The preserve is located in one of the largest contiguous riparian forests remaining in the state.[2] The 3,000-acre (12km2)[3] preserve provides habitat for rare and Audubon's endangered birds, one of which is the federally listed endangered southwestern willow flycatcher,[4] a subspecies of the willow flycatcher. The preserve is located within a designated Globally Important Bird Area, a program of the National Audubon Society with its partner BirdLife International to identify and protect critical avian habitats.[5]
The South Fork Kern River, designated a national Wild and Scenic River since 1987.[6] flows down the South Fork Valley, through the Kern River Preserve and then into Lake Isabella. The South Fork is the source for irrigation water for agriculture and the rare riparian forests of the valley. The river's upper reaches have populations of golden trout, California's state fish. The golden trout is being reviewed by United States Fish and Wildlife Service for listing under the Endangered Species Act.[7]
Scientific research studies are conducted at the Kern River Preserve, including the Grinnell Resurvey Project, a 2008-09 resurvey by University of California, Berkeley students of zoologist Joseph Grinnell's 1914 landmark survey of California species.[8]
The preserve features a visitor's center, a self-guided nature trail, monthly nature events, monthly volunteer work days and a variety of festivals during the year.
History
The Preserve is located on the former cattle ranch of Andrew Brown, which dates to the 1860s. The ranch was bought by The Nature Conservancy in 1979 and the deed transferred to National Audubon Society in 1998.[9]
Pioneer Andrew Brown
Andrew Brown was born in Ireland in 1829, arrived in California in 1852, and eventually settled in Kern County. He operated a general store in Kernville, and expanded into Weldon township with the purchase of a second store and a ranch. Brown raised cattle, sheep, hogs and wheat. He built a flour mill in Weldon and later a sawmill near what is now Wofford Heights. Business success enabled Brown to purchase and trade for other ranch and farm land, and he incorporated all his interests into the A. Brown Company in 1901. Brown was company president until his death in 1909. The Brown family continued operations until the 1970s.[10] when the heirs sold the Brown Ranch to the Kern County Land and Cattle Company.
Development of the property was a possibility, however, The Nature Conservancy moved quickly to purchase 1,600 acres (6.5km2) of the ranch. The purchase was accomplished in 1979 with funds from donors, two of which were Getty Oil Company and the W. M. Keck Foundation.[2]
Expansion of the preserve
The Nature Conservancy acquired adjacent acreage through a program of land trades which swapped pasture land parcels for riparian forest parcels with nearby Sprague Ranch and the Prince Ranch in 1980. The preserve now bordered the Army Corps of Engineers' (now Sequoia National Forest) South Fork Wildlife Area on the west and the eastern end of Lake Isabella where the South Fork Kern River enters the reservoir. In 1981, a fence was constructed to protect the streamside vegetation from grazing cattle.[2]
On March 31, 2005, Audubon California chapter and California Department of Fish and Game bought 4,358 acres (17.64km2) of the Sprague Ranch. The purchase was in part to mitigate for the flooding of the South Fork Wildlife Area from Lake Isabella during high water years and resulting loss of willow flycatcher habitat. A total of 1,640 acres (6.6km2) was added to the preserve, the remaining 2,718 acres (11.00km2) of Sprague Ranch went to California Department of Fish and Game. Funding was provided by US Army Corps of Engineers; California Wildlife Conservation Board; and the National Audubon Society from a grant from the Packard Foundation's Conserving California's Landscape Initiative.[11]
On January 31, 2006, the purchase of 105 acres (0.42km2) of the Alexander Ranch that flanks the South Fork Kern River was completed with funds from the Resources Legacy Foundation. The riverfront property has nesting sites of vermilion flycatchers, yellow warblers, Bullock's orioles and southwestern willow flycatcher. The land is in good condition, with ponds of duckweed and other wetland plants that harbor several pond turtles.[12]
There were two land acquisitions in 2009: On August 28, the 26-acre (110,000m2) Vig property was purchased by Audubon,[9] and November 20, the 80-acre (320,000m2) Pond Ranch sale closed a gap between Fay Ranch Road and Sierra Way Road. The Pond Ranch purchase added one-quarter mile of the South Fork Kern River frontage to the preserve[3]
Cattle and conservation
In addition to real estate purchases, the Audubon California organization continues to work with private land owners in the South Fork Valley on conservation issues. Bruce Hafenfeld, of the California Cattlemen's Association, operates a family ranch raising commercial calves and cows on both private property and public lands on a federal grazing allotment. Hafenfeld has entered into a perpetual conservation easement with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (formerly Soil Conservation Service) to ensure the property is maintained as a working ranch. "We developed a management plan for 1.3 acres along the Kern River Preserve, went after a wetland reserve grant, and developed habitat that increased opportunities for species to come onto my land. We were trying to show that we were not a liability, but an asset." Hafenfeld said, speaking at the 2007 Conference of the Riparian Habitat Joint Venture.[13] The Riparian Habitat Joint Venture is a cooperative conservation agreement between federal, state and private entities modeled after the joint venture projects of the North American Waterfowl Management Plan. It was started in 1994 by Partners in flight.[14]
It took eight years, working with multiple agencies, to form the conservation easement for the Hafenfeld Ranch.[13]
Flora and fauna
South Fork Kern River and Valley
Alkali mariposa lily.
