The Grassland Ecological Area, also known as the Grasslands Ecological Area is a designated

Ramsar Site A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention,8 ha (O) *** Permanent 8 ha (P) *** Seasonal Intermittent < 8 ha(Ts) **

California. It covers an area of along the San Joaquin River in

California's Central Valley The Central Valley is a broad, elongated, flat valley that dominates the interior of California. It is wide and runs approximately from north-northwest to south-southeast, inland from and parallel to the Pacific coast of the state. It covers ...

. The wetlands are on the

Pacific Flyway The Pacific Flyway is a major north-south flyway for migratory birds in the Americas, extending from Alaska to Patagonia. Every year, migratory birds travel some or all of this distance both in spring and in fall, following food sources, heading ...

, and are an important habitat for resident and migratory waterbirds. It consists of several federal and state protected areas. The federal protected areas are managed together as the San Luis National Wildlife Refuge Complex. ;

National wildlife refuge National Wildlife Refuge System is a designation for certain protected areas of the United States managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. The National Wildlife Refuge System is the system of public lands and waters set aside to c ...

s, managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS): *

San Luis National Wildlife Refuge The San Luis National Wildlife Refuge in the San Joaquin Valley of central California is one of the great remnants of a historically bountiful wintering grounds for migratory waterfowl on the Pacific Flyway. Located in the Bear Creek, Salt Slough, ...

Merced National Wildlife Refuge The Merced National Wildlife Refuge encompasses of wetlands, native grasslands, vernal pools, and riparian areas in California. It was established in 1951 under the Lea Act to attract wintering waterfowl from adjacent farmland where their foragi ...

San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge The San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge is a protected area of along the San Joaquin River in the northern San Joaquin Valley, California. It is within San Joaquin County and Stanislaus County. It protects more than of riparian woodlan ...

;Federal wildlife management areas, managed by private owners with conservation easements by the USFWS: * Grasslands Wildlife Management Area ;State wildlife areas, managed by the

California Department of Fish and Wildlife The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), formerly known as the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG), is a state agency under the California Natural Resources Agency. The Department of Fish and Wildlife manages and protect ...

: * North Grasslands Wildlife Area (Salt Slough, China Island, Gadwall) * Volta Wildlife Area * Los Banos Wildlife Area (Los Banos, Mud Slough) ; California State Parks, managed by the

California Department of Parks and Recreation The California Department of Parks and Recreation, more commonly known as California State Parks, manages the California state parks system. The system administers 279 separate park units on 1.4 million acres (570,000 hectares), with over 280 ...

: *

Great Valley Grasslands State Park Great Valley Grasslands State Park is a state park of California, United States, preserving a parcel of remnant native grassland in the San Joaquin Valley. Such a temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome was once widespread througho ...

References

{{coord missing, California Ramsar sites in the United States wetlands of California San Joaquin River Protected areas of Merced County, California