and theywant to put that stubble in
contact with the soil to helpwith decomp, they can roll it.
But we ask that they don't tillit in any way.
And the reason for that is thatwe are wanting that waste grain
(13:48):
to be left on the surface ofthose fields so it's accessible
for the birds to eat.
And again, to help with decomp,if farmers choose, this is not a
requirement of the program inany way, but if they would like
to, the last two weeks of theirenrollment, they can put a
little bit of water out there upto two inches on that field to
help kickstart thatdecomposition process.
(14:10):
Also, farmers can enroll in bothroost and forage programs.
And again, if they wanna doboth, if there's a maximum of
500 acres, per application.
And if they want to have bothtypes of habitat out there, the
forage fields need to be equalor greater in size than the
(14:34):
roost fields.
SPEAKER_03 (14:35):
So what does the application process look like
then?
SPEAKER_00 (14:39):
Yeah, for the Saranhoe crane program, the
application process, like itstarts when it opens.
And once the application windowcloses on August 18th, we will
compile all the applications.
And then our select collectioncommittee of the Migratory Bird
Conservation Partnership andassisted by California
(15:01):
Department of Fish and Wildlife.
We'll analyze each property.
We'll run them through one ofour mathematical models.
Those mathematical models areutilizing landscape level
factors, like things likehistory of flooding, proximity
to known crane roosts, and otherthings.
And using those landscape levelfactors, we will assign each
(15:23):
field that submitted a birdscore.
The higher the bird score, thebetter potential habitat that it
can offer.
So once each property has a birdscore, we list them out in order
from highest to lowest, and thehighest bird score properties
(15:43):
are then selected for theprogram, and we'll go through
that list until the budget isexhausted.
SPEAKER_03 (15:50):
How much budget is allocated towards the Sandhill
Crane program.
SPEAKER_00 (15:54):
Yeah.
Okay.
So the budget currently for theSandhill Crane program is
$830,000, but that might bump upas we might have some more funds
come available from some of theother programs that we have
currently running.
SPEAKER_03 (16:10):
So let's talk a bit about what might exclude a field
from consideration.
Can you discuss a little bitabout what those factors may be?
SPEAKER_00 (16:20):
Yes.
So largely, they exclude are thesame for roost and forage
fields.
One of the main ones is beingenrolled in another incentive
program in any time thatoverlaps their enrollment in our
program.
So they can't double dip, butthey can stack programs.
So if they have one endingSeptember 30th, they can start
(16:44):
ours October 1st.
Other things that can excludefields are being within five
miles of an airport or Air Forcebase And that's just for safety
reasons for flights.
Fields that are hunted are alsoexcluded, at least from the
roost.
We are discussing whether or notforage fields will be allowed to
(17:06):
be hunted currently.
And then, like I mentionedbefore, on the roost fields,
fields with tree edges are notallowed.
And again, that's just forpredator protection for the
cranes.
SPEAKER_03 (17:18):
For the hunting exclusion, does that also apply
to adjacent fields or nature?
neighboring fields?
Say if a neighboring field or anadjacent field allows hunting
next to a field that you'resubmitting, does that have an
impact on the application?
SPEAKER_00 (17:31):
So for the hunting on roost fields, they are not
allowed to hunt the enrolledfield or any adjacent field,
like directly adjacent fields.
The caveat to that is if theydon't own the adjacent fields,
then they have no control ofthat and we don't expect them to
stop their neighbors fromhunting.
(17:51):
That's just not a realisticpossibility.
If we do apply the exclusion tothe forage, the hunting
exclusion to the forage fields,it'll just be the forage fields
that are enrolled.
Adjacent fields will not beaffected by that.
SPEAKER_03 (18:07):
Hey, everyone.
It's Sarah again.
Just coming back with some moreinformation about this hunting
exclusion.
And so it's actually beendecided that hunting will not be
prohibited on fields that areenrolled in the foraging
program.
So no need to worry about anykind of hunting exclusion if
you're enrolling in forage allright back to the chat Great.
(18:29):
Okay.
Is there anything else you wantto talk about with the Sandhill
Crane Program, the WinterSandhill Crane Program?
SPEAKER_00 (18:37):
So the Winter Sandhill Crane Program, it
occurs in Sacramento Valley andthe Delta.
It's not pushing at all into theSan Joaquin.
And the reason for this isbecause we are targeting the
Greater Sandhill Crane, which isa subspecies of the Sandhill
Crane.
The two subspecies that we havethe most of in California, that
(18:58):
are most abundant in California,California are the greater and
the lesser Santo cream.
Um, graders tend to overwinterin the sack Valley and the Delta
lessers tend to overwinter andthe Delta and the San Joaquin.
So this Delta is kind of amixing space of the two
subspecies.
Um, but.
Graders are state threatened.
(19:18):
They're listed as a statethreatened species or
subspecies.
So that's why our program isfocused on them.
And that's why our program isfocused on the Sac Valley and
the Delta.
