Lokern

Area: 3,900acres

Location: Buttonwillow, Kern County, California

Date Acquired: 1995-2008

Acquisition Type:  Center for Natural Lands Management owns the preserve.  We protect and manage species and habitats on the preserve in perpetuity.

Key Habitats: Alkali Desert Scrub, California Annual and Perennial Grassland

Species of Special Interest to CNLM: San Joaquin kit fox (Vulpes macrotis mutica),  Giant kangaroo rat (Dipodomys ingens), Tipton kangaroo rat (Dipodomys nitratoides nitratoides), San Joaquin antelope squirrel (Ammospermophilus nelsoni), Blunt-nosed leopard lizard (Gambelia sila), Kern mallow (Eremalche kernensis)

Introduction

The Lokern Preserve was created between 1989 and 2008, primarily using mitigation funds associated with development projects under regulatory authority of the California Energy Commission, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW). This 3,900-acre Preserve is composed of several disjunct parcels along both sides of the California Aqueduct, approximately 30 miles west of Bakersfield, California. These parcels were acquired to provide quality habitat for several threatened and endangered species, including: San Joaquin kit fox (Vulpes macrotis mutica), giant kangaroo rat (Dipodomys ingens), Tipton kangaroo rat (Dipodomys nitratoides nitratoides), San Joaquin antelope squirrel (Ammospermophilus nelsoni), blunt-nosed leopard lizard (Gambelia sila), and Kern mallow (Eremalche kernensis).

Conservation Significance

Much of the Preserve is comprised of valley saltbush scrub, which is dominated by two species, spiny saltbush (Atriplex spinifera) and common saltbush (Atriplex polycarpa). In areas of heavy clay soils east of the California Aqueduct, saltbush scrub grades into valley sink scrub, where iodinebush (Allenrolfea occidentalis) and seepweed(Suaeda moquinii) become morecommon. Previous wildfires on the west side of the California aqueduct have converted much of the valley saltbush scrub into an open grassland, where shrub cover remains at low levels. Common herbaceous species include Arabian grass (Schismus barbatus), red-stemmed filaree (Erodium cicutarium), popcorn flower (Plagiobothrys spp.), pygmy stonecrop (Crassula connata), red brome (Bromus madritensis ssp. rubens), combseed (Pectocarya penicillata), fiddleneck (Amsinkia menziesii), and pepperweed (Lepidium spp.). After a series of wet years, nonnativegrasses can become relatively dense and dominate the herbaceous vegetation. The Lokern Preserve provides habitat for a variety of additional species of concern, including burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia), LeConte’s thrasher (Toxostoma lecontei), tri-colored blackbird (Agelaius tricolor), short-nosed kangaroo rat (Dipodomys nitratoides brevinasus), and Tulare grasshopper mouse (Onychomys torridus tularensis).

This Preserve is part of the Lokern Natual Area (LNA), which includes over 30,000 acres of high-quality habitat for various wildlife and plant species of the San Joaquin Valley. Other owners with protected lands within the LNA boundaries include CDFW, Bureau of Land Management, Plains Exploration Company, and Occidental Petroleum. Chevron also is preparing a habitat conservation plan that may result in the protection of several thousand acres within the LNA.

Our Work