Jim Morris

Episode 14: Refuge

Like clockwork every fall and winter, Sacramento Valley rice country welcomes millions of visitors. They’re here for several months, to rest and refuel, before continuing on their epic annual journey. The millions of visitors are ducks, geese, shorebirds and many other birds that make the annual trek along the Pacific Flyway. Some come from as

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S1 E12: Bartell’s Backroads

California has long been a place with great scenery, diversity and creativity. Even with a challenging 2020, there are great places and interesting people hard at work. John Bartell, a reporter for ABC 10-TV in Sacramento, has spent years chronicling the hidden gems of our state in Bartell’s Backroads, where he “uncovers unique sights and

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S1 E9: Raining Rice in the Sacramento Valley

It’s an annual occurrence throughout the Sacramento Valley; something countless motorists have seen while heading north of Sacramento – skilled pilots flying high-speed, GPS-guided airplanes, planting rice over a half-million acres of fields. Rick Richter of Richter Aviation in Maxwell, Colusa County, has been seeding rice fields since 1979. It’s not only his profession, it’s

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Young salmon are released into the Sacramento River

S1 E7: Ocean Bound

In less than a minute, a large group of young salmon were released into the Sacramento River, en route to the Pacific Ocean. These were no ordinary fish. Equipped with small transmitters, these baby salmon are part of a pilot project by the California Rice Commission and UC Davis. Grown in rice fields of Yolo

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Using a net to collect salmon in flooded rice field

S1 E6: Helping Salmon

Rice fields in the Sacramento Valley are remarkably productive and versatile. From spring into fall, they produce virtually all of America’s sushi rice. In the fall and winter, those same fields are home to millions of birds. What’s next? A promising pilot project could help inform us as to how rice fields can help restore

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