SPEAKER_03 (19:27):
What are some of the other programs that Bird Returns
does or some of the otherprograms that the organization
does to try and encouragewildlife habitat?
SPEAKER_00 (19:39):
Within Bird Returns, we have several programs in
addition to the Sandhill CraneProgram.
On the wetland side of things,we have spring, summer, and fall
wetlands.
Spring wetlands run in the latespring with a goal of providing
habitat for shorebirds beforethey leave for their migration
north to their breeding grounds.
(20:01):
Fall wetlands, just like latesummer farmlands, is with the
goal of providing habitat forshorebirds and other migratory
water birds that are arrivingfrom their breeding grounds.
So this is like the southern legor a stock point on their
migration.
And then the summer wetlands isgoing to act as brood water for
(20:25):
breeding waterfowl and breedingshorebirds.
But in summer wetlands, I mean,in all these programs, we have
recorded over 180 species ofland birds using these fields
and 85 species of differentspecies of water birds using
these fields.
(20:46):
So it's geared towardsshorebirds and cranes
particularly, but it'sbenefiting a much wider range of
species than that.
SPEAKER_03 (20:54):
Now, this is just for curiosity's sake here, but
you must need a pretty largecrew of people to be able to
track all these birds.
Or is it pretty much like areally dedicated person
skittling from field to field?
SPEAKER_00 (21:09):
No, it is a pretty big crew of folks.
And I guess one thing I'llhighlight is how seamlessly our
organizations, Audubon and PointBlue and the Nature Conservancy,
work together to make this fieldwork happen.
We are We have a meeting once aweek to discuss who needs help,
(21:29):
who has extra capacity, who ismissing capacity.
And it's all hands on deck forall of these programs.
And so we probably have in theNature Conservancy, we have
myself and we will have three,we'll have a technician lead and
then two other technicians thathelp do biological and
(21:50):
compliance monitoring of thesefields.
Autobahn has another three orfour people that they run.
And Point Blue has at least twocurrently that are helping out
with field work.
So we are, I mean, we are apretty big group.
It's a big geography.
There's a lot of enrollments andso it does take an army.
SPEAKER_03 (22:15):
But very collaborative effort.
I mean, you mentioned itearlier, but it just it's so
nice to see that reinforcedexample right there.
SPEAKER_00 (22:21):
Yeah, it is.
I mean, that's what Ben, whichis the best partnership I've
ever been a part of.
We just we work so closely witheach other.
It's super comfortable workenvironment and everyone is
aiming at the same goal.
And and not just within ourmigratory bird partnership team,
(22:44):
it's also within the farmingcommunity as well.
We see the farmers and otherprivate wetland owners really
have a have some pride in thehabitat that they're providing
and are proud of the species anduse of their lands by wildlife.
(23:05):
So we in the Migratory BirdConservation Partnership have
the same goal, but it's not justus.
It's also the farming communityand private wetland owners as
well.
SPEAKER_03 (23:15):
Yeah, I wholeheartedly concur.
I think farmers areconservationists just by nature
of who they are and what theyexperience.
SPEAKER_00 (23:25):
Yes, yeah.
I mean, they're out there inthose lands and they really have
the opportunity to appreciatethem when this habitat gets put
out there successfully.
SPEAKER_03 (23:35):
Well, okay.
So we talked about the otherprograms and some of their
benefits.
Are there any upcoming events orprograms or workshops that your
partnerships or any of the otherorganizations are going to have
in the next six months or so?
SPEAKER_00 (23:53):
Yeah, so like we talked about a lot, the Sandhill
Crane Program will be opening upfor applications any minute now.
But in addition to that, we alsowork very closely with the
California Rice Commission.
And they actually have a sisterprogram that spun off of bird
occurrence called Bid for Birds.
(24:13):
And Kristen Sesser hosts anannual conservation programs and
rice workshops.
And that will be occurringAugust 13th It'll be from one to
three in the afternoon atHillcrest Catering in Yuba City.
And that is a really greatworkshop to attend.
We talk about bird returns.
(24:34):
Kristen talks about bid forbirds, but also CDFW, NRCS, and
other organizations and agenciescome through and just discuss
their programs and let growersknow, growers and wetland
managers know what opportunitiesthere are to be involved in
incentive programs in thevalley.
And it's a really good catch allfor a good majority of the
(24:59):
programs that are occurringhere.
SPEAKER_03 (25:01):
Absolutely.
We'll be sure to put that eventin our show notes and then we'll
also put it up on our websitejust to have increased
visibility.
But yeah, I think I went to thatlast year and it was incredibly
informative.
Are there any deadlines thatpeople should be on the lookout
with regards to other programswhen I guess general times of
(25:21):
year that the other programsapplications might open.
SPEAKER_00 (25:26):
So within the Migratory Bird Conservation
Partnership, the NatureConservancy primarily manages
the farmland side of things, andAudubon California primarily
manages the wetland, the privatewetland side of things.
