San Luis National Wildlife Refuge Complex

The San Luis National Wildlife Refuge Complex is located in the northern San Joaquin Valley, within Merced County and Stanislaus County of California. The complex, with four federal National Wildlife Refuges, is managed by the U.S Fish & Wildlife Service.

Introduction

The complex is composed of the San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, Merced National Wildlife Refuge, San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge, and the Grasslands Wildlife Management Area. The complex consists of nearly 45,000 acres (180 km²) of wetlands, grasslands,and riparian habitats, as well as over 90,000 acres (360 km²) of conservation easements on private lands for the protection and benefit of wildlife. The complex is headquartered in Los Banos, California and uses the Sierra National Forest Emergency Communication Center located in Fresno, California for emergency dispatch.

The complex is located within the Pacific Flyway, a major route for migrating birds, including waterfowl. The extensive wetlands of the complex and surrounding lands provide habitat for up to a million waterfowl that arrive here each winter. Of the 30 species of waterfowl using the complex, the most common include Ross's geese, Aleutian cackling geese, snow geese, green-winged teal, mallards, northern pintails, gadwalls, American wigeons, northern shovelers, and greater white-fronted geese.

The complex is an integral part of a mosaic of federal, state, and private lands in Merced and Stanislaus Counties that together constitute the largest contiguous freshwater wetlands remaining in California. This area has been recognized as a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance, an Audubon Important Bird Area, and as a Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network site.^[1]

Wildlife refuge units

San Luis National Wildlife Refuge

The San Luis National Wildlife Refuge encompasses over 26,600 acres (108 km²) of wetlands, riparian forests, native grasslands and vernal pools. A thriving population of tule elk is showcased by one of three auto tour routes. The refuge is host to significant assemblages of birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, insects and plants; some of which, such as the tiger salamander and San Joaquin kit fox, are endangered species.

In 1966, the first parcel of the refuge was purchased with Federal Duck Stamp funds to provide a sanctuary for migratory waterfowl. Over the years the refuge has steadily grown in size and today it comprises six contiguous units: San Luis, East Bear Creek, West Bear Creek, Freitas, Blue Goose, and Kesterson. The San Joaquin River bisects the eastern portion of the refuge.

The refuge is a major wintering ground and migratory stopover point for large concentrations of waterfowl, shorebirds and other waterbirds. Large flocks of northern shovelers, mallards, gadwalls, wigeons, green-winged teal, cinnamon teal, northern pintails, ring-billed ducks, canvasbacks, ruddy ducks, snow geese, Ross's geese, and greater white-fronted geese swarm over the mosaic of seasonal, and permanent wetlands that comprise a quarter of the refuge. Waterfowl generally remain until mid-April before beginning their journey north to breeding areas. Some mallards, gadwalls, and cinnamon teal stay through the spring and summer and breed on the refuge.

Shorebirds including sandpipers and plovers can be found in the tens of thousands from autumn through spring. Large flocks of dunlin, long-billed dowitchers, least sandpipers and western sandpipers can be found feeding in shallow seasonal wetlands, whereas flocks of long-billed curlews are found using both wetlands and grasslands. Over 25 species of shorebirds have been documented at the San Luis NWR.

The San Luis NWR has played a key role in the recovery of the Tule Elk, a non-migratory elk subspecies found only in California. Prior to the mid-19th century, an estimated 500,000 Tule Elk lived in California. Due to over-hunting and loss of natural habitat, they were nearly driven to extinction by the turn of the 20th century – by some accounts, the population was down to 10-20 individuals. In 1974 a herd of 18 animals was established in a large enclosure at the San Luis NWR and has since thrived. Elk from this herd are periodically relocated to establish new or join other Tule Elk herds throughout California. A true wildlife recovery success story, the statewide Tule Elk population has recovered to over 4,000 animals.