The South Fork Kern River is the heart of the preserve and the South Fork Valley. The river begins at elevation 10,400 feet (3,200m) in the Inyo National Forest at Mulkey Meadows, named after Cyrus Mulkey, sheriff of Inyo County, California from 1871 to 1874.[15] The river flows down the South Fork Valley, through the Audubon Kern River Preserve to Lake Isabella at 2,605 feet (794m) elevation. The South Fork Valley, only a few miles wide and 15 miles (24km) in length, is at the southern end of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in northeastern Kern County. Although the valley was the first area settled in the county, it contains the largest contiguous riparian forest still remaining in the state.[10] There are several types of riparian forest, the South Fork Valley has the Great Valley Cottonwood Forest, distinguished by a majority of Fremont cottonwood and willow tree species. The understory is dense with wild rose and shade-tolerant Oregon ash. The soils are fine-grained alluvial with annual river flooding that maintains fertility.
The University of California, Santa Barbara's Biogeography Lab report describes the distribution of this type of riparian forest as "Formerly extensive along the major low-gradient (depositional) streams throughout the Great Valley, but [are] now reduced to scattered, isolated remnants or young stands because of flood control, water diversion, agricultural development, and urban expansion..."[16]
Rare wildflowers include the alkali mariposa lily. Listed by California Native Plant Society as "rare, threatened or endangered in California and elsewhere",[17] it has been observed near the South Fork Kern River, as well as the surrounding counties and in the state of Nevada. It is a perennial bulb that blooms in April and May, and is threatened by grazing, trampling, road construction, urbanization and horticultural collecting. Water diversions can also impact this primarily wetland species.[18]
The federally listed endangered southwestern willow flycatcher has small populations in the preserve and is closely monitored by Audubon volunteers and staff. The US Fish and Wildlife Service designated critical habitat for the southwestern willow flycatcher which includes 9.6 miles (15.4km) of the South Fork Kern River and excludes Hafenfeld Ranch which has the conservation easement in place.[19]
Another notable bird is the summer tanager. The summer tanager breeds in lowlands along streams and is known as a bee and wasp specialist. The summer tanager will remove the bee's stinger before ingesting by rubbing the bee on a branch.[20] The least Bell's vireo is a species that will hopefully reestablish nesting in the South Fork Kern River Valley. It is one of four subspecies of Bell's vireo, which disappeared from California's Central Valley by the 1960s, and has been federally listed as endangered since 1986.[21] The US Fish and Wildlife Service's 5-year review of least Bell's vireo, dated September 2006, attributes the primary cause of population declines to loss of riparian habitat in California. Another threat listed by the review is from the brown-headed cowbird which lays its eggs in other birds' nests, called brood parasiteism. The Southern Sierra Research Station, which conducts research on the Kern River Preserve, has a cowbird eradication program which has reduced the rate of parasitism to 20 percent from 60 to 70 percent (percentage of willow flycatcher nests studied by Southern Sierra Research Station staff).[2][22]
Mammals, amphibians, reptiles and insects
Common mammals include mule deer, coyote, dusky-footed woodrat, long-tailed weasel, California ground squirrel, American black bear, and bobcat. Uncommon species include mountain lion and an introduced species of beaver. There are 50 species of mammals[23] found on the Kern River Preserve.