So I believe all of the programsfor the wetlands that Audubon is
primarily handling are open inspring, in May, I believe.
(25:50):
And then late summer farmland,or yes, so our other farmland
programs our only other farmlandprogram besides the Sandhill
Crane is the late summerfarmlands and that application
period is earlier is also in thespring sometime around May
depending it varies a little bityear to year we've been trying
(26:14):
to find a sweet spot that is thebest time for farmers to like
have a minute to apply to thesefarmers are busy folks so it's a
hard needle to thread So yeah,that varies a little bit.
There's always information aboutany of the programs on
birdreturns.org, and you cancheck under the different tabs
(26:36):
for information on any specificprogram.
SPEAKER_03 (26:39):
Well, Billy, I think we've kind of reached the end of
this, but if people have anyquestions, where should they go?
They should go to the BirdReturns website, but who should
they contact?
SPEAKER_00 (26:50):
Yeah, if anyone has specific questions about any of
the programs or just generalquestions Feel free to reach out
to me.
My email and phone number are upon the website.
Also, Becca Rosenkranz is amember of our team, Burger
Turn's team on the NatureConservancy side of things.
(27:12):
She is a wealth of information.
And then also Julia Barfield,the program manager.
Her information is on thewebsite as well.
So on the wetland side ofthings, Geronimo Castaneda.
His information is on thecontact page of the
birdreturns.org site.
And yeah, he can help out withany questions regarding the
(27:35):
wetlands.
SPEAKER_03 (27:36):
Okay, well, Billy, thank you so much for coming on
here and talking about theseprograms.
We'll probably have you back onagain sometime.
So get used to this.
But yeah, thanks again so muchfor being here.
SPEAKER_00 (27:48):
Yeah, thank you very, very much, Sarah, for the
opportunity to be on here, getthe word out about bird returns.
And I would also like to justthank all the people that are
involved in this work from PointBlue, Audubon, Nature
Conservancy, and our partners atthe California Department of
Fish and Wildlife.
SPEAKER_03 (28:25):
We have a few upcoming events.
The next upcoming event will bethe Weedy Rice Workshop, which
will take place on August 5th,2025 from 10 a.m.
to 1.15 p.m.
at the Roberts Union Farm Centerat 4925 Howard Road in Stockton,
California.
The next upcoming event afterthat will be the Annual Rice
(28:47):
Field Day, which will take placeas always on the last Wednesday
of August on August 27th, 2025.
at the Rice Experiment Stationat 955 Butte City Highway in
Biggs, California.
This will feature talks frombreeders, talks from our UC Rice
specialists and advisors, and adelicious lunch.
(29:11):
For more information about theseand other upcoming events, feel
free to check out our resources,which include the UC Rice blog
and the UC Agronomy Ricewebsite.
In terms of other resources youmight want to take advantage of,
you can also look at ournewsletters, which include Rice
Briefs, which covers ColusaYolo, Rice Notes, which covers
(29:34):
Yuba Sutter, Rice Leaf, whichcovers Butte and Glen counties,
and Field Notes, whichencompasses rice in the Delta
region of California.
Thanks for listening to Thoughtson Rice, a University of
California Cooperative Extensionpodcast from the University of
California Agriculture andNatural Resources.
(29:55):
You can find out more about thispodcast on our website,
thoughtsonrice.buzzsprout.com.
We'd love to hear from you,whether it's from using our text
link in the show notes, a surveysubmission in our feedback form,
also in the show notes, or in acomment or rating on your
podcast streaming service ofchoice.
(30:18):
We are starting to see panicleshead out in the rice fields.
And we know what that means.
Harvest is right around thecorner.
Remember, like the growers liketo say, have a rice life.
Mention of an agrochemical doesnot constitute a recommendation,
merely the sharing of researchfindings.
(30:39):
Always follow the label.
The label is the law.
Find out more at ipm.ucanr.edu.
The views, thoughts, andopinions expressed are the
speaker's own and do notrepresent the views, thoughts,
and opinions of the Universityof California.
The material and informationpresented here is for general
purposes only.
(30:59):
The University of Californianame and all forms and
abbreviations are the propertyof its owner, and its use does
not imply endorsement of oropposition to any specific
organization, product, orservice.
Hello and welcome to Thoughts on Rice, a podcast
hosted by the University ofCalifornia Cooperative Extension
Rice Advisors.
I'm one of your hosts, SarahMarsh-Yamish, and I'm a rice
(00:21):
farm advisor for Colusa and Yolocounties.
SPEAKER_01 (00:27):
I'm Whitney from DeForest.
I'm the Cooperative ExtensionRice Advisor for Sutter, Yuba,
Placer, and Sacramento counties.
SPEAKER_02 (00:34):
My name is Luis Espino.
I'm the Rice Farming SystemsAdvisor for Butte and Glynn
counties.
I'm Michelle Leinfelder-Miles.
I'm a farm advisor in the Deltaregion.
I work on all sorts of fieldcrops, grains and forages, but
one of those is rice.
