The Tulare Basin offers a safe harbor for 53 threatened, endangered, or sensitive plant species, the majority of which are endemic to California. Over the past century, these plants have declined significantly due to habitat loss, fragmentation, and degradation resulting from human modifications to the landscape for urban, agricultural, mineral, and other needs.

Today these sensitive plants grow in a limited range or are rare throughout their range. Remaining populations face a high risk of extinction from additional threats, such as:

• Lack of genetic diversity and small population size
• Vulnerability to diseases and parasites
• Environmental fluctuations, catastrophes, and genetic drift
• Competition from introduced, non-native annual grasses
• Air pollution
• Pesticide effects on pollinators
• Climate change
• Changes in water flow and timing; flooding

The Tulare Basin Wildlife Partners (TBWP) is working to protect and restore our native plant communities to keep our watershed healthy now and for future generations.