This page is dedicated to sharing information about restoration of riparian ecosystems. The Kern River Preserve manager Reed Tollefson has dedicated much of his life to restoring the great riverine habitat to the South Fork of the Kern River.

Designing systems to successfully grow new forest in old farmfields has been a challenge. In 1992, Reed and Ron Tiller (the former preserve manager) wrote an article titled "Restoration of Riparian Habitat on the Kern River Preserve". This article is available in its entirety on the Habitat Restoration page.

For more information on Watershed Management and Restoration check out the Watershed Management Council Website.

The latest work funded by a grant from the Whitecap Foundation was control structure installation and improvement on the Hillside Ditch. The ditch provides part of the Kern River Preserve’s water rights allocation. Water delivery efficiency to our Colt Pasture Restoration Site and other areas of KRP has now been dramatically improved. For more information contact Reed Tollefson by phone: 1–760–378–2531 or E-mail

The Great Central Valley is the most important waterfowl wintering area in the Pacific Flyway. It supports 60 percent of the total duck and goose population. The Central Valley, at one time, included some four million acres of wetlands. But by 1985, this number had dwindled to 292,000, a 95% loss due in most part to wetland conversion by agriculture, flood control, navigation projects and urban expansion.

In July of 1988, the Central Valley Habitat Joint Venture (CVHJV) was formally established by a working agreement "to protect, maintain and restore habitat to increase waterfowl populations to desired levels in the Central Valley of California consistent with other objectives of the North American Waterfowl Management Plan." The CVHJV is comprised of representatives from the California Waterfowl Association, Ducks Unlimited, National Audubon Society, The Nature Conservancy, The Trust for Public Land, and American Farmland Trust.

Visit the Central Valley Habitat Joint Venture website to learn more about central valley wetlands.

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