Audubon California helps protect the Tejon Ranch – and two key Important Bird Areas

Up to 240,000 contiguous acres of spectacular and ecologically significant California wildlands will be protected under a precedent-setting agreement brokered by Audubon California and four other environmental groups with the Tejon Ranch Company. The agreement will protect approximately 90 percent of the Tejon Ranch, including the Tehachapi Oaks Important Bird Area (IBA) and a significant expanse of the Antelope Valley IBA, and open new opportunities for Californians to enjoy this tremendous landscape firsthand. The agreement also ensures long-term and secure funding for land management and restoration with the newly-created Tejon Ranch Conservancy.

Graham Chisholm of Audubon California and Michael White of Conservation Biology Institute look out over Tejon Ranch

“If you look at a map of California, you can see just how big a victory this is for Californians,” said Graham Chisholm, conservation director for Audubon California. “The protected area is immense –375 square miles – and the only place in North America where four distinct ecological zones meet on one property.”

Tejon Ranch encompasses more of California’s natural beauty and diversity than any undeveloped area of the state. Located at the junction of the Mojave Desert and the Sierra Nevada, central and coastal mountains, the enormous parcel is home to precious native grasslands, oak woodlands, Joshua tree woodlands and conifer forests. Audubon California’s interest in pursuing a comprehensive agreement was driven by the fact that the ranch is home to the endangered California Condor and a rich biological diversity -- more than two dozen state and federally listed plant and animal species and up to 20 Audubon Watchlist Species.

riparian corridor on Tejon Ranch

With the protection of this ranch, a condor can fly over a million acres and hundreds of miles across protected lands from Carrizo Plain Ecological Reserve to Bittercreek National Wildlife Refuge, Los Padres National Forest, Windwolves Preserve and onto Tejon Ranch. Tejon Ranch provides a clean, safe source of food for the condor. The Agreement retracted proposed development from 4 ridges that are key condor foraging areas, and protects a vast expanse of the ranch’s backcountry. In addition, the Tejon Ranch Conservancy will have the right to work with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to establish condor feeding stations, conduct monitoring of condor movement and the funding to hire a condor biologist.

The Tehachapi Oaks IBA, wholly within Tejon Ranch, refers to the northwest slope of the Tehachapi Mountains and supports one of the largest and most diverse oak woodlands in the state. The massive valley oaks provide nesting habitat for at least 10% of the state’s breeding population of Purple Martin, the largest breeding population in the state. The IBA also is home to numerous oak-dependent species, California Spotted Owl, Golden Eagle and many others.

massive valley oaks on Tejon Ranch provide feeding areas for migratory and breeding songbirds

The Antelope Valley IBA spans across vast areas of the western Mojave Desert up to the foothills of the Tehachapi Mountains. Antelope Valley, including a portion within Tejon Ranch, is a network of private lands and small nature reserves. Birding records have tallied more than 250 species, and over 1% of the global population of Long-billed Curlew and Mountain Plover winter here. Desert scrub, grasslands, and agricultural fields provide habitat for over 10 of California’s sensitive bird species including LeConte’s Thrasher. Through this deal, the largest intact habitats in Antelope Valley will be protected, including magnificent stands of old Joshua trees, hill slopes of wildflowers and grasslands with stands of native grass.

Not only have these negotiations secured significant portions of California’s top Important Bird Areas, but with the formation of the Tejon Ranch Conservancy, ample opportunity exists to learn more about the unique habitats of Antelope Valley and Tehachapi Oaks. We look forward to the opportunity, along with local Audubon chapters, of leading birding tours and documenting how wildlife utilizes the ranch. We will also work with the land conservancy on management possibilities such as native grassland restoration, riparian habitat enhancement, and studies and tracking of condors and other species.

Audubon California and its partners in the environmental community have secured a hard fought victory for California’s environment through intense negotiations. Other recent development projects within southern California such as along the northern reaches of the Santa Clara River show us that piecemeal large scale development projects along with patchworks of smaller nature reserves and long-fought battles do not secure the vast swaths of intact protected habitat that are afforded under this historic agreement, nor the funding for long-term restoration and management that this represents.

For more information, go to: http://ca.audubon.org/tejon.php