Less well known are the extensive upland habitats found on the refuge. Many of these habitats are characterized by saline or alkaline conditions which are accentuated by the low rainfall and arid conditions that characterize the San Joaquin Valley. These habitats support a rich botanical community of native bunchgrasses, native and exotic annual grasses, forbs, and native shrubs. Trees, such as the valley oak, cottonwood, and willow are found along riparian corridors. In these areas, visitors might encounter coyotes, desert cottontails, ground squirrels, western meadowlarks, yellow-billed magpies, loggerhead shrikes, as well as northern harriers and white-tailed kites coursing over the vegetation and other raptors. Great blue herons, great egrets, and white-faced ibises are frequently sighted throughout the refuge.

The refuge has three auto tours routes with associated nature trails and observation decks for the public to view and photograph wildlife and nature. The refuge also allows fishing at designated sites and has a large waterfowl hunting program.^[2]

Merced National Wildlife Refuge

The Merced National Wildlife Refuge is within Merced County. It is divided into four units: Merced Unit, Arena Plains Unit, Snobird Unit, and Lonetree Unit.

It encompasses 10,262 acres (42 km²) of wetlands, native grasslands, vernal pools, and riparian zone areas. It was established in 1951 under the Lea Act to attract wintering waterfowl from adjacent farmland where their foraging was causing crop damage. In the last few decades, changes in agricultural practices and refuge management have reduced these wildlife/crop issues.

The refuge plays host to the largest wintering populations of lesser sandhill cranes and Ross's geese within the Pacific Flyway. Each autumn over 20,000 cranes and 60,000 arctic-nesting geese terminate their annual migrations from Alaska and Canada to make the refuge home for six months. Here they mingle with thousands of other visiting waterfowl, waterbirds and shorebirds making the refuge a true winter phenomenon.

The refuge also provides important breeding habitat for Swainson's hawks, tricolored blackbirds, marsh wrens, mallards, gadwalls, cinnamon teal, and burrowing owls. Tricolored blackbirds, a colonial-nesting songbird, breed in colonies of over 25,000 pairs. Coyotes, ground squirrels, desert cottontails, beavers, and long-tailed weasels can also be seen year-round.

Vernal pools are another type of wetland found on the Merced NWR. These special pools form when natural shallow depressions underlaid with clay soils fill with winter rainwater. The pools come to life as they fill with water: fairy and tadpole shrimp emerge from cysts embedded in the soils the previous year. The endangered tiger salamander, along with other amphibians lay eggs and rear tadpoles. The vast number of aquatic invertebrates found in these pools provides a food source for wintering and migrating birds as they prepare for the long flight north to their breeding grounds.

As spring arrives and the water in the vernal pools evaporates, wildflowers – such as goldfields, purple owl's clover, and butter-and-egg – germinate in colorful patterns of thick rings or halos around the pool basins. Once the vernal pools have dried out, Downingia and Colusa grass, a rare California species, appear in the parched basins. This annual coloring led John Muir to describe the valley floor as the “floweriest part of the world” he had seen.

In addition to managing natural habitats, the Merced NWR contains approximately 300 acres (1.2 km²) of cultivated corn and winter wheat crops and over 500 acres (2.0 km²) of irrigated pasture for wildlife. Not only do these managed agricultural areas provide important sources of nutrition (carbohydrates) to the tens of thousands of arctic-nesting geese and sandhill cranes that make Merced County their winter home, they also help ensure that the birds will have adequate nutrient stores to make the long migration to their northern breeding grounds. Local farmers, under agreements with the refuge, oversee the ground preparation, seeding, and irrigation of these croplands. The refuge incorporates a livestock grazing program that works in partnership with local ranchers and farmers. Grazing cattle and sheep is a management tool used by the refuge to help control invasive weeds, provide and maintain short stature grasslands for goose grazing, and encourage native grasslands to thrive^[3]

San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge

The San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge is located in Stanislaus County and San Joaquin County. It encompasses over 7,000 acres (28 km²) of riparian woodlands, wetlands and grasslands that host a diversity of wildlife native to California’s Central Valley. The refuge is situated where three major rivers, the San Joaquin, Tuolumne and Stanislaus Rivers, join providing key wildlife corridor habitat. The refuge was established in 1987 under the Endangered Species Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918.

