Land Restoration Strategies
TBWP collaborates with landowners throughout Tulare Basin to restore important wetland and upland habitat for plants and animals. Private landowners who wish to steward their land can use a variety of restoration strategies, often supported with agency funding.
Restoration strategies depend on the type of habitat found in a particular location within the Tulare Basin. The diversity of habitats calls for a range of approaches:
Seasonal Wetland Restoration: Flood Plains & Deeper Water Areas
Restore and maintain existing natural channels and re-establish channel morphology where channels have been filled or otherwise altered. Flood ponds to maximize waterfowl breeding during spring and summer months and ensure adequate native plant cover. Ensure a variety of depths for prey species and to maximize wetland plant diversity.
Seasonal Wetland Restoration: Shallow Water Habitat
Manage water levels to maximize the acreage of shallow water areas, less than six inches deep. Manage vegetation with prescribed burning, grazing, scraping, or harrowing to create sparsely vegetated, shallow or muddy areas, including islands. This will minimize soil disturbance and predation on breeding birds. Maintain gradual slopes on pond and island edges. Develop methods for surplus water storage in very wet winters to provide conditions for nesting and to provide water supplies in drier years.
Seasonal Wetland Restoration
Manage water levels such that adequate depth exists for use by waterbirds. Manage water levels in open water areas for maximum linear distance, which enables take-off by waterbirds requiring "runways".
Permanent Wetland Restoration
Control vegetation density to maximize open water areas and ensure maximum flooded acreage in summer months.
Riparian Restoration
Maintain existing natural channels and re-establish channel morphology where channels have been filled or otherwise altered. Utilize channels for agricultural drainage and simultaneously create restored slough channels. Remove invasive non-native plant species such as saltcedar (Tamarix ramosissima), giant reed (Arundo Donax), and perennial pepperweed (Lepidium latifolium). Revegetate with native riparian species such as willows (Salix spp.), mulefat (Baccharis salicifolia), and creeping wildrye (Leymus triticoides). To ensure plant growth and reproduction, periodically flood riparian areas during the growing season.
Upland Restoration
For many areas, restoration includes utilizing low intensity disturbances such as fire and grazing to control non-native plant species and to provide open, sparsely vegetated patches. Use disturbances in the cool season to minimize effects on shrubs, warm season vegetation growth, and wildlife activity. Recreate original topographical elements and plant native species; seed in fall following prescribed burns. Re-vegetate areas with native shrubs, forbs, and grasses to ensure adequate habitat mosaic and cover. In addition, where upland and wetland habitats intermix, create agricultural buffer zones of irrigated and non-irrigated pasture, alfalfa and selected field crops which are compatible with both upland species and waterfowl.
Unproductive Farmland Restoration
Many farms in the Tulare Basin operate on marginal or unproductive farmland, which is often due to poor soils, poor water quality or over use. Farmland restoration tasks include: de-leveling artificial land structures and restoring native topography; planting and seeding native plant communities; re-introducing native wildlife species; and restoring historical disturbance regimes, such as fires, floods or grazing.
Native Species Reintroduction
Due to the precipitous decline of native habitat in the Tulare Basin, and the limited populations of special status species, TBWP aims to re-introduce, to suitable protected habitat, rare wildlife species, such as: Southwestern pond turtle (Actinemys marmorata pallid), blunt-nosed leopard lizard (Gambelia sila), giant garter snake (Thamnophis gigas), red-legged frog (Rana aurora draytonii), Western spadefoot (Spea hammondii), fulvous whistling-duck (Dendrocygna bicolor), Buena Vista Lake shrew (Sorex ornatus relictus), San Joaquin antelope squirrel (Ammospermophilus nelson), and Tipton kangaroo rat (Dipodomys nitratoides nitratoides).
Restoration strategies depend on the type of habitat found in a particular location within the Tulare Basin. The diversity of habitats calls for a range of approaches:
Seasonal Wetland Restoration: Flood Plains & Deeper Water Areas
Restore and maintain existing natural channels and re-establish channel morphology where channels have been filled or otherwise altered. Flood ponds to maximize waterfowl breeding during spring and summer months and ensure adequate native plant cover. Ensure a variety of depths for prey species and to maximize wetland plant diversity.
Seasonal Wetland Restoration: Shallow Water Habitat
Manage water levels to maximize the acreage of shallow water areas, less than six inches deep. Manage vegetation with prescribed burning, grazing, scraping, or harrowing to create sparsely vegetated, shallow or muddy areas, including islands. This will minimize soil disturbance and predation on breeding birds. Maintain gradual slopes on pond and island edges. Develop methods for surplus water storage in very wet winters to provide conditions for nesting and to provide water supplies in drier years.
Seasonal Wetland Restoration
Manage water levels such that adequate depth exists for use by waterbirds. Manage water levels in open water areas for maximum linear distance, which enables take-off by waterbirds requiring "runways".
Permanent Wetland Restoration
Control vegetation density to maximize open water areas and ensure maximum flooded acreage in summer months.
Riparian Restoration
Maintain existing natural channels and re-establish channel morphology where channels have been filled or otherwise altered. Utilize channels for agricultural drainage and simultaneously create restored slough channels. Remove invasive non-native plant species such as saltcedar (Tamarix ramosissima), giant reed (Arundo Donax), and perennial pepperweed (Lepidium latifolium). Revegetate with native riparian species such as willows (Salix spp.), mulefat (Baccharis salicifolia), and creeping wildrye (Leymus triticoides). To ensure plant growth and reproduction, periodically flood riparian areas during the growing season.
Upland Restoration
For many areas, restoration includes utilizing low intensity disturbances such as fire and grazing to control non-native plant species and to provide open, sparsely vegetated patches. Use disturbances in the cool season to minimize effects on shrubs, warm season vegetation growth, and wildlife activity. Recreate original topographical elements and plant native species; seed in fall following prescribed burns. Re-vegetate areas with native shrubs, forbs, and grasses to ensure adequate habitat mosaic and cover. In addition, where upland and wetland habitats intermix, create agricultural buffer zones of irrigated and non-irrigated pasture, alfalfa and selected field crops which are compatible with both upland species and waterfowl.
Unproductive Farmland Restoration
Many farms in the Tulare Basin operate on marginal or unproductive farmland, which is often due to poor soils, poor water quality or over use. Farmland restoration tasks include: de-leveling artificial land structures and restoring native topography; planting and seeding native plant communities; re-introducing native wildlife species; and restoring historical disturbance regimes, such as fires, floods or grazing.
Native Species Reintroduction
Due to the precipitous decline of native habitat in the Tulare Basin, and the limited populations of special status species, TBWP aims to re-introduce, to suitable protected habitat, rare wildlife species, such as: Southwestern pond turtle (Actinemys marmorata pallid), blunt-nosed leopard lizard (Gambelia sila), giant garter snake (Thamnophis gigas), red-legged frog (Rana aurora draytonii), Western spadefoot (Spea hammondii), fulvous whistling-duck (Dendrocygna bicolor), Buena Vista Lake shrew (Sorex ornatus relictus), San Joaquin antelope squirrel (Ammospermophilus nelson), and Tipton kangaroo rat (Dipodomys nitratoides nitratoides).
