On the Ranch
By Operations Director Tim Bulone
The Conservancy is asking for your help.
Back in 2006, the Tejon Ranch Company wanted to develop some of its 270,000 acres, so the company sat down with five prominent environmental organizations to hash out a deal that, after two years of negotiation, resulted in a historic conservation agreement to permanently conserve 90% of the vast Ranch—240,000 acres of contiguous habitat protected. In exchange, the company would retain the right to apply for permits on the remaining 10 percent of the Ranch without opposition from the five signatory organizations. This agreement—signed in 2008—is commonly referred to as the Ranch-Wide Agreement (RWA).
The Tejon Ranch Conservancy was born from this agreement with a financial model in which the Company would provide annual interest-free loans—called Advance Payments—to sustain the Conservancy’s work through 2021. These funds would eventually be repaid from transfer fees raised on the sale and re-sale of residential homes, while providing ongoing financial support to the Conservancy in perpetuity. In 2008, this long-term revenue stream was anticipated to kick in within a decade.
A recession and other market factors have delayed that timeline significantly. Development anticipated by the Ranch Company has not yet broken ground, and potential transfer fees are no longer expected any time soon.
As a matter of financial necessity, with an eye on this shifting landscape, the Conservancy has been carefully managing its staffing and resources for the last few years to bank savings for operations in 2022 and beyond. This has provided the Conservancy some small bit of breathing room to re-vision its financial future.
In 2020, the Tejon Ranch Company informed the Conservancy that it would escrow all remaining Advance Payments as required by the Ranch-Wide Agreement (RWA). This was because, in the Company's view, the environmental signatories had breached the RWA by participating in certain regional planning efforts that might affect its development projects.
In January 2021, because a majority on the Conservancy Board agreed with the position of the environmental signatories that a breach had not actually occurred, and that these activities were consistent with the RWA, the Conservancy joined the lawsuit filed originally by the five environmental signatories the previous month requesting a court order to compel release of the payments. That litigation remains in process and will take time to resolve.
Not surprisingly, all of this has cast a shadow of uncertainty over the long-term financial future of the Conservancy. Our work, however, has continued—without interruption—to fulfill our fundamental mission of monitoring and conserving the rare natural treasures of Tejon Ranch.
In these pages, on our website, and in our social media, we have shown again and again the absolute importance of this Ranch as a hot spot of biodiversity whose unique resources are still not completely known. We have demonstrated that good science can play a valuable, even essential, role in adaptive grazing management and conservation, and we are seeing important results. These results apply not only on the ground here, but on the many thousands of acres of rangeland in the American West and beyond.
And we are seeing results elsewhere too—in the students who visit. Some are summer interns discovering the real world of conservation science, others are here in classes to study any number of subjects “in the field,” and others are here to journal, learning in a very real way what discovery means. And of these, many are from underserved communities and some are the first generation in their family to attend college.
We see also the revelation on visitors’ faces when they understand, maybe for the very first time, what large unfragmented habitat looks like—just an hour north of one of the largest population centers in the country—and what it truly means for the health and well-being of countless species, animals and plants alike.
We intend to continue this work through all the ups and downs, all the turmoil, and all the challenges of these times, because, simply stated, there is no place like Tejon Ranch. Its ecological importance is unparalleled in the region, in the state, and in the American West—a rare place where four independent ecoregions come together on this single, massive, exceptional landscape.
For all of this, we need your help. We know that we can’t succeed without you. Our future and the future of Tejon Ranch depend on you.
If you are like me, you may want to “think about it.” Please do so, but don’t think about it too long. Our work—the results achieved, the data collected, the projects ongoing, and the endless opportunities for discovery—all of this hangs in the balance. The land is conserved, and the promise of the historic 2008 conservation agreement remains. But your help to continue this important work, to fulfill the Conservancy’s promise, is needed now.
8 ways to SUPPORT THE CONSERVANCY right now
Be part of something big! With 240,000 acres under its care, the Tejon Ranch Conservancy helps steward one of the biggest and oldest working ranches in California. But we are more than just acres: we are research, education, and exploration—we are science and stewardship—and we are discovery.