And the counties that I coverare San Joaquin, Sacramento,
(00:55):
Yolo-Salano, and Contra Costacounties.
SPEAKER_03 (00:59):
Together, the UCCE Rice Farm Advisors seek to
provide relevant, topical,research-backed information
relating to California riceproduction.
Today we get the chance to talkabout an upcoming incentive
program orchestrated by theMigratory Bird Conservation
(01:20):
Partnership, also known as MBCP,under the Bird Returns Program.
The Sandhill Crane Program seeksto incentivize farmers and land
managers to create new cranehabitat to increase the
resilience of the CentralValley's population of the
Sandhill Crane.
To talk more about the MigratoryBird Conservation Partnership,
(01:41):
Bird Returns, and these wildlifeWe are joined by Billy Abbott.
Billy coordinates avian fieldscience and monitoring of this
program.
(02:11):
Hi, Billy.
Thanks for being here today.
SPEAKER_00 (02:13):
Hi, Sarah.
SPEAKER_03 (02:14):
If you want to give just a quick introduction as to
who you are, what your role is,maybe how long you've been
working in this role, and thenmaybe what that encompasses.
SPEAKER_00 (02:25):
All right.
So yeah, I'm Billy Abbott.
I'm the AB and field sciencemanager here for the Nature
Conservancy California.
I primarily work on the birdreturns program.
And what I'm largely doing isoverseeing all the field work
and gated collection out in thefield, primarily on the farmland
side of things, but it goes intothe wetlands and other our side
(02:48):
science projects as well.
I have been in this position fora little over two years.
I actually started at the NatureConservancy in 2014 as a
technician on this project andhave boomeranged.
I left, went to school, cameback and got this position.
SPEAKER_03 (03:10):
Wow.
So you have a prettylongstanding tradition of being
involved with this organization.
That's really neat.
SPEAKER_00 (03:17):
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's great.
I mean, I love working here andI feel like Like we're doing
something tangible out there tomake a positive impact.
SPEAKER_03 (03:25):
Well, OK, so we've mentioned The Nature
Conservancy.
Can you tell me a little bitabout what the organization is,
what the mission, what thevision is for this organization?
SPEAKER_00 (03:35):
Yeah, so we're a global nonprofit organization
and we have the goal of comingto science-backed solutions to
conserve lands and waters acrossthe globe.
And we're doing this in a waythat works for both people and
wildlife.
So we're really striving forthose win-win outcomes where
everyone gets ahead.
We do do this work in anonpartisan way.
(03:57):
So we are trying to put forwardour best work regardless of the
political climate and justtrying to stay aimed and focused
on the mission we have.
of conserving the lands andwaters of the world.
SPEAKER_03 (04:09):
It's so important, I think, to maintain just the
value of the world, the value ofthe environment.
And there's a lot ofpartnership, I think, that is
critical towards maintainingthose environments.
Now, I know that the NatureConservancy works in a
partnership with the MigratoryBird Conservation Partnership,
and that encompasses the NatureConservancy and a couple of
(04:32):
other organizations.
Would you care to mention someof those?
SPEAKER_00 (04:36):
Yes.
So currently, Burturn is aninitiative of the Migratory Bird
Conservation Partnership.
Like you mentioned, that is aunion of the Nature Conservancy,
Point Blue Conservation Sciencein Audubon, California.
And we are also currently fundedby the California Department of
(04:57):
Fish and Wildlife.
So across the state agency andour three NGOs, we are working
together to get our bird returnsprogram out there.
SPEAKER_03 (05:05):
Fantastic.
And we had a couple of membersof CDFW on last fall who also
talked about different incentiveprograms but it's great to see
the investment that there is inmaintaining the wildlife
especially in these areasbecause for our part as a rice
advisor and as a person whoworks in agriculture we have a
lot of rice in this area in theCalifornia Central Valley but
(05:28):
it's also not only an agpowerhouse but a critical part
of the Pacific Flyway and so Ithink a lot of the work that you
all do is critical towardssupporting that wetland habitat
for those migratory birds.
Let's explain a little bit ofthe history of the Bird Returns
program.
(05:48):
Can you go into detail aboutthat?
SPEAKER_00 (05:50):
So Bird Returns was started in 2014 by the Nature
Conservancy.
It was solely to meet habitatdeficits for migratory
shorebirds in the shoulderseasons, so late summer, late
spring.
Since then, Then the program hasgrown various different ways.
(06:14):
The Bird Returns is now aninitiative of the Migratory Bird
Conservation Partnership, aunion of Audubon, California,
Point Blue Conservation Science,and the Nature Conservancy.
We started this out on a smallscale just in Rice and the Sac
Valley, and we are privatelyfunded since then.
(06:35):
We have applied for and receivedpublic funds from California
Department of fish and wildlife.
And we have also been trying tomeet the habitat objectives that
we have for these differentseasons.
And part of doing that has beenexpanding into different habitat
types, so private wetlands anddifferent crops on farmland side
(06:59):
of things.
