Tule Elk State Natural Reserve

Last updated

Tule Elk State Natural Reserve
Buttonwillow Tupman Tule Elk Reserve California ungulate guests.JPG
Location8653 Station Road, Buttonwillow, CA 93206
Nearest city Tupman, California
Coordinates 35°19′17″N119°21′51″W / 35.3214°N 119.3642°W / 35.3214; -119.3642
Created1932
OperatorCalifornia State Parks
www.parks.ca.gov?page_id=584

The Tule Elk State Natural Reserve, formerly the Tupman Zoological Reserve, is a protected area operated by California State Parks for the benefit of the general public and the at-risk tule elk subspecies of indigenous Cervus canadensis . There are usually about 30 to 35 tule elk in the conservation herd on the 960-acre (390 ha) reserve in Kern County, California, United States.

Contents

History and ecology

Once upon a time, tule elk were to California's Central Valley what the American bison was to the Great Plains. As a Modesto Bee staff writer explained in 1976, "In less populated times grizzly bears roamed the Central Valley and tule elk and pronghorn antelope grazed on the perennial bunch grasses." [1] Under hunting and habitat pressure, the population of indigenous tule elk ( Cervus canadensis nannodes ) in California collapsed to double digits by the late 1800s. [2] Rancher Henry Miller of the Miller and Lux Ranch, however, made a project out of sheltering the surviving individuals that lingered in the wetlands surrounding Kern County's Buena Vista Lake. [3] [2] By 1914, the Kern County herd protected by Miller had grown to about 400 head. [2] The Tupman Zoological Reserve was established in 1932 with about 175 tule elk from the Miller and Lux Ranch herd. [4] [5] The state of California took over the site in 1953. [5] [4] The Tule Elk State Natural Reserve has constructed ponds, and supplemental food is provided for the animals, [6] without which the population could not survive. [7] The ponds are necessary since local waterways do not flow through the reserve unless water from canals is diverted to the historic Buena Vista Slough, a slow moving waterway which historically created the tule bog habitats preferred by the elk. [8] Native plant species found at the reserve include tule, milkweed, mule fat, willow, mesquite, rabbitbrush, and a variety of wildflowers including goldfields. [9]

Other herds in the state, such as those in the Owens Valley and near San Luis Obispo, were established using individuals from the Tule Elk State Natural Reserve. [2] The Owens Valley herd was established in 1972 with two males and three females from the Tule Elk Reserve. [10] Five bulls and 23 cows from the reserve founded the SLO herd in 1989. [11] As of 2023, there were approximately 6,000 tule elk in the state. [4]

Access

Access to the park is off Stockdale Highway and Morris Road. [5] Admission is $8 per car. [12] Amenities include restrooms, drinking fountains, a visitor center, [13] a viewing platform, [12] and a picnicking area. [13] [5]

Most of the reserve's 960 acres are considered ecologically sensitive and are closed to the public. [13] Ranger-led tours are typically offered the fourth Saturday of the month at 10:00 AM, except in December. Pets are prohibited on the ecologically sensitive portion of the reserve. [12] [14]

Circa 1993 about 30,000 people visited the park annually. [13] The reserve abuts the Elk Hills Oil Field, formerly the Naval Petroleum Reserve. [15] Nearby protected areas include Kern National Wildlife Refuge and Fort Tejon State Historic Park. [16]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern California</span> American geographic and cultural region

Southern California is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area as well as the Inland Empire. The region generally contains ten of California's 58 counties: Imperial, Kern, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tupman, California</span> Census-designated place in California, United States

Tupman is a census-designated place (CDP) in Kern County, California, United States. Tupman is located 20 miles (32 km) west-southwest of Bakersfield, at an elevation of 331 feet (101 m). The population was 161 at the 2010 census, down from 227 at the 2000 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tulare Lake</span> Freshwater dry lake in the southern San Joaquin Valley, California, United States

Tulare Lake or Tache Lake is a freshwater lake in the southern San Joaquin Valley, California, United States. Historically, Tulare Lake was once the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi River. For thousands of years, from the Paleolithic onward, Tulare Lake was a uniquely rich area, which supported perhaps the largest population of Native Americans north of present-day Mexico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Point Reyes National Seashore</span> Park preserve in California, United States

Point Reyes National Seashore is a 71,028-acre (287.44 km2) park preserve located on the Point Reyes Peninsula in Marin County, California. As a national seashore, it is maintained by the US National Park Service as an important nature preserve. Some existing agricultural uses are allowed to continue within the park. Clem Miller, a US Congressman from Marin County, wrote and introduced the bill for the establishment of Point Reyes National Seashore in 1962 to protect the peninsula from development which was proposed at the time for the slopes above Drake's Bay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve</span> Nature reserve in Los Angeles County, California, United States

Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve is a state-protected reserve of California, United States, harboring the most consistent blooms of California poppies, the state flower. The reserve is located in the rural west side of Antelope Valley in northern Los Angeles County, 15 miles (24 km) west of Lancaster. To the north is Kern County. The reserve is at an elevation ranging from 2,600 to 3,000 feet above sea level, in the Mojave Desert climate zone. The reserve is administered by the California Department of Parks and Recreation. Other wildflowers within the reserve include the Owl's Clover, Lupine, Goldfields, Cream Cups and Coreopsis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arthur B. Ripley Desert Woodland State Park</span> State park in Los Angeles County, California, United States

Arthur B. Ripley Desert Woodland State Park is a state park in the western Antelope Valley in Southern California. The park protects mature stands of Joshua trees and California juniper trees in their western Mojave Desert habitat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antelope Valley</span> Valley in Southern California, United States

The Antelope Valley is located in northern Los Angeles County, California, United States, and the southeast portion of California's Kern County, and constitutes the western tip of the Mojave Desert. It is situated between the Tehachapi, Sierra Pelona, and the San Gabriel Mountains. The valley was named for the pronghorns that roamed there until they were all eliminated in the 1880s, mostly by hunting, or resettled in other areas. The principal cities in the Antelope Valley are Palmdale and Lancaster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Joaquin Valley</span> Area of the Central Valley in California

The San Joaquin Valley is the southern half of California's Central Valley. Famed as a major breadbasket, the San Joaquin Valley is an important source of food, producing a significant part of California's agricultural output.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eastern elk</span> Extinct subspecies of elk native to eastern North America

The eastern elk is an extinct subspecies or distinct population of elk that inhabited the northern and eastern United States, and southern Canada. The last eastern elk was shot in Pennsylvania on September 1, 1877. The subspecies was declared extinct by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service in 1880. Another subspecies of elk, the Merriam's elk, also became extinct at roughly the same time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roosevelt elk</span> Subspecies of deer

The Roosevelt elk, also known commonly as the Olympic elk and Roosevelt's wapiti, is the largest of the four surviving subspecies of elk in North America by body mass. Mature bulls weigh from 700 to 1,200 lb. with very rare large bulls weighing more. Its geographic range includes temperate rainforests of the Pacific Northwest including parts of northern California. It was introduced to Alaska's Afognak, Kodiak, and Raspberry Islands in 1928 and reintroduced to British Columbia's Sunshine Coast from Vancouver Island in 1986.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jawbone–Butterbredt Area of Critical Environmental Concern</span>

The Jawbone–Butterbredt Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC), is located in the Mojave Desert and Southern Sierra Nevada, northwest of California City and California State Route 14, in Kern County, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Hunter Liggett</span> US Army base in Monterey County, California

Fort Hunter Liggett is a United States Army post in Jolon, California, in southern Monterey County, California. The fort, named in 1941 after General Hunter Liggett, is primarily used as a training facility, where activities such as field maneuvers and live fire exercises are performed. It is roughly 25 miles northwest of Camp Roberts, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elk</span> Large antlered species of Cervid from North America and East Asia

The elk, or wapiti, is the second largest species within the deer family, Cervidae, and one of the largest terrestrial mammals in its native range of North America and Central and East Asia. The word "elk" originally referred to the European variety of the moose, Alces alces, but was transferred to Cervus canadensis by North American colonists. The name "wapiti" derives from a Shawnee and Cree word meaning "white rump" for the distinctive light fur in the rear region, just like the Bighorn Sheep.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Purisima Creek (San Mateo County)</span>

Purisima Creek is an 8.0-mile-long (12.9 km) stream in San Mateo County, California which rises 1.3 miles (2.1 km) north of Sierra Morena, a mountain in the Santa Cruz Mountains, and flows westward to the Pacific Ocean 2.3 miles (3.7 km) south-southeast of Miramontes Point. Much of its watershed has been incorporated in the Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tule elk</span> Subspecies of mammal

The tule elk is a subspecies of elk found only in California, ranging from the grasslands and marshlands of the Central Valley to the grassy hills on the coast. The subspecies name derives from the tule, a species of sedge native to freshwater marshes on which the tule elk feeds. When the Europeans first arrived, an estimated 500,000 tule elk roamed these regions, but by 1870 they were thought to be extirpated. However, in 1874–1875 a single breeding pair was discovered in the tule marshes of Buena Vista Lake in the southern San Joaquin Valley. Conservation measures were taken to protect the species in the 1970s. Today, the wild population exceeds 4,000. Tule elk can reliably be found in Carrizo Plain National Monument, Point Reyes National Seashore, portions of the Owens Valley from Lone Pine to Bishop, on Coyote Ridge in Santa Clara Valley, San Jose, California and in Pacheco State Park and areas surrounding San Luis Reservoir near Los Banos, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rocky Mountain elk</span> Subspecies of deer

