Goose Lake Conservation Report
With a 3,000-year history of human use on the land, the Goose Lake area provides fertile farmland, important wetlands, wildlife travel corridors, recreational opportunities and places to inspire the soul. Though much of this region in northcentral Kern County has been altered by human uses, this area still features a diverse landscape with excellent representations of most historic native lands, worthy of immediate conservation action.
The Goose Lake Conservation Report proposes an impressive program of conservation and restoration for important natural areas in the Tulare Lake Basin. This report recommends innovative solutions to current land and water challenges by protecting existing natural areas and wildlife corridors while restoring other areas that no longer provide economic benefit from agriculture or resource extraction. In addition, the report significantly improves the status of many wildlife species by protecting the places and travel corridors they need to survive.
The Goose Lake Conservation Report recommends the following:
Goose Lake, the only ephemeral lake left in the Tulare Basin, hosts a wide diversity of plants and animals supported by its intact creek systems. With an eye toward balancing wildlife-friendly agriculture with targeted conservation projects, the Tulare Basin Wildlife Partners seeks to protect this important jewel in the southern San Joaquin Valley for current and future generations.
Read more about Goose Lake conservation goals, objectives and site-specific recommendations.
The Goose Lake Conservation Report proposes an impressive program of conservation and restoration for important natural areas in the Tulare Lake Basin. This report recommends innovative solutions to current land and water challenges by protecting existing natural areas and wildlife corridors while restoring other areas that no longer provide economic benefit from agriculture or resource extraction. In addition, the report significantly improves the status of many wildlife species by protecting the places and travel corridors they need to survive.
The Goose Lake Conservation Report recommends the following:
- Protect 60,000 acres of existing uplands, such as shrubland and grassland;
- Protect 10,000 acres of existing wetlands, such as marshes, floodplains, creeks and ponds;
- Restore 70,000 acres of uplands;
- Restore 25,000 acres of wetlands;
- Complete Semitropic Ecological Reserve;
- Complete Buttonwillow Ecological Reserve; and
- Support the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (USFWS) Kern National Wildlife Refuge easement program.
Goose Lake, the only ephemeral lake left in the Tulare Basin, hosts a wide diversity of plants and animals supported by its intact creek systems. With an eye toward balancing wildlife-friendly agriculture with targeted conservation projects, the Tulare Basin Wildlife Partners seeks to protect this important jewel in the southern San Joaquin Valley for current and future generations.
Read more about Goose Lake conservation goals, objectives and site-specific recommendations.