And then we've also seen needfor assisting other species,
such as some of our locallybreeding waterfowl and
shorebirds, as well asoverwintering sandhill cranes.
So along those lines, we haveexpanded our seasonality into
the summer to help with thebreeding birds and then into the
(07:21):
winter to help with the sandhillcranes.
SPEAKER_03 (07:24):
Do you have any data or anything you could share
about the long-term impacts ofthese incentive programs?
Yeah,
SPEAKER_00 (07:32):
I mean, the goal of these is to meet these habitat
targets that are laid out in theCentral Valley Joint Venture.
From the Central Valley JointVenture, we have a spring
habitat target of 13,500 acresand a fall habitat target of
40,000 acres.
We are very close to meeting ourspring targets at this point.
(07:54):
We've still got some work to doon the fall.
But the goal of hitting thosetargets is to sustain the
current population of shorebirdsthat we have in the valley.
So that's just maintaining whatwe have.
Once we get there, which we areworking hard to, we're gonna
increase our habitat targetsthen.
(08:15):
And the goal of that is to helpsome of these shorebird
populations, which have declineddrastically here in the Central
Valley, but also across NorthAmerica, to help start rebound
them, start increasing thosepopulations.
Yeah.
And then along the way, we aredoing a bunch of science to try
(08:35):
to make sure what we're doing isas effective as possible.
So we have studies currently onlike Bendic invertebrates.
So like the main food source ofshorebirds is invertebrates that
live on the floor of thesewetlands, like in the mud.
We're trying to understand howthey are affected by different
flooding regimes, differenthabitat types like wetland
(08:58):
versus farmland.
We also have We just wrapped upa four-year drought study that
was tagging, putting MODIS tagsor satellite tags on Dowitchers
and Dunlin and trying tounderstand how they respond,
where they're going underdifferent water conditions and
(09:18):
different water years.
And then like on the SandhillCrane side of things, we have
social attraction experimentsthat are trying to expand their
local range and build resiliencewithin that Sandhill Crane
population.
So it's not only we're trying todo what we're doing better so we
can help those populationsrebound.
SPEAKER_03 (09:40):
OK, so we've kind of talked a little bit about the
Sandhill Crane program, but thereason we're on today is to talk
about that one in particular,because as I understand it,
applications for this programare about to open are open.
Let's what's the applicationlooking like?
SPEAKER_00 (10:00):
OK, so the applications for the Winter
Sandhill Crane Program will openeither late this week or early
next week.
And once they are open, theywill remain open until August
18th at 9 a.m.
So anytime in there, people areencouraged to apply.
SPEAKER_03 (10:22):
Okay.
And so just for listeners' sake,we're recording July 22nd.
So maybe look for that July25th, maybe July 20th.
something like that?
SPEAKER_00 (10:34):
Yes, yeah, somewhere right in there.
And you can check the websitebirdreturns.org under the
Sandhill Cranes tab, and it'lllet you know that it's open or
not.
SPEAKER_03 (10:44):
Hey, everyone, Sarah here with a little interlude and
extra information.
After Billy and I had ourconversation, the deadlines for
the Bird Returns Sandhill Craneprogram firmed up.
And so this is just auxiliaryinformation to add to what we're
talking about here.
But essentially, the BirdReturns hill crane program
application process openedfriday july 25th 2025 and will
(11:09):
remain open until 11 59 p.m onaugust 17th that's a different
date than the date that billyand i were talking about but
yeah just keep in mind open fromjuly 25th and closes on august
17th all right back to our chatso what are the field or land
(11:30):
requirements that you guys arelooking for enrollment in this
program?
SPEAKER_00 (11:35):
So on the focus sandhill crane program, we're
asked, it's a farmlands program.
So this is in farmlands.
And there's two habitat typesthat we ask for in the sandhill
crane program.
There's roosting habitat, whichis where those cranes are
sleeping.
And there's forage habitat wherethose cranes are eating.
And that's the two primarybehaviors these cranes are
(11:55):
engaging in while they're in thecentral valley.
Both program, both roost andforage fields are eight-week
enrollments.
And there's varying start datesthat the farmers can select.
So for the roost habitat, whatwe're asking for is a field
that's 30 to 200 acres.
(12:15):
It's got to have access toreliable water source to
maintain flooding.
And what we're asking for themto do is maintain flooding for
that eight-week period betweenthree and nine inches.
Before their flooding periodstarts, they need to knock down
or minimize the stubble that'sin the field.
So they can either mow it, chopit, disk it, chisel it, whatever
(12:40):
works, just get that stubbledown.
Be asked that those roost fieldsdon't have tree edges, and that
is for protection of the cranesfrom predators.
And then The fields can beanywhere between 30 and 200
acres.
So there's quite a bit of rangein there.
(13:01):
And that's the basics of theroost program.
For the forage side of things,these fields can be anywhere
from 30 to 500 acres.
