Preserve - Pace - Center for Natural Lands Management

Monday, 06 September 2010

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Pace

Preserve - Pace

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Physical Description: The Pace Preserve is a 50 acre wetland and mixed riparian preserve located next to the San Joaquin river near the city of Stockton and Buckley Cove Marina in San Joaquin County. The preserve was created in 1993 by the Grupe Company as mitigation for their Brookside development in the city of Stockton. The Center became owner of the preserve in February 1995. At that time, a conservation easement over the 50 acres was deeded to the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG).

The preserve was created on Elmwood Tract on what was formerly farmland. Elmwood Tract is located in the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta and is reclaimed marsh consisting largely of peat soil. The preserve is a system of sloughs and islands that open into a large pond all surrounded by grassland and riparian habitats. Concrete inflow and outflow weirs are used to control the water level within the sloughs and ponds. Water for the preserve comes from a siphon located on the San Joaquin River /Deep Water Shipping Channel.

Habitat Types: The preserve is comprised of seasonal wetlands, tule marsh, flood plain riparian, oak sycamore, and riparian and nonforest upland habitats. Fifteen species of trees were planted and are thriving on the preserve as well as wild rose, wild grape, native blackberry, and elderberry shrubs.

Conservation Purpose: The management goals of the preserve include, providing a minimum of 20 acres of wetland and riparian habitat, manipulating water levels to create a diversity of habitat types (e.g., moist meadow, grassland, and seasonal mudflats) and maintain a large unobstructed body of water for birds to use as resting, loafing, and feeding habitat, as well as, provide several thousand linear feet of vegetated shoreline, including shaded aquatic habitat, roosting sites over water, and marsh/open water interface. In 1999, the California Department of Transportation(DOT) purchased 6.5 acres of mitigation credits at the preserve. In 2000, a contractor for the agency planted 2 acres of trees and shrubs, including elderberry shrubs to mitigate impacts to potential valley elderberry longhorn beetle habitat from a bridge replacement project on Highway 88 in San Joaquin County. Surveys for valley elderberry long-horn beetles are conducted annually. Although there have not been any adult beetles, or exit holes, observed during the surveys, most of the 60 shrubs within the DOT mitigation area and the additional 21 shrubs on the Preserve represent good habitat for the beetle.

Since 1995, 139 species of birds have been identified as utilizing the preserve on at least one occasion. Birds merely flying over, such as swans or cranes, are not included in this list. Twenty eight species have either been confirmed as nesting, or are suspected to be nesting on, or adjacent, to the preserve. A total of 22 sensitive bird species have been observed on the preserve, they include State Threatened and Endangered species (ST or SE), State and Federal Species of Special Concern(CSSC or FSSC), state fully protect species (FP), species defined as Birds of Conservation Concern (BCC) by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and birds on Audubon's Watch List (W), and include: Swainson's hawk (ST, BCC), peregrine falcon (SE, BCC), osprey (CSSC), American white-pelican (CSSC), yellow-headed blackbird (CSSC), tri-colored blackbird (CSSC, W), loggerhead shrike (CSSC, BCC), short-eared owl (CSSC), northern harrier (CSSC), double-crested cormorant (CSSC), Cooper's hawk (CSSC), sharp-shinned hawk (CSSC), yellow warbler (CSSC), long-billed curlew (FSSC, W), white-tailed kite(FP), short-billed dowitcher (W), white-throated swift (W), hermit warbler (W), and oak titmouse (W).