The oroville wildlife area (OWA) is an 11,000-acre regional open space area and regional asset located along thefeather river in butte county, california, approximately 70 miles north of the city of…

The oroville wildlife area (OWA) is an 11,000-acre regional open space area and regional asset located along thefeather river in butte county, california, approximately 70 miles north of the city of sacramento. The OWA is aprimitive wildlife area that is managed for both wildlife habitat as well as recreational activities, andprovides visitors from butte, yuba, sutter, colusa and glenn counties, and immediate communities, a regionaldestination for outdoor recreation, such as river-oriented fishing and boating, hiking, wildlife observation andphotography. IT is comprised of willow- and cottonwood-lined ponds, islands, and channels, includingapproximately 10 miles of riparian woodland habitat along the feather river and extensive grasslands around thethermalito afterbay. Wildlife species observed in the area include coyote, badger, FOX, bobcat, porcupine, osprey, white-tailed kite, egrets, woodpeckers, and warblers. There are good populations of deer, dove, quail, and waterfowl, and fair populations of squirrel and rabbit. The OWA is cooperatively managed by the california department of fish and wildlife (cdfw) and the californiadepartment of water resources (DWR). Cdfw manages the OWA, but DWR holds fee title to most of the OWA lands. DWR reserves the right to use their lands for a number of purposes including providing open space and outdoor recreational opportunities. The proposed oroville wildlife area thermalito afterbay outlet park and recreation area project on APPROXIMATELY53 acres, is located on the northeast side of the thermalito afterbay outfall along the feather river atapproximately river mile 59. IT is open to the public 365 days per year from 1 hours before sunrise to 1 hourafter sunset. Public access within the OWA is provided by both developed and primitive roads, recreational trailsand watercraft. Authorized existing uses include motorized and non-motorized watercraft use, river-orientedfishing from both the adjacent upland and feather river proper, boating, hiking, limited primitive camping andwildlife observation. In other parts of the OWA, there are other recreational sites including, a shooting range, day use areas and authorized camping areas. In addition to the many surrounding communities, the closest urbanarea is the city of oroville with a population of 21,000, approximately 7 miles away from the proposed project.