The refuge has played a major role in the recovery of Aleutian cackling geese by serving as a key wintering area and continues to be of major importance to this species. By 1975, the total population was under 1,000 geese; however, removing nest predators (non-native introduced foxes) from the breeding grounds in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands and improving wintering habitat resulted in its delisting as an endangered species and a population well over 100,000 and growing. Restoring wetlands and providing grasslands and croplands at this refuge has provided ideal wintering habitat for the geese.

It is estimated that 95 percent of the San Joaquin Valley’s riparian woodlands were lost during the late 19th and 20th centuries due to changing land and water uses. However, this refuge is in the process of restoring this critical habitat. Within the borders of the San Joaquin NWR is one of California’s largest riparian forest habitat restoration projects: 400,000 native trees such as willows, cottonwoods, and oaks have been planted across 1,700 acres (7 km²) of river floodplain creating the largest block of contiguous riparian woodland in the San Joaquin Valley. This important riparian woodland habitat is host to many rare animals. Swainson’s hawks nest in the canopy of tall cottonwood trees. Herons and cormorants form communal nesting colonies within the tops of the large oaks. Endangered riparian brush rabbits have been re-introduced to this restored habitat from captive-reared populations. These woodlands also support a diversity of breeding songbirds including grosbeaks, orioles, flycatchers, warblers, as well as least Bell's vireos – a threatened species which last nested in the San Joaquin Valley over 50 years ago.

A wildlife viewing platform along Beckwith Road is a favorite location for viewing the Aleutian cackling geese along with other waterbirds from October through March.^[4]

Grasslands Wildlife Management Area

The Grasslands Wildlife Management Area (GWMA) was established by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1979 and is composed of privately owned lands on which perpetual conservation easements have been purchased. These easements preserve wetland and grassland habitats and prevent conversion to croplands or other uses not compatible with migratory bird and other wildlife values. Daily management operations remain under the landowner's control. The majority of easement properties are wetlands managed for waterfowl hunting. From 1979 to-date, over 65,000 acres (260 km²) have been placed under conservation easements.

The GWMA is located in western Merced County, California, within the San Joaquin River basin and supports the largest remaining block of contiguous wetlands in the Central Valley. It is divided into an eastern and western division separated by the San Joaquin River. In the heart of the western division is the Grassland Resource Conservation District (GRCD), an area of 70,000 acres (280 km²) of private wetlands and associated grasslands, and over 30,600 acres (124 km²) of federal National Wildlife Refuges and state Wildlife Management Areas.

These private wetlands constitute 30% of the remaining wetlands in California's Central Valley and are extremely important to Pacific Flyway waterfowl populations. Over 60 million duck use-day and 3 million goose use-days occur annually in the GWMA. The wetlands support diverse habitats including seasonally flooded marshlands, semi-permanent marsh, riparian habitat, wet meadows, vernal pools, native uplands, pastures, and native grasslands. This habitat diversity supports raptors, shorebirds, wading birds, and other wildlife species. Several federal and state listed, endangered, and threatened plants and animals are present in the area and benefit by the habitat protection provided by the easement program.^[5]

References

↑ "San Luis National Wildlife Refuge Complex". US Fish and Wildlife Service. Retrieved 2009-01-30.
↑ "San Luis National Wildlife Refuge". US Fish and Wildlife Service. Retrieved 2009-01-30.
↑ "Merced National Wildlife Refuge". US Fish and Wildlife Service. Retrieved 2009-01-30.
↑ "San Joaquin National Wildlife Refuge". US Fish and Wildlife Service. Retrieved 2009-01-30.
↑ "Grasslands Wildlife Management Area". US Fish and Wildlife Service. Retrieved 2009-01-30.