SUPPORT SCIENCE, STEWARDSHIP & CONSERVATION
Help keep conservation at the forefront of the Conservancy's work on Tejon Ranch. Your contribution is preserving and restoring an iconic property at the intersection of four ecoregions, while protecting the amazing variety of plant and animal life that uniquely co-occur together on 240,000 acres.
SUPPORT OUR EDUCATION PROGRAM
You can help the Tejon Ranch Conservancy’s flagship outdoor education initiative TEJON TEACHES to reach more students and teachers than ever!
SUPPORT PUBLIC ACCESS
Keep people visiting the Ranch. Whether it's for a hike, driving tour or bird-watching event, your donation helps the Conservancy bring visitors to the Ranch.
GIVE MONTHLY
Sustain the long-term conservation of Tejon Ranch and California’s natural heritage with a recurring gift.
BECOME A MEMBER
Join the Tejon Ranch Conservancy family as a member at any level to stay informed about what's happening at the Ranch and to gain access to exclusive members-only events and opportunities.
PLANNED GIVING
Adding Tejon Ranch Conservancy to your will or estate means leaving a legacy to be remembered.
DONATING STOCKS AND SECURITIES
The Tejon Ranch Conservancy welcomes the donation of stocks and securities. Our policy is to liquidate these upon receipt. Please let us know if you have any other instructions.
MAKE A ONE-TIME GIFT RIGHT NOW
The Tejon Ranch Conservancy welcomes any donation of any size. Every dollar helps support the important work that we do every day.
OAKS ARE HABITAT, TOO
By Science Director Emeritus Mike White, Ph.D.
You’ve heard a lot from the Conservancy about the oak trees on Tejon Ranch as they are one of the Ranch’s iconic plant species. The Ranch supports at least a third of the oak species known to occur in California (11 different taxa!), with both deciduous and evergreen species, and shrub and tree forms.
The high diversity of oak species on the property is a product of the extensive amount of the Tehachapi foothills located on Tejon, i.e., the right elevations and climate for oaks to grow and the position of the Ranch at the biogeographic crossroads of the Mojave Desert, Sierra Nevada, and Great Central Valley. As a result, oaks on Tejon can also be found in unusual associations with other plant species, for example valley oaks and Joshua trees growing side by side. Oak woodlands, mixed conifer, oak forests, and scrub oak communities cover over 100,000 acres of the Ranch.
Some individual oaks can be very long-lived and, in fact, are some of the oldest trees ever documented. A blue oak on the Antelope Valley side of Tejon had 539 annual rings counted, spanning years 1478-2016 and was likely over 550 years old (not all its rings were sampled). There may be a 600-year-old tree lurking out there to be discovered!
Oak population ecology is complicated, driven by weather, competition between acorns and nonnative grasses and other plants, and consumers of acorns and young oaks (e.g., gophers, mule deer, and cattle), but large numbers of acorns never make it to become oak trees.
To reach the oak tree stage, an acorn must be viable when it falls to the ground (e.g., not consumed by insect larvae), have appropriate conditions to germinate, survive, and grow into a seedling, survive to grow into a sapling, and then survive to grow into a tree. Each year is variable, but seedling and young sapling survival is generally low. Drought and herbivores are often responsible. Survival of saplings taller than the browse height of herbivores in the area (such as deer and elk) and adult trees is generally much higher.
While oaks themselves are interesting, it is diverse oak vegetation communities that provide some of the most important wildlife habitat in California, with more than half of the 632 terrestrial wildlife species in the state using them for some portion of their life history.
Oaks are often the dominant plant in the habitats where they occur. They provide important habitat for wildlife and other plants. For example, we just discussed acorns as a life stage of an oak tree, but they are also an important food resource for many animals (as well as for people, but that is for another article). So, wildlife species depend on the seeds of oaks for food, but in consuming acorns they exert control over new individuals in the oak populations. The area under oak trees is often more productive for other plants than areas outside of the drip line of the tree because of the nutrients added to the soil from leaf litter.
