SLO LIFE Magazine Dec/Jan 20/21

| DISCOVER
in plain
sight
BY CHUCK GRAHAM
Concealed within a throng of Canadian milkvetch,
green ephedra, and swaying grasses, I observed
an active den of San Joaquin kit foxes—six pups
jostling amongst themselves as one of the parents
stood watch over its rambunctious family.
The kit foxes were surrounded by their prey. California
ground squirrels and endangered antelope ground
squirrels were readily available near the den site. They
hovered around their own burrows keeping a watchful
eye on the kit foxes. Ironically, the rodents’ alarm calls
also alerted the kit foxes of potential threats. Prey and
predator working in unison.
During the evening, giant kangaroo rats took their
nocturnal turn. Sitting in my tent, I heard them
communicating with each other by drumming their
kangaroo-like feet on the ground, burrow to burrow,
this sliver of grassland habitat working the way it’s
supposed to, twenty years after the Carrizo Plain
became a National Monument.
The last of California’s historic grasslands nestled in the
southern region of the San Joaquin Valley, fifty miles east of
San Luis Obispo turns twenty in January 2021. The Plain
is an example of a thriving ecosystem that’s home to more endangered species than
anywhere else within the Golden State; a diatom of what once extended 450 miles
north encompassing the entire California Valley.
Twenty years has seen continual growth for native flora and fauna alike on the Carrizo
Plain. However, there is plenty of room to expound on this growth to recapture more
remnants of these grasslands by extending habitat beyond the National Monument,
while increasing wildlife corridors and revegetating these surrounding lands.
RETURN OF THE GRASSLANDS
For decades, the Carrizo Plain was cropland and ranches of various ilk. As these
ranchlands waned and non-native animals removed, parts of the Carrizo Plain healed
on its own.
Other regions have required a helping hand. The Nature Conservancy (TNC) started
buying land back from ranch owners in the 1980s. Eventually the Carrizo Plain came
under control of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). And although many public
lands are under fire for their natural resources, the Carrizo Plain remains protected.
Under watchful eyes such as nonprofits like Friends of the Carrizo Plain (FCP), the
cleanup of ranchlands, especially fence removal, has enabled wildlife to roam freely.
“I am generally pleased,” said Dr. David Chipping, president of the FCP, referring to the
overall restoration of the Carrizo Plain. “Although the recovery of former cropland has
been slower than original expectations due to destruction of the original soil profiles.”
64 | SLO LIFE MAGAZINE | DEC/JAN 2021