You may not have ever heard of the Farm Bill’s Regional Conservation Partnership Program or the Department of Reclamation’s WaterSMART grants – but our birds count on them every day. In the Central Valley, Farm Bill programs help protect Tricolored Blackbird colonies and create surrogate habitat on agricultural lands for a variety of birds, such as Long-billed Curlews, Western Sandpipers, and Snow Geese. WaterSMART conservation programs work at the community level to provide more water for birds and people. These programs have benefits throughout the parched West. In the Colorado River Basin, more than fifteen years of drought is threatening river habitat for the endangered Western Yellow-billed Cuckoo and Summer Tanager.

Please send an email today asking Congress to fully support programs that safeguard birds and conserve water for habitats and communities.