"The [California] Central Valley once contained one of the largest expanses of streamside forest and wetland habitat in North America. Along with cottonwoods, willows, ash, and other flood-resistant trees, great forests of valley oaks (Quercus lobata) studded its fertile floodplains." ~ Cosumnes River Preserve
But with California losing 95% of its wetlands, efforts had to be made to recapture and preserve some of them, lest they disappear entirely. The Cosumnes River Preserve is a major contributor to this effort. Started in 1984 with the purchase of 85 acres of Valley Oak riparian forest by The Nature Conservancy, a partnership was formed over the years between Ducks Unlimited, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, California Department of Fish & Game, working with the Wildlife Conservation Board, Sacramento County Department of Regional Parks, and The California Department of Water Resources, such that now it contains 50,000 Acres.
Many of the Valley Oaks, similar to the ones in this image, along with other flood-resistant species, were cleared to enable farming in the rich soil, but the Preserve has planted a lot of them back, in a way that it is impossible to tell that they were not natural. They also alternately flood and drain large area of wetlands to provide a habitat for birds in the winter and to grow crops for sale, which makes the Preserve self-sufficient, as well as providing food for the birds, in the spring and summer.
I went on two tours with the manager of the Preserve, during the Galt Winter Bird Festival, and found him to be fascinating and inspiring. Not only does he manage the 50,000 Acres with sensitivity to the environment, but he hunts and fishes for, and grows his own food.
Notice the Wood Duck nest box on the right, half-way up. There were a bunch of them throughout the forest as I walked on the 3-mile River Walk from the Visitors Center. I didn't see another human for the first hour or so, which made it special.
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