Protected areas of California

National Park System

National Parks	Channel Islands Death Valley Joshua Tree Kings Canyon Lassen Volcanic Pinnacles Redwood Sequoia Yosemite

National Preserves	Mojave

National Monuments	Cabrillo Castle Mountains Cesar E. Chavez Devils Postpile Lava Beds Muir Woods World War II Valor in the Pacific

National Seashores	Point Reyes

National Historical Parks	Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front San Francisco Maritime

National Historic Sites	Eugene O'Neill Fort Point John Muir Manzanar

National Memorials	Port Chicago Naval Magazine

National Recreation Areas	Golden Gate Santa Monica Mountains Whiskeytown

State Parks

State Parks	Ahjumawi Lava Springs Andrew Molera Angel Island Annadel Año Nuevo Anza-Borrego Desert Arthur B. Ripley Desert Woodland Bidwell–Sacramento River Big Basin Redwoods Border Field Bothe-Napa Valley Burton Creek Butano Calaveras Big Trees Castle Crags Castle Rock Caswell Memorial China Camp Chino Hills Clear Lake Crystal Cove Cuyamaca Rancho D. L. Bliss Del Norte Coast Redwoods Donner Memorial Ed Z'berg Sugar Pine Point Emerald Bay The Forest of Nisene Marks Fort Ord Dunes Fremont Peak Garrapata Gaviota Great Valley Grasslands Grizzly Creek Redwoods Grover Hot Springs Hearst San Simeon Hendy Woods Henry Cowell Redwoods Henry W. Coe Humboldt Lagoons Humboldt Redwoods Jedediah Smith Redwoods Julia Pfeiffer Burns Leo Carrillo Limekiln MacKerricher Malibu Creek Manchester McArthur–Burney Falls Memorial McLaughlin Eastshore Mendocino Headlands Mendocino Woodlands Montaña de Oro Morro Bay Mount Diablo Mount San Jacinto Mount Tamalpais Navarro River Redwoods Pacheco Palomar Mountain Patrick's Point Pfeiffer Big Sur Placerita Canyon Plumas-Eureka Point Mugu Portola Redwoods Prairie Creek Redwoods Red Rock Canyon Richardson Grove Rio de Los Angeles Robert Louis Stevenson Russian Gulch Saddleback Butte Salt Point Samuel P. Taylor San Bruno Mountain Sinkyone Wilderness South Yuba River Sugarloaf Ridge Sutter Buttes Tolowa Dunes Tomales Bay Topanga Van Damme Washoe Meadows Wilder Ranch

State Natural Reserves	Antelope Valley California Poppy Armstrong Redwoods Azalea Caspar Headlands John B. Dewitt John Little Jug Handle Kruse Rhododendron Los Osos Oaks Mailliard Redwoods Mono Lake Tufa Montgomery Woods Point Lobos Smithe Redwoods Torrey Pines Tule Elk

State Marine Reserves	Albany Emeryville Crescent

State Historic Parks	Anderson Marsh Antelope Valley Indian Museum Bale Grist Mill Benicia Capitol Bidwell Mansion Bodie California Citrus California State Indian Museum Chumash Painted Cave Colonel Allensworth Columbia Cowell Ranch/John Marsh El Presidio de Santa Barbara Empire Mine Folsom Powerhouse Fort Humboldt Fort Ross Fort Tejon Governor's Mansion Hearst San Simeon Indian Grinding Rock Jack London La Purísima Mission Leland Stanford Mansion Los Angeles Los Encinos Malakoff Diggins Marconi Conference Center Marshall Gold Discovery Monterey Old Sacramento Old Town San Diego Olompali Petaluma Adobe Pigeon Point Light Station Pío Pico Point Sur Railtown 1897 San Juan Bautista San Pasqual Battlefield Santa Cruz Mission Santa Susana Pass Shasta Sonoma Sutter's Fort Tomo-Kahni Wassama Round House Watts Towers of Simon Rodia Weaverville Joss House Will Rogers William B. Ide Adobe Woodland Opera House