Did you know that acorns of some oak species, like valley oaks and blue oaks, develop in one year while others, like California black oaks, take two years to develop? Populations of oaks also produce seeds in a phenomenon called “masting” where oaks in some years have higher acorn production than in others. A fascinating masting pattern seen in oaks is that of synchrony, in which different species of oaks and oaks of the same species in different locations produce similarly sized (i.e., large or small) acorn crops in the same year. This is probably because they experience similar environmental conditions. Therefore, when it rains it pours for wildlife dependent on acorns for food. In low mast years, however, they have low acorn food resources and must make do elsewhere. Populations of oaks with acorns that mature in a single year and those that mature in two years do not exhibit synchronous masting, so in most years some acorn food resources are generally available if multiple oak species are present.
And what animals depend on acorns?
Many insects utilize acorns for their larval development (destroying the viability seed of the oak in the process). They create a diversity of leaf and stem galls to harbor their larvae, feed on leaves and other tissue, or prey on the aforementioned.
Small mammals, such as squirrels and birds like western scrub-jays, collect and cache large numbers of acorns to consume later. They often do not recover some of these caches, so these acorns can germinate and grow into trees. Thus, these species act as dispersers of oaks.
And who hasn’t seen the impressive granaries where acorn woodpeckers can store thousands of acorns in a single tree? Did you know these granaries are continually maintained by multiple generations of woodpeckers? The acorns are individually selected by the birds to fit best into each available hole. As acorns dry and shrink, they are reshuffled by the woodpeckers to smaller holes that are the best fit!
Black bears and mule deer (and unfortunately feral pigs) eat lots of acorns when they are available. The availability of acorns in a year (i.e., the size of the acorn mast crop) can be a predictor of the condition of these species and their ability to survive over winter.
Oak trees also provide physical habitat for many species.
Trees provide complex branching arrangements that suit the nesting needs of many bird species. For example, many smaller passerine species build nests in the smaller branches of the tree canopy, while large birds, such as the golden eagle and other raptors, build larger stick nests in the stouter branches in the tree’s interior. Oak woodlands also support many cavity-nesting species that either make cavities (e.g., woodpeckers) or use natural cavities or those created by other species. Tejon Ranch is rich with cavity-nesting bird species—at least 18 species have been detected. The most common cavity nesters detected during focused surveys of the Ranch in 2010 were the acorn woodpecker, violet-green swallow, ash-throated flycatcher, and western bluebird. Another cavity-nesting species of conservation concern is the purple martin, for which Tejon Ranch and parts of the adjacent Tehachapi Mountains are considered the most important oak habitat left for them in California.
The oak growth form (tree or shrub), plant species associated with the oaks, and other non-living habitat elements, such as standing and fallen dead wood and rock outcrops, greatly affect habitat quality for many species. For example, many species prefer the dense foliage provided by scrub oaks and associated shrub species over the open and more simply structured habitats of oak savannas. Standing dead wood provides habitat for woodpeckers and other cavity-nesting species. It is often used for acorn granaries. Dead oak branches and logs provide habitat for a variety of insects and fungi that decompose the wood slowly over time. Dead wood also provides cover and habitat for animals such as ground squirrels, rabbits, lizards, and snakes.
Simplification of oak habitats by excessive grazing, repeated fires, and removal of trees and other vegetation can result in loss of native wildlife diversity and invasion of nonnative species (e.g., European starlings). The diversity and complexity of many of the Ranch’s oak woodlands contribute to their habitat values and are a big reason Tejon Ranch supports such an impressive array of wildlife.
Our Summer Interns
This summer, we entered our 6th year hosting interns from CSU Bakersfield through a program funded by Bakersfield philanthropist Gayle Batey. And, for the very first time, we had one remote intern from Smith College in Massachusetts.
Let’s meet these incredible and incredibly helpful people!
It was fortuitous that Natalie Lovegreen, a recent biology graduate from CSUB, discovered the opportunity in her inbox. “I had happened to have opened my CSUB email right after an email about this internship from one of my professors had been delivered. It immediately caught my attention; I had already been interested in conservation for a while before, but wasn’t sure how to start in that field. When I saw it, I knew I had to apply.”
Photo: Summer interns receive 4WD and tire changing training from docent Dick Taylor. From left to right, Pia Keppler, Natalie Lovegreen, Dick, and Alex Welch.
