Wildlife Branch - Game Management

Overview

The Wildlife Branch's Game Conservation Programs includes bear, bighorn sheep, deer, elk, pronghorn, pigs, upland game (10 species), and waterfowl (21 species). These programs are responsible for game species conservation including: developing management plans and recommending and conducting management actions; designing, conducting and overseeing contracted resource assessment, monitoring, and research; coordinating habitat enhancement projects; developing hunting regulation recommendations, as well as providing special hunting opportunities.

Programs

  • Bear Management Unit
    The primary goal of CDFW's black bear management program is to maintain a viable and healthy black bear population.
  • Deer Management Unit
    The branch and field biologists of the Deer Management Program work together coordinating programs throughout the state to maintain healthy, viable deer herds.
  • Elk Management Unit
    The goals of the Elk Management Program are to maintain healthy elk herds, reestablish elk in suitable historic range, provide public educational and recreational opportunities involving elk, and to alleviate conflicts involving elk on private property.
  • Wild Pig Management Unit
    The primary goal of CDFW's Wild Pig Management Program is to provide recreational opportunities and manage property damage.
  • Pronghorn Management Unit
    The Pronghorn Management Program's objectives are to maintain healthy antelope herds, provide a variety of recreational activities and to minimize conflicts with humans
  • Bighorn Sheep Unit
  • The SHARE Program (Shared Habitat Alliance for Recreational Enhancement)
    SHARE is designed to improve public access to private or landlocked public land.
  • Private Lands Management (PLM)
    The PLM Program offers landowners incentives to manage their lands for the benefit of wildlife.
  • Waterfowl Unit
    The Waterfowl Program works cooperatively with others in the Pacific Flyway and within the CDFW to conserve and manage the waterfowl resource.

Game Conservation Program Staff

Mario Klip, Ph.D., Environmental Program Manager

Big Game Unit

  • Brett Furnas, Ph.D., Senior Environmental Scientist (Supervisor)
  • Thomas Connor, Ph.D., Research Data Scientist III 
  • Janelle Dorcy, Environmental Scientist
  • Cathleen Steinbeiser, Research Data Analyst
  • Jennifer Diamond, Scientific Aid
  • Jose Ponce, Scientific Aid
  • Alexa Murray, Scientific Aid

Contact us at: BigGame@wildlife.ca.gov

Deer Unit

  • Brian Leo, Senior Environmental Scientist (Specialist)

Black Bear Unit

  • (Vacant), Senior Environmental Scientist (Specialist)

Desert Bighorn Sheep Unit

  • Regina Vu, Environmental Scientist

Elk and Pronghorn Unit

  • Tom Batter, Ph.D., Senior Environmental Scientist (Specialist)

Upland / Small Game Unit

  • Dan Skalos, Senior Environmental Scientist (Supervisor)
  • Ian Dwight, Environmental Scientist
  • Matt Meshriy, Environmental Scientist
  • Katherine Miller, Ph.D., Environmental Scientist

Waterfowl Unit

  • Melanie Weaver, Senior Environmental Scientist (Specialist)
  • Caroline Brady, Environmental Scientist

Contact us at: waterfowlmgmt@wildlife.ca.gov

GIS

  • (Vacant), Research Program Specialist, GIS Data, Maps, and Modeling

SHARE & PLM Units

  • Victoria Barr, Environmental Scientist

Wildlife Branch - Game Conservation Program
1010 Riverside Parkway
West Sacramento, CA 95605