State Beaches	Asilomar Bean Hollow Bolsa Chica Cardiff Carlsbad Carmel River Carpinteria Caspar Headlands Cayucos Corona del Mar Dockweiler Doheny El Capitán Emma Wood Gray Whale Cove Greenwood Half Moon Bay Huntington Leucadia Lighthouse Field Little River Malibu Lagoon Mandalay Manresa Marina McGrath Montara Monterey Moonlight Morro Strand Moss Landing Natural Bridges New Brighton Pacifica Pelican Pescadero Pismo Point Dume Point Sal Pomponio Refugio Robert H. Meyer Memorial Robert W. Crown Memorial Salinas River San Buenaventura San Clemente San Elijo San Gregorio San Onofre Santa Monica Schooner Gulch Seacliff Silver Strand Sonoma Coast South Carlsbad Sunset Thornton Torrey Pines Trinidad Twin Lakes Westport-Union Landing Will Rogers William Randolph Hearst Memorial Zmudowski

State Recreation Areas	Admiral William Standley Auburn Austin Creek Benbow Lake Benicia Bethany Reservoir Brannan Island Candlestick Point Castaic Lake Colusa-Sacramento River Folsom Lake Franks Tract George J. Hatfield Harry A. Merlo Kenneth Hahn Kings Beach Lake Del Valle Lake Oroville Lake Perris Lake Valley Martial Cottle Park McConnell Millerton Lake Picacho Providence Mountains Salton Sea San Luis Reservoir Silverwood Lake Standish-Hickey Tahoe Turlock Lake Woodson Bridge

State Vehicular Recreation Areas	Carnegie Clay Pit Heber Dunes Hollister Hills Hungry Valley Oceano Dunes Ocotillo Wells Prairie City

Other	Burleigh H. Murray Ranch California State Mining and Mineral Museum California State Capitol Museum California State Railroad Museum Castro Adobe Delta Meadows Estero Bay Hatton Canyon Indio Hills Palms Point Cabrillo Light Station Point Lobos Ranch Point Montara Light Station Reynolds Wayside Campground San Timoteo Canyon Stone Lake Verdugo Mountains Ward Creek Wildwood Canyon

National Forests and Grasslands

National Forests and Grasslands	Angeles Butte Valley NG Cleveland Eldorado Humboldt-Toiyabe Inyo Klamath Lake Tahoe Basin Lassen Los Padres Mendocino Modoc Plumas Rogue River – Siskiyou San Bernardino Sequoia Shasta–Trinity Sierra Six Rivers Stanislaus Tahoe

National Wilderness Preservation System	Agua Tibia Ansel Adams Bucks Lake Caribou Carson-Iceberg Castle Crags Cucamonga Desolation Dick Smith Dinkey Lakes Emigrant Golden Trout Hoover Inyo Mountains Ishi Jennie Lakes John Muir Kaiser Marble Mountain Mokelumne Mount Shasta Wilderness North Fork San Gabriel Sanhedrin San Jacinto San Rafael Sespe Siskiyou Snow Mountain South Fork Eel River South Sierra South Warner Thousand Lakes Trinity Alps Ventana Yolla Bolly–Middle Eel Yuki

National Monuments and Recreation Areas	Giant Sequoia National Monument San Gabriel Mountains National Monument Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument Smith River National Recreation Area Shasta–Trinity National Recreation Area Sand to Snow National Monument

State Forests

Boggs Mountain Demonstration Ellen Pickett Jackson Demonstration Las Posadas LaTour Demonstration Mount Zion Mountain Home Demonstration Soquel Demonstration