Natalie would like a career in conservation. For her it is an important field of study and she feels strongly about the work and research. She adds, “When it comes to conservation, I know this is a career path I would love to pursue. I think eventually I would love to be able to travel the world working under different scientists and assisting them with field work and research.”
This fits well with her love for the outdoors in general. “I love being outside and I love learning about plants and animals. I always feel so refreshed after being in nature. There is something about it that is so relaxing. A favorite thing I’ve gotten to see was this little spot I was taken to my first week on Tejon called Ray’s Perch. It’s beautiful up there and so peaceful. I could have sat up there forever. It had such a pretty view with a lovely oak growing right on top that provided the perfect amount of shade.”
Picking a favorite thing to do was much harder for Natalie because there was so much to do. “I enjoyed meeting different researchers from different fields. There were multiple times we ended up meeting and working with various scientists, but it was always the best day when we did. I would say that was definitely my favorite.” Learning easement monitoring with the other interns was another favorite. “When we did easements, we got to learn our way around and see parts of the Ranch we might not have been able to otherwise.”
“What surprised me the most about Tejon Ranch was how big it is. I had no idea the land reached so far. It also houses an amazing diversity of flora and fauna; it still blows my mind that I have seen so much over the past couple weeks and still only scratched the surface of how much is on this property. What surprised me about the Tejon Conservancy was how willing everyone was to teach and help me learn. I did not expect such support, and so much kindness and generosity. Every single day I came in, I was so grateful for this opportunity, but even more so grateful for how many wonderful people I came to know and got to learn from. I learn something new every day, it’s incredible.”
Photo: Natalie Lovegreen
Alex Welch is already a staff biologist at McCormick Biological Inc., a Bakersfield-based biological consulting firm and is a graduate student seeking a Master of Science degree in Biology in Dr. Kane Keller's lab at CSUB.
“I am studying the impacts that overstory trees have on local ecological communities and finding resource-efficient ways that land managers can use trees to reach their management goals.
“I decided to pursue this internship because the Ranch typifies both the environments that my research focuses on and the land management audience that my research seeks to benefit.
“Through my internship I have been able to advance my thesis project and secure connections with multiple local stakeholders in the land management community around CSUB. I hope to continue this partnership through the duration of my project. I am interested in working with local groups to discover what their needs are and how they can be addressed in both long- and short-term timescales.”
Photo: Alex Welch
As a Bakersfield resident, Alex was aware of the Ranch before his internship, but was most surprised by its sheer size. “From ephemeral desert washes to perennial mountain brooks, the Ranch truly possesses a huge array of vistas and habitats that capture the imagination. I am grateful for the careful management that has kept the Ranch as the beautiful, productive landscape that it is.
“What surprised me most about the Conservancy was the level of organization, passion, and dedication that all the staff show every day. Each member makes it clear that they are doing what they love, and their hard work continues to enrich the community of people that surround the Ranch. I am surprised with how much the Conservancy is able to accomplish given the sheer size of the tasks in front of them.”
Regarding his notion of the ideal career, Alex says, “I am fortunate enough to work with a diverse team of people on a diverse series of projects that challenge and reward me. To me, this is my ideal career and I am grateful to have found my place in the greater biological community. I look forward to many long and fulfilling years continuing to improve the lives of our land management community and the species they manage for.
“I absolutely love the outdoors…and spend as much time as I can working outside (even in the heat!). I have a passion for natural spaces, and I find myself awed by landscapes and the species that inhabit them. To me, the outdoors is the greatest learning environment there is.”
Photo: Alex Welch and Pia Keppler performing field work.
Pia Keppler returned for a second internship this year. She is a senior at CSUB majoring in Natural Resource Management. Pia loves the outdoors as well. “It’s simply my niche. I want to continue working in conservation, or at the very least, contribute to organizations similar to the Tejon Ranch Conservancy or other land preserves. Specifically, I love working with riparian habitats and would love to pursue a career where I can monitor and restore these crucial ecosystems before it’s too late. In addition, I have recently been exploring careers related to carnivore monitoring. Thanks to my colleagues at the Conservancy, I’ve been able to network with other biologists and interns from other universities with varying backgrounds who have sparked my interest in wildlife monitoring.
