SPOTTED IN THE AIR: Nonprofit EcoFlight hosted aerial tours today of flooded rice fields and wetland restoration projects in the North Sacramento Valley on behalf of a coalition of groups including the California Rice Commission and California Trout. The groups, who are otherwise at odds on topics like water rights, came together to promote the benefits flooded fields provide for farmers, fish and birds alike.
Spotted boarding a flight were Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot, new Deputy Secretary for Biodiversity and Habitat Meghan Hertel and Finance Department water principal Andrew Hall. Legislative staffers Pablo Garza from the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee, Keith Cialino from Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas’ office and Victor Francovich from the Assembly Agriculture Committee also got a tour. — CvK