National Wildlife Refuges

State Wildlife Areas

Wildlife Areas	Antelope Valley Ash Creek Bass Hill Battle Creek Big Lagoon Big Sandy Biscar Butte Valley Buttermilk Country Cache Creek Camp Cady Cantara/Ney Springs Cedar Roughs Cinder Flats Collins Eddy Colusa Bypass Coon Hollow Cottonwood Creek Crescent City Marsh Crocker Meadows Daugherty Hill Decker Island Doyle Dutch Flat Eastlker River Eel River Elk Creek Wetlands Elk River Fay Slough Feather River Fitzhugh Creek Fremont Weir Grass Lake Gray Lodge Green Creek Grizzly Island Hallelujah Junction Heenan Lake Hill Slough Hollenbeck Canyon Honey Lake Hope Valley Horseshoe Ranch Imperial Indian Valley Kelso Peak and Old Dad Mountains Kinsman Flat Knoxville Laguna Lake Berryessa Lake Earl Lake Sonoma Little Panoche Reservoir Los Banos Lower Sherman Island Mad River Slough Marble Mountains Mendota Merrill's Landing Miner Slough Monache Meadows Morro Bay Moss Landing Mouth of Cottonwood Creek Napa-Sonoma Marshes North Grasslands O'Neill Forebay Oroville Petaluma Marsh Pickel Meadow Pine Creek Point Edith Putah Creek Rector Reservoir Red Lake Rhode Island Sacramento River San Felipe Valley San Jacinto San Luis Obispo San Luis Reservoir San Pablo Bay Santa Rosa Shasta Valley Silver Creek Slinkard/Little Antelope Smithneck Creek South Fork Spenceville Surprise Valley Sutter Bypass Tehama Truckee River Upper Butte Basin Volta Warner Valley Waukell Creek West Hilmar Westlker River White Slough Willow Creek Yolo Bypass

Ecological Reserves	Albany Mudflats Alkali Sink Allensworth Atascadero Creek Marsh Bair Island Baldwin Lake Batiquitos Lagoon Blue Sky Boden Canyon Boggs Lake Bolsa Chica Bonny Doon Buena Vista Lagoon Butler Slough Butte Creek Canyon Butte Creek House Buttonwillow By Day Creek Calhoun Cut Canebrake Carlsbad Highlands Carmel Bay Carrizo Canyon Carrizo Plains China Point Clover Creek Coachella Valley Coal Canyon Corte Madera Marsh Crestridge Dairy Mart Ponds Dales Lake Del Mar Landing Eden Landing Elkhorn Slough Estelle Mountain Fall River Mills Fish Slough Fremont Valley Goleta Slough Indian Joe Spring Kaweah Kerman King Clone Laguna Laurel Loch Lomond Vernal Pool Lokern Magnesia Spring Marin Islands Mattole River McGinty Mountain Morro Dunes Morro Rock Napa River North Table Mountain Oasis Spring Panoche Hills Peytonia Slough Pine Hill Piute Creek Pleasant Valley Rancho Jamul Redwood Shores River Springs Lakes Saline Valley San Dieguito Lagoon San Elijo Lagoon San Felipe Creek San Joaquin River Santa Rosa Plateau Springville Stone Corral Sycamore Canyon Sycuan Peak Thomes Creek Tomales Bay Upper Newport Bay Watsonville Slough West Mojave Desert Woodbridge Yaudanchi

Marine Protected Areas	Abalone Cove Albany Mudflats Anacapa Anacapa Año Nuevo Asilomar Atascadero Beach Bair Island Batiquitos Lagoon Big Creek Big Creek Big Sycamore Canyon Bodega Bolsa Chica Cambria Cardiff and San Elijo Carmel Bay Carmel Pinnacles Carrington Point Catalina Marine Science Center Corte Madera Marsh Crystal Cove Dana Point Del Mar Landing Doheny Doheny Duxbury Reef Edward F. Ricketts Elkhorn Slough Elkhorn Slough Encinitas Estero de Limantour Fagan Marsh Farallon Islands Farnsworth Bank Fort Ross Gerstle Cove Goleta Slough Greyhound Rock Gull Island Harris Point Heisler Park Hopkins Irvine Coast James V. Fitzgerald Judith Rock Julia Pfeiffer Burns La Jolla Laguna Beach Lovers Cove (Catalina Island) Lovers Point MacKerricher Manchester and Arena Rock Marin Islands Mia J. Tegner Moro Cojo Slough Morro Bay Morro Bay Morro Beach Natural Bridges Niguel Pacific Grove Marine Gardens Painted Cave Peytonia Slough Piedras Blancas Piedras Blancas Pismo Pismo-Oceano Beach Point Buchon Point Buchon Point Cabrillo Point Fermin Point Lobos Point Reyes Headlands Point Sur Point Sur Portuguese Ledge Punta Gorda Redwood Shores Refugio Richardson Rock Robert E. Badham Robert W. Crown Russian Gulch Russian River Salt Point San Diego-Scripps San Dieguito Lagoon San Elijo Lagoon Santa Barbara Island Scorpion Skunk Point Sonoma Coast Soquel Canyon South Laguna Beach South Point Swami’s Tomales Bay Upper Newport Bay Van Damme Vandenberg White Rock (Cambria)