The difference of this habitatis that the forage is
un-flooded.
So after it needs to be in arice field, a corn field, or
some other grain like barley,wheat, something along those
(13:25):
lines that can act as food forthe cranes.
And after harvest, we ask thatthey mow the stubble down so
it's short.
Farmers, if they choose and theywant to put that stubble in
contact with the soil to helpwith decomp, they can roll it.
But we ask that they don't tillit in any way.
And the reason for that is thatwe are wanting that waste grain
(13:48):
to be left on the surface ofthose fields so it's accessible
for the birds to eat.
And again, to help with decomp,if farmers choose, this is not a
requirement of the program inany way, but if they would like
to, the last two weeks of theirenrollment, they can put a
little bit of water out there upto two inches on that field to
help kickstart thatdecomposition process.
(14:10):
Also, farmers can enroll in bothroost and forage programs.
And again, if they wanna doboth, if there's a maximum of
500 acres, per application.
And if they want to have bothtypes of habitat out there, the
forage fields need to be equalor greater in size than the
(14:34):
roost fields.
SPEAKER_03 (14:35):
So what does the application process look like
then?
SPEAKER_00 (14:39):
Yeah, for the Saranhoe crane program, the
application process, like itstarts when it opens.
And once the application windowcloses on August 18th, we will
compile all the applications.
And then our select collectioncommittee of the Migratory Bird
Conservation Partnership andassisted by California
(15:01):
Department of Fish and Wildlife.
We'll analyze each property.
We'll run them through one ofour mathematical models.
Those mathematical models areutilizing landscape level
factors, like things likehistory of flooding, proximity
to known crane roosts, and otherthings.
And using those landscape levelfactors, we will assign each
(15:23):
field that submitted a birdscore.
The higher the bird score, thebetter potential habitat that it
can offer.
So once each property has a birdscore, we list them out in order
from highest to lowest, and thehighest bird score properties
(15:43):
are then selected for theprogram, and we'll go through
that list until the budget isexhausted.
SPEAKER_03 (15:50):
How much budget is allocated towards the Sandhill
Crane program.
SPEAKER_00 (15:54):
Yeah.
Okay.
So the budget currently for theSandhill Crane program is
$830,000, but that might bump upas we might have some more funds
come available from some of theother programs that we have
currently running.
SPEAKER_03 (16:10):
So let's talk a bit about what might exclude a field
from consideration.
Can you discuss a little bitabout what those factors may be?
SPEAKER_00 (16:20):
Yes.
So largely, they exclude are thesame for roost and forage
fields.
One of the main ones is beingenrolled in another incentive
program in any time thatoverlaps their enrollment in our
program.
So they can't double dip, butthey can stack programs.
So if they have one endingSeptember 30th, they can start
(16:44):
ours October 1st.
Other things that can excludefields are being within five
miles of an airport or Air Forcebase And that's just for safety
reasons for flights.
Fields that are hunted are alsoexcluded, at least from the
roost.
We are discussing whether or notforage fields will be allowed to
(17:06):
be hunted currently.
And then, like I mentionedbefore, on the roost fields,
fields with tree edges are notallowed.
And again, that's just forpredator protection for the
cranes.
SPEAKER_03 (17:18):
For the hunting exclusion, does that also apply
to adjacent fields or nature?
neighboring fields?
Say if a neighboring field or anadjacent field allows hunting
next to a field that you'resubmitting, does that have an
impact on the application?
SPEAKER_00 (17:31):
So for the hunting on roost fields, they are not
allowed to hunt the enrolledfield or any adjacent field,
like directly adjacent fields.
The caveat to that is if theydon't own the adjacent fields,
then they have no control ofthat and we don't expect them to
stop their neighbors fromhunting.
(17:51):
That's just not a realisticpossibility.
If we do apply the exclusion tothe forage, the hunting
exclusion to the forage fields,it'll just be the forage fields
that are enrolled.
Adjacent fields will not beaffected by that.
SPEAKER_03 (18:07):
Hey, everyone.
It's Sarah again.
Just coming back with some moreinformation about this hunting
exclusion.
And so it's actually beendecided that hunting will not be
prohibited on fields that areenrolled in the foraging
program.
So no need to worry about anykind of hunting exclusion if
you're enrolling in forage allright back to the chat Great.
(18:29):
Okay.
Is there anything else you wantto talk about with the Sandhill
Crane Program, the WinterSandhill Crane Program?
SPEAKER_00 (18:37):
So the Winter Sandhill Crane Program, it
occurs in Sacramento Valley andthe Delta.
It's not pushing at all into theSan Joaquin.
And the reason for this isbecause we are targeting the
Greater Sandhill Crane, which isa subspecies of the Sandhill
Crane.
The two subspecies that we havethe most of in California, that
(18:58):
are most abundant in California,California are the greater and
the lesser Santo cream.
Um, graders tend to overwinterin the sack Valley and the Delta
lessers tend to overwinter andthe Delta and the San Joaquin.