The South Fork Valley is unique in California, as three of the ten floristic provinces in the nation meet and overlap here. The floristic provinces are: Great Basin Desert, Mojave Desert, and Californian Province (in which one finds numerous ecotypes: grassland, riparian forest, oak woodland, interior chaparral, mixed conifer, sequoia, red fir, subalpine.) The resulting diversity is evident in the numbers of species: There are 31 species dragonfly,[26] of and 53 species of butterfly, including the alkali skipper (grass skipper) and the rare San Emigdio blue butterfly.[27] The San Emigdio blue butterfly is a species of concern due to its limited local range consisting of Southern California from Inyo County south through the Mojave Desert, San Joaquin Valley, Bouquet and Mint canyons of Los Angeles County.[28]
Scientific research
Grinnell Resurvey Project
Joseph Grinnell was one of the founding directors of the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at the University of California, Berkeley from 1908 until his death in 1939. Grinnell undertook a biological survey project in 1908, which lasted 30 years and covered more than 700 locations in the state of California. The resulting database has more than 20,000 specimens, 13,000 pages of field notes, and 2,000 photographs. The Grinnell Survey database is one of the most comprehensive collections of its kind in the world.[29]
A resurvey of Grinnell's original route was begun by the museum to research, document and model changes in the distribution and habits of animal species in the timespan between the early 1900s and the current century. The Kern River Valley area, called the Whitney transect, was studied in June and September 2008 and in May 2009 by the resurvey teams. The original Grinnell 1911-1914 field notes are online and searchable. (See External links section.) Parts of the resurvey of California are completed, including Yosemite National Park, and show changing trends in wildlife territory and range; some expanding, some contracting and some species moving to higher elevations.[29]
Other research
A subspecies of the Pacific (western) pond turtle is the southern Pacific pond turtle (Actinemys marmorata pallida). A project for headstarting pond turtle hatchlings on the preserve began in 2006 with grants from the Fish and Wildlife Foundation. As of July 2010, 17 juvenile turtles were released from captivity. This process is known as headstarting, where hatchlings are raised in captivity until they are large enough to avoid predators and then released to the wild.[30]
The Southern Sierra Research Station, a non-profit organization, conducts research at the preserve on the western yellow-billed cuckoo and southwestern willow flycatcher.[31]
Biologist Donald Mitchell from the University of Minnesota studied migration of hummingbirds at the preserve. Mitchell is a federally permitted hummingbird bander and has served as Vice President of the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union.[32]
Public access and education
Audubon's Kern River Preserve hosts four festivals annually, monthly nature education programs, and monthly volunteer days. The preserve is open sunrise to sunset all year, including holidays.
In April is the Kern River Valley Bioregions Festival, and has guided hikes, workshops, crafts vendors, musical entertainment and exhibits.
Held in August is the Kern Valley Hummingbird Celebration, and includes nature walks, workshops on identification of hummingbirds, information on gardening for hummingbirds, and musical entertainment.
In September the Kern Valley Autumn Nature & Vulture Festival is held, and begins with a "Turkey Vulture Lift Off" and includes turkey vulture interpretation during the birds departure from their overnight roost between 8:30 and 10a.m. The festival includes free bird walks, informational booths, interactive exhibits and displays featuring live reptiles, plants and wildlife along with musical entertainment. Activities are scheduled throughout the day.
Monthly Nature Exploration events are held on the first Saturday of the month from 9a.m. to 11a.m. Topics vary each month with experts from fields across the spectrum of outdoor adventures.
Monthly volunteer workdays are held on the third Saturday of the month from 8a.m. to noon (with a summer hiatus in June, July and August). Projects vary each month depending on season. Rewarding projects have included: habitat restoration (riparian, upland and marshland), fence removal, cleanups, participation in the KRP Valley Pride Day team, and trail maintenance.
1 2 Morgan, Wallace Melvin, History of Kern County, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present. 1914 pp 213-214
The willow flycatcher is a small insect-eating, neotropical migrant bird of the tyrant flycatcher family. There are four subspecies of the willow flycatcher currently recognized, all of which breed in North America. Empidonax flycatchers are almost impossible to tell apart in the field so biologists use their songs to distinguish between them. The binomial commemorates the Scottish zoologist Thomas Stewart Traill.
The Virgin River is a tributary of the Colorado River in the U.S. states of Utah, Nevada, and Arizona. The river is about 162 miles (261 km) long. It was designated Utah's first wild and scenic river in 2009, during the centennial celebration of Zion National Park.
The Deep Fork National Wildlife Refuge (DFNWR) is part of the United States system of National Wildlife Refuges, and is a critical resource for wildfowl that migrate along the Central Flyway in Spring and Fall. It is located in Eastern Oklahoma, near the city of Okmulgee. The preserve runs along both banks of the Deep Fork River for about 20 miles (32 km). According to TravelOK, DFNWR receives about 45,000 visitors every year.
Bell's vireo is a songbird that migrates between a breeding range in Western North America and a winter range in Central America. It is dull olive-gray above and whitish below. It has a faint white eye ring and faint wing bars.
Deer Creek is a 60-mile-long (97 km) southwestward-flowing stream in Northern California that flows through Tehama County, California. It is an eastside tributary of the Sacramento River. As one of only three remaining Sacramento River tributaries supporting native runs of the genetically distinct Central Valley spring-run Chinook salmon, it is a stronghold for this state and federally endangered fish as well as other salmonids.
The Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge is a 1,856 acres (751 ha) wetlands and lowlands sanctuary in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Oregon. Established in 1992 and opened to the public in 2006, it is managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. Located in southeastern Washington County, 15 miles (24 km) southwest of Portland, the refuge is bordered by Sherwood, Tualatin and Tigard. A newer area, extending into northern Yamhill County, is located further west near the city of Gaston surrounding the former Wapato Lake.