“This internship is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for anyone interested in ecology and natural sciences, not only because of the unique biodiversity that the Tejon Ranch has to offer, but to be a part of an organization whose sole purpose is to conserve something so special. The experience gained during my time here is inimitable.”
Photo: Pia Keppler
Pia especially enjoys exploring the Ranch while doing vegetation surveys and easement monitoring. “What’s even more exciting,” she adds, ”is seeing results and trends from our data collected over the years proving that what the Conservancy is doing is making a difference. My favorite examples are the enhancement areas that have been established on sections of various riparian habitats and seeing the land come back to life.”
Pia sums up her thoughts about Tejon Ranch and the Conservancy. “Tejon Ranch truly is a unique piece of property from many aspects. Geologically speaking, the San Andreas and Garlock faults run through parts of the Ranch creating a unique topography. The Ranch even offers evidence of prehistoric volcanism such as volcanic plugs from ancient volcanoes. This has allowed watersheds to develop throughout the Ranch from various natural upland springs which in turn provide water for the wildlife to continue to flourish. I try to put my excitement for watersheds into perspective by asking people, “Where do streams come from and how are they created?” We know so much about how these streams come to an end in a reservoir or where they meet the ocean, but not many people can account for how it got there in the first place. I tell people that looking for the headwaters of the major creeks on the Ranch is like trying to find the other end of a rainbow for me, because when I find those headwaters, it’s my pot of gold.
“The employees at the Conservancy put an incredible amount of work into maintaining the natural beauty and systems on the Ranch. My colleagues at the Conservancy work tirelessly with little reward except to know that they are making a difference. I knew going into my internship that the Tejon Ranch Conservancy is a nonprofit organization, but was surprised to discover how underfunded it is given how paramount their work is. A vast number of moving parts intricately work together behind the scenes to make this organization work as well as it does, and it is no easy task.”
Photo: Pia Keppler and Natalie Lovegreen doing survey work.
Katherine “Kat” Polyzoides will be a junior this year at Smith College. She is majoring in Sociology with a minor in Landscape Studies. Kat was introduced to the Conservancy by the Conservancy’s Board of Directors Chair, Joel Reynolds, and her internship was funded through Smith College. Kat worked remotely from her home, writing and designing communication pieces for the Conservancy.
“I'm really interested in sustainable urban development and design,” she says of her career interests, “which intersects greatly with environmental issues and conservation. In working with the Conservancy, I hoped to get a taste of what conservation work looks like behind the scenes. My ideal career,” she adds, “is one in which I can collaborate with others to conduct progressive change in creating equitable and sustainable city centers around the world.”
Kat also enjoys the outdoors and had an opportunity to visit the Ranch briefly during her internship. “I love the outdoors! I've spent a lot of time hiking, kayaking, canoeing, etc., growing up and, as I get older, I realize just how much I need time in the outdoors in my life.” Of her visit to the Ranch she shared, “I was completely blown away by the size of the conserved lands. Looking at a number on a page and trying to envision the size is one thing, but standing on the Ranch and knowing you have barely seen maybe 2% of it is another.”
What will she remember from her work for the Conservancy? “I really loved going through all the photos of the Ranch. The landscape changes so intensely by season and time of day and area that there is much more in photographs than what I've been able to see up close in real life.”
the infectious parlance of cow country
A few Western expressions
Alkalied – Acclimated to the country; said of one who has lived in the country a long time; also of one who drinks alkaline water. Most of the men considered old timers had been living in the country so long that, in the language of the cowboy, “They knowed all the lizards by their first name, except the younger set.”
Chaparral fox – A sly, tricky person, a sneak. One of those fellows who, in the words of Frank Ortega, you “wouldn’t trust as far as y’u could throw an elephant ag’in the wind.”
Full war paint – The cowboy’s best “Sunday-go-to-meetin’ clothes.”
Long sweetenin’ – Slang name for molasses.
Oklahoma rain – A dust storm
From Western Words: A Dictionary of the Old West by Ramon F. Adams (Hippocrene Books, 1997). Published with permission.
VIDEO: Did you ever have an itch that was hard to reach?
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Tejon Ranch Conservancy E-News produced by co-editors Tim Bulone and Susan Chaney. If you’d like to contribute to E-News, please let us know.