So this Delta is kind of amixing space of the two
subspecies.
Um, but.
Graders are state threatened.
(19:18):
They're listed as a statethreatened species or
subspecies.
So that's why our program isfocused on them.
And that's why our program isfocused on the Sac Valley and
the Delta.
SPEAKER_03 (19:27):
What are some of the other programs that Bird Returns
does or some of the otherprograms that the organization
does to try and encouragewildlife habitat?
SPEAKER_00 (19:39):
Within Bird Returns, we have several programs in
addition to the Sandhill CraneProgram.
On the wetland side of things,we have spring, summer, and fall
wetlands.
Spring wetlands run in the latespring with a goal of providing
habitat for shorebirds beforethey leave for their migration
north to their breeding grounds.
(20:01):
Fall wetlands, just like latesummer farmlands, is with the
goal of providing habitat forshorebirds and other migratory
water birds that are arrivingfrom their breeding grounds.
So this is like the southern legor a stock point on their
migration.
And then the summer wetlands isgoing to act as brood water for
(20:25):
breeding waterfowl and breedingshorebirds.
But in summer wetlands, I mean,in all these programs, we have
recorded over 180 species ofland birds using these fields
and 85 species of differentspecies of water birds using
these fields.
(20:46):
So it's geared towardsshorebirds and cranes
particularly, but it'sbenefiting a much wider range of
species than that.
SPEAKER_03 (20:54):
Now, this is just for curiosity's sake here, but
you must need a pretty largecrew of people to be able to
track all these birds.
Or is it pretty much like areally dedicated person
skittling from field to field?
SPEAKER_00 (21:09):
No, it is a pretty big crew of folks.
And I guess one thing I'llhighlight is how seamlessly our
organizations, Audubon and PointBlue and the Nature Conservancy,
work together to make this fieldwork happen.
We are We have a meeting once aweek to discuss who needs help,
(21:29):
who has extra capacity, who ismissing capacity.
And it's all hands on deck forall of these programs.
And so we probably have in theNature Conservancy, we have
myself and we will have three,we'll have a technician lead and
then two other technicians thathelp do biological and
(21:50):
compliance monitoring of thesefields.
Autobahn has another three orfour people that they run.
And Point Blue has at least twocurrently that are helping out
with field work.
So we are, I mean, we are apretty big group.
It's a big geography.
There's a lot of enrollments andso it does take an army.
SPEAKER_03 (22:15):
But very collaborative effort.
I mean, you mentioned itearlier, but it just it's so
nice to see that reinforcedexample right there.
SPEAKER_00 (22:21):
Yeah, it is.
I mean, that's what Ben, whichis the best partnership I've
ever been a part of.
We just we work so closely witheach other.
It's super comfortable workenvironment and everyone is
aiming at the same goal.
And and not just within ourmigratory bird partnership team,
(22:44):
it's also within the farmingcommunity as well.
We see the farmers and otherprivate wetland owners really
have a have some pride in thehabitat that they're providing
and are proud of the species anduse of their lands by wildlife.
(23:05):
So we in the Migratory BirdConservation Partnership have
the same goal, but it's not justus.
It's also the farming communityand private wetland owners as
well.
SPEAKER_03 (23:15):
Yeah, I wholeheartedly concur.
I think farmers areconservationists just by nature
of who they are and what theyexperience.
SPEAKER_00 (23:25):
Yes, yeah.
I mean, they're out there inthose lands and they really have
the opportunity to appreciatethem when this habitat gets put
out there successfully.
SPEAKER_03 (23:35):
Well, okay.
So we talked about the otherprograms and some of their
benefits.
Are there any upcoming events orprograms or workshops that your
partnerships or any of the otherorganizations are going to have
in the next six months or so?
SPEAKER_00 (23:53):
Yeah, so like we talked about a lot, the Sandhill
Crane Program will be opening upfor applications any minute now.
But in addition to that, we alsowork very closely with the
California Rice Commission.
And they actually have a sisterprogram that spun off of bird
occurrence called Bid for Birds.
(24:13):
And Kristen Sesser hosts anannual conservation programs and
rice workshops.
And that will be occurringAugust 13th It'll be from one to
three in the afternoon atHillcrest Catering in Yuba City.
And that is a really greatworkshop to attend.
We talk about bird returns.
(24:34):
Kristen talks about bid forbirds, but also CDFW, NRCS, and
other organizations and agenciescome through and just discuss
their programs and let growersknow, growers and wetland
managers know what opportunitiesthere are to be involved in
incentive programs in thevalley.
And it's a really good catch allfor a good majority of the
(24:59):
programs that are occurringhere.
SPEAKER_03 (25:01):
Absolutely.
We'll be sure to put that eventin our show notes and then we'll
also put it up on our websitejust to have increased
visibility.
But yeah, I think I went to thatlast year and it was incredibly
informative.
Are there any deadlines thatpeople should be on the lookout
with regards to other programswhen I guess general times of
(25:21):
year that the other programsapplications might open.
