Our days's journey...
Our first birding stop was after picking up our 'Man in LA', Bob Shanman from his house and then his friend and sparring partner Louis Tucker, was a property names wind Wolves.
WIND WOLVES PRESERVE
The preserve is an ecologically unique region where the Transverse Ranges, Coast Ranges, Sierra Nevada, western Mojave Desert and San Joaquin Valley converge. Due to elevation ranging from 640 to 6,005 feet, the preserve has an impressive array of landforms and habitats that serve as a critical landscape linkage and wildlife corridor between the Coast Ranges and Sierra Nevada. At 93,000 acres, Wind Wolves is the west coast's largest non-profit preserve. An important conservation outcome of TWC's ownership is that TWC led a Tejon Ranch Working Group of conservation organizations that resulted in a plan to double the target amount of conserved land on the neighboring Tejon Ranch to over 230,000 acres.
Tule elk were reintroduced to the Wind Wolves Preserve, the southern most extension of their historic range. The elk herd has grown to more than 200 elk and the California Department of Fish and Game estimates the preserve can support up to 2,500 elk. Currently the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is placing stillborn calves on the preserve for the California Condor, which can be seen regularly. When the elk herd reaches 2,000, elk will die weekly of attrition, which will aid the condors in becoming free living once more.
On the San Joaquin Valley floor, the preserve is a 30-square-mile veritable sea of grasslands with remnant stands of saltbush. These grasslands are home to the endangered San Joaquin kit fox and blunt-nosed leopard lizard, and one of the largest stands of the endangered Bakersfield cactus. Rolling grasslands rise from the valley floor and transition into classic California blue oak and valley oak savanna with extensive riparian wetlands. The oak savanna rises into juniper and pinyon forests that ascend into stands of ponderosa pine and big cone spruce.
At 93,000 acres, Wind Wolves Preserve is the West Coast's largest nonprofit preserve.
CONSERVATION OUTCOMES
An important conservation outcome of The Wildlands Conservancy’s ownership has been TWC's influence on preserving the neighboring Tejon Ranch. When a national land trust struck a deal to save 100,000 acres of Tejon Ranch, leaving the remaining 170,000 up for grabs, TWC started the Tejon Ranch Working Group with representatives from 10 environmental organizations. We brought in development experts and investment analysts who showed how clustering density on 30,000 acres could affect the conservation of 240,000 acres with better shareholder certainty. A version of the TWC proposal was implemented by Tejon Ranch with the backing of the environmental community.
VISITOR OPPORTUNITIES
At Wind Wolves, The Wildlands Conservancy offers free outdoor education programs in which over 165,000 children have participated. The Wind Wolves Preserve is open to the public daily from 8 am to 5 pm for hiking, mountain biking, and picnicking. Tent camping is available by advanced reservation. There are seasonal wildflower and wildlife viewing tours by vehicles.
No comments:
Post a Comment