The San Pedro River is a northward-flowing stream originating about 10 miles (16 km) south of the international border south of Sierra Vista, Arizona, in Cananea Municipality, Sonora, Mexico. The river starts at the confluence of other streams just east of Sauceda, Cananea. Within Arizona, the river flows 140 miles (230 km) north through Cochise County, Pima County, Graham County, and Pinal County to its confluence with the Gila River, at Winkelman, Arizona. It is the last major, undammed desert river in the American Southwest, and it is of major ecological importance as it hosts two-thirds of the avian diversity in the United States, including 100 species of breeding birds and almost 300 species of migrating birds.
The Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area is located within the Yolo Bypass in Yolo County, California. The wildlife area is managed by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife with the intent of restoring and managing a variety of wildlife habitats in the Yolo Basin, a natural basin in the north part of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. The creation of the wildlife area was spearheaded by the Yolo Basin Foundation. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife and Yolo Basin Foundation are the core partners in the operation of this unique community resource. Located at 38.550515°N 121.626291°W
The Boggs Lake Ecological Reserve is a nature reserve in Lake County, California. The land area is about one quarter of a square mile and contains a large vernal pool as well as endangered plants such as the Boggs Lake hedge-hyssop.
The San Luis National Wildlife Refuge Complex is located in the northern San Joaquin Valley, within Merced County and Stanislaus County of California. The complex, with four federal National Wildlife Refuges, is managed by the U.S Fish & Wildlife Service.
The Cosumnes River Preserve is a nature preserve of over 51,000 acres (210 km2) located 20 miles (30 km) south of Sacramento, in the US state of California. The preserve protects a Central Valley remnant that once contained one of the largest expanses of oak tree savanna, riparian oak forest and wetland habitat in North America. Agricultural development has changed the landscape from groves of oaks and tule marshes to productive farmlands.
The Imperial National Wildlife Refuge protects wildlife habitat along 30 miles (50 km) of the lower Colorado River in Arizona and California, including the last un-channeled section before the river enters Mexico. The Imperial Refuge Wilderness, a federally designated, 15,056-acre (60.93 km2), wilderness area is protected within the refuge. It also surrounds the Picacho State Recreation Area. This section of the Colorado River is popular for boating, hiking, fishing, camping, exploring old mining camps and wildlife watching.
The Bill Williams River National Wildlife Refuge protects the lower course of the Bill Williams River, to its mouth at Lake Havasu reservoir, in western Arizona. It is located within eastern La Paz and Mohave Counties, in the Lower Colorado River Valley region.
Cibola National Wildlife Refuge is a U.S. National Wildlife Refuge in the floodplain of the lower Colorado River between Arizona and California and surrounded by a fringe of desert ridges and washes. The refuge encompasses both the historic Colorado River channel as well as a channelized portion constructed in the late 1960s. Along with these main waterbodies, several important backwaters are home to many wildlife species that reside in this Yuma Desert portion of the Sonoran Desert. Because of the river's life-sustaining water, wildlife here survive in an environment that reaches 120 °F (49 °C) in the summer and receives an average of only 2 inches (5.1 cm) of rain per year.
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.
Hopper Mountain National Wildlife Refuge is located in the Topatopa Mountains of Ventura County, in southern California. It is bordered by the Los Padres National Forest and the Sespe Condor Sanctuary to the north. The 2,471-acre (10.00 km2) refuge was established in 1974 to protect the endangered California condor, its habitat, and other wildlife resources.
Canebrake Ecological Reserve is a 6,700-acre (27 km2) nature reserve in the South Fork Valley of Kern County, 20 miles (32 km) east of Lake Isabella, California. It is located in the Southern Sierra Nevada region.
Ciénega Creek is an intermittent stream located in the Basin and Range region of southern Arizona, and is one of the most intact riparian corridors left in the state. It originates in the Canelo Hills and continues northwest about 50 miles (80 km) to an area just outside Tucson, where it becomes known as Pantano Wash. Pantano Wash continues through Tucson and eventually connects with the Rillito River.
Arroyo Conejo Open Space is a 302-acre (122 ha) open space reserve in the western Simi Hills in northern Newbury Park, Ventura County, California. Most of it is part of the 250-acre (100 ha) Arroyo Conejo Nature Preserve.
Bushy Lake is a small lake located in Sacramento, California along the American River Parkway. The area is part of an ongoing restoration project, it also provides habitat to wildlife and offers nearby recreation opportunities. The area is prone to drought, erosion, species invasion, fire, and groups of transient populations. In the American River Parkway Plan, the lake is designated as a Nature Study Area and further protected by the Bushy Lake Preservation Act.
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