Bureau of Land Management National Landscape Conservation System

National Monuments	Berryessa Snow Mountain California Coastal Carrizo Plain Fort Ord Mojave Trails Sand to Snow Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains

National Conservation Areas	California Desert King Range

Wilderness Areas	Argus Range Big Maria Mountains Bigelow Cholla Garden Bighorn Mountain Black Mountain Bright Star Bristol Mountains Cadiz Dunes Carrizo Gorge Chemehuevi Mountains Chimney Peak Chuckwalla Mountains Chumash Cleghorn Lakes Clipper Mountain Coso Range Coyote Mountains Darwin Falls Dead Mountains Dick Smith El Paso Mountains Fish Creek Mountains Funeral Mountains Golden Valley Grass Valley Headwaters Forest Reserve Hollow Hills Ibex Indian Pass Inyo Mountains Jacumba Kelso Dunes Kiavah Kingston Range Little Chuckwalla Mountains Little Picacho Machesna Mountain Matilija Malpais Mesa Manly Peak Mecca Hills Mesquite Newberry Mountains Nopah Range North Algodones Dunes North Mesquite Mountains Old Woman Mountains Orocopia Mountains Otay Mountain Owens Peak Pahrump Valley Palen/McCoy Palo Verde Mountains Picacho Peak Piper Mountain Piute Mountains Red Buttes Resting Spring Range Rice Valley Riverside Mountains Rodman Mountains Sacatar Trail Saddle Peak Hills San Gorgonio Santa Lucia Santa Rosa Sawtooth Mountains Sespe Sheephole Valley South Nopah Range Stateline Stepladder Mountains Surprise Canyon Sylvania Mountains Trilobite Turtle Mountains Whipple Mountains

National Marine Sanctuaries

Channel Islands Cordell Bank Greater Farallones Monterey Bay

National Estuarine Research Reserves

Elkhorn Slough San Francisco Bay Tijuana River Estuary

University of California Natural Reserve System

Angelo Coast Range Reserve
Año Nuevo Island
Blue Oak Ranch Reserve
Bodega Marine
Box Springs
Boyd Deep Canyon Desert Research Center
Burns Piñon Ridge
Carpinteria Salt Marsh
Chickering American River
Coal Oil Point
Dawson Los Monos Canyon
Eagle Lake Field Station
Elliott Chaparral
Emerson Oaks
Fort Ord
Hastings
James San Jacinto Mountains
Jenny Pygmy Forest
Jepson Prairie
Kendall-Frost Mission Bay Marsh
Kenneth S. Norris Rancho Marino
Landels-Hill Big Creek
McLaughlin
Motte Rimrock
Quail Ridge
Sagehen Creek Field Station
San Joaquin Freshwater Marsh
Santa Cruz Island
Scripps Coastal
Sedgwick
Stebbins Cold Canyon
Steele Burnand Anza-Borrego
Stunt Ranch Santa Monica Mountains
Sweeney Granite Mountains Desert Research Center
Valentine Eastern Sierra
Younger Lagoon

Heritage registers: World Heritage Sites; World Network of Biosphere Reserves; National Register of Historic Places; National Historic Landmarks; National Natural Landmarks; California Historical Landmarks; California Points of Historical Interest; California Register of Historical Resources

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