The Rocky Mountain elk is a subspecies of elk found in the Rocky Mountains and adjacent ranges of Western North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phillip Burton Wilderness</span> Protected wilderness area in California, United States

The Phillip Burton Wilderness is part of the 111 sq. mile (288 km2) Point Reyes National Seashore located about 20 miles (32 km) northeast of San Francisco, California. Total wilderness land is 33,373 acres which includes a roadless "potential wilderness" area of over 8,000 acres (32 km2) and is one of only three designated wilderness along the California coast, the others being the King Range Wilderness and the Rocks and Islands Wilderness. The National Park Service manages the wilderness.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santa Clara County, California</span> County in California, United States

Santa Clara County, officially the County of Santa Clara, is the sixth-most populous county in the U.S. state of California, with a population of 1,936,259, as of the 2020 census. Santa Clara County and neighboring San Benito County together form the U.S. Census Bureau's San Jose–Sunnyvale–Santa Clara metropolitan statistical area, which is part of the larger San Jose–San Francisco–Oakland combined statistical area. Santa Clara is the most populous county in the San Francisco Bay Area and in Northern California. The county seat and largest city is San Jose; with about 1,000,000 residents, it is the 10th-most populous city in the United States, California's third-most populous city and the most populous city in the San Francisco Bay Area. The second- and third-largest cities are Sunnyvale and Santa Clara.

San Antonio Creek is a 24.4-kilometre-long (15.2 mi) northwesterly-flowing stream originating on the eastern edge of Santa Clara County just west of its border with Stanislaus County.

Cañada de los Osos is an 8 miles (13 km) stream that flows west and then north to join Coyote Creek in the Diablo Range south of Henry Coe State Park in southern Santa Clara County, California, United States. It is now protected within the 5,800 acre Cañada de los Osos Ecological Preserve, managed by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife about 10 miles (16 km) east of Gilroy, California.

References

  1. ↑ Neher, Nancy (October 10, 1976). "Valley farms, industry take heavy toll on nature". The Modesto Bee. p. 8. Retrieved 2023-09-23.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Thomas, Pete (February 23, 1994). "No Horns of a Dilemma". The Los Angeles Times. p. 44. Retrieved 2023-09-23.
  3. ↑ Historic spots in California. Stanford University Press. 1990. p. 131. ISBN   978-0-8047-1734-2.
  4. 1 2 3 "Tule Elk SNR". CA State Parks. Retrieved 2023-09-23.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Off the Beaten Path: A Travel Guide to More Than 1,000 Scenic and Interesting Places Still Uncrowded and Inviting. Reader's Digest. 2003. p. 44. ISBN   978-0-7621-0424-6.
  6. ↑ National Audubon Society (1998). National Audubon Society Field Guide to California: Regional Guide: Birds, Animals, Trees, Wildflowers, Insects, Weather, Nature Pre serves, and More. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. p. 416. ISBN   978-0-679-44678-1.
  7. ↑ Environment, United States Congress House Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries Subcommittee on Fisheries and Wildlife Conservation and the (1974). Tule Elk Refuge: Hearings, Ninety-third Congress, First Session. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 233.
  8. ↑ Perry, Charles (July 3, 1988). "Back to the Gold Rush In Which the Author Retraces the Steps of His Great-Grandfather in 1849, When Things Looked Mighty Different in California". Los Angeles Times Magazine. Los Angeles Times. p. 14. Retrieved 2023-09-23– via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ Castleman, Terry (April 10, 2023). "SoCal's Superbloom". The Los Angeles Times. pp. B2. Retrieved 2023-09-23.
  10. ↑ "Near Lone Pine and Independence". Times-Press-Recorder. April 20, 1972. p. 34. Retrieved 2023-09-23.
  11. ↑ "Herd of tule elk is transplanted here". The Tribune. October 4, 1989. p. 5. Retrieved 2023-09-23.
  12. 1 2 3 Stienstra, Tom; Brown, Ann Marie (April 21, 2020). Moon California Hiking: The Complete Guide to 1,000 of the Best Hikes in the Golden State. Avalon Publishing. ISBN   978-1-64049-896-9.
  13. 1 2 3 4 Elk Hills Naval Petroleum Reserve No.1: Environmental Impact Statement. 1993. pp. 3.7–7.
  14. ↑ "Tule Elk State Natural Reserve Auto Safari". The Sentinel. February 19, 2020. pp. A4. Retrieved 2023-09-23.
  15. ↑ "Trip of the Week". Anaheim Bulletin. March 6, 1970. p. 51. Retrieved 2023-09-23.
  16. ↑ "State parks beckon along I-5". The News and Observer. December 14, 2008. p. 76. Retrieved 2023-09-23.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.