SPEAKER_00 (25:26):
So within the Migratory Bird Conservation
Partnership, the NatureConservancy primarily manages
the farmland side of things, andAudubon California primarily
manages the wetland, the privatewetland side of things.
So I believe all of the programsfor the wetlands that Audubon is
primarily handling are open inspring, in May, I believe.
(25:50):
And then late summer farmland,or yes, so our other farmland
programs our only other farmlandprogram besides the Sandhill
Crane is the late summerfarmlands and that application
period is earlier is also in thespring sometime around May
depending it varies a little bityear to year we've been trying
(26:14):
to find a sweet spot that is thebest time for farmers to like
have a minute to apply to thesefarmers are busy folks so it's a
hard needle to thread So yeah,that varies a little bit.
There's always information aboutany of the programs on
birdreturns.org, and you cancheck under the different tabs
(26:36):
for information on any specificprogram.
SPEAKER_03 (26:39):
Well, Billy, I think we've kind of reached the end of
this, but if people have anyquestions, where should they go?
They should go to the BirdReturns website, but who should
they contact?
SPEAKER_00 (26:50):
Yeah, if anyone has specific questions about any of
the programs or just generalquestions Feel free to reach out
to me.
My email and phone number are upon the website.
Also, Becca Rosenkranz is amember of our team, Burger
Turn's team on the NatureConservancy side of things.
(27:12):
She is a wealth of information.
And then also Julia Barfield,the program manager.
Her information is on thewebsite as well.
So on the wetland side ofthings, Geronimo Castaneda.
His information is on thecontact page of the
birdreturns.org site.
And yeah, he can help out withany questions regarding the
(27:35):
wetlands.
SPEAKER_03 (27:36):
Okay, well, Billy, thank you so much for coming on
here and talking about theseprograms.
We'll probably have you back onagain sometime.
So get used to this.
But yeah, thanks again so muchfor being here.
SPEAKER_00 (27:48):
Yeah, thank you very, very much, Sarah, for the
opportunity to be on here, getthe word out about bird returns.
And I would also like to justthank all the people that are
involved in this work from PointBlue, Audubon, Nature
Conservancy, and our partners atthe California Department of
Fish and Wildlife.
SPEAKER_03 (28:25):
We have a few upcoming events.
The next upcoming event will bethe Weedy Rice Workshop, which
will take place on August 5th,2025 from 10 a.m.
to 1.15 p.m.
at the Roberts Union Farm Centerat 4925 Howard Road in Stockton,
California.
The next upcoming event afterthat will be the Annual Rice
(28:47):
Field Day, which will take placeas always on the last Wednesday
of August on August 27th, 2025.
at the Rice Experiment Stationat 955 Butte City Highway in
Biggs, California.
This will feature talks frombreeders, talks from our UC Rice
specialists and advisors, and adelicious lunch.
(29:11):
For more information about theseand other upcoming events, feel
free to check out our resources,which include the UC Rice blog
and the UC Agronomy Ricewebsite.
In terms of other resources youmight want to take advantage of,
you can also look at ournewsletters, which include Rice
Briefs, which covers ColusaYolo, Rice Notes, which covers
(29:34):
Yuba Sutter, Rice Leaf, whichcovers Butte and Glen counties,
and Field Notes, whichencompasses rice in the Delta
region of California.
Thanks for listening to Thoughtson Rice, a University of
California Cooperative Extensionpodcast from the University of
California Agriculture andNatural Resources.
(29:55):
You can find out more about thispodcast on our website,
thoughtsonrice.buzzsprout.com.
We'd love to hear from you,whether it's from using our text
link in the show notes, a surveysubmission in our feedback form,
also in the show notes, or in acomment or rating on your
podcast streaming service ofchoice.
(30:18):
We are starting to see panicleshead out in the rice fields.
And we know what that means.
Harvest is right around thecorner.
Remember, like the growers liketo say, have a rice life.
Mention of an agrochemical doesnot constitute a recommendation,
merely the sharing of researchfindings.
(30:39):
Always follow the label.
The label is the law.
Find out more at ipm.ucanr.edu.
The views, thoughts, andopinions expressed are the
speaker's own and do notrepresent the views, thoughts,
and opinions of the Universityof California.
The material and informationpresented here is for general
purposes only.
(30:59):
The University of Californianame and all forms and
abbreviations are the propertyof its owner, and its use does
not imply endorsement of oropposition to any specific
organization, product, orservice.
Popular Podcasts
CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist
It’s 1996 in rural North Carolina, and an oddball crew makes history when they pull off America’s third largest cash heist. But it’s all downhill from there. Join host Johnny Knoxville as he unspools a wild and woolly tale about a group of regular ‘ol folks who risked it all for a chance at a better life. CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist answers the question: what would you do with 17.3 million dollars? The answer includes diamond rings, mansions, velvet Elvis paintings, plus a run for the border, murder-for-hire-plots, and FBI busts.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.