Project Title: Construct 4,000 foot trail (FFS #R8LB)

State: California

Project Description: Recovery Act funding will support upgrades at the Blue Heron Trail, a long-awaited project that will expand public access at the Stone Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in Elk Grove, CA. A $217,000 contract for the 4,000-foot Blue Heron Trail, which will provide improved public access to the refuge wetland, was awarded to Yuerba Buena Engineering of San Francisco.

The trail is part of the refuge’s long-term plans for improving public access and environmental education programs on the refuge, located approximately 25 miles south of Sacramento. When completed, the refuge will use the trail to facilitate environmental education programs for visiting school groups and volunteers. The project will involve the concrete paving of existing gravel trails, and construction of two 25-foot wide concrete pads.

The 2,606-acre Stone Lakes National Wildlife Refuge is part of a network of seasonally flooded agricultural lands, natural and managed wetlands that provide habitat for migratory birds, fish and other wildlife in the northern Sacramento - San Joaquin River Delta. The refuge is one of 46 refuges in California, Nevada and Klamath Basin of Oregon managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Pacific Southwest Region.

News Release: Secretary Salazar Announces Contract Award to Construct Accessible Trail at Stone Lakes National Wildlife Refuge

Originally posted 08/21/2009