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National Audubon Society Educational Program

Help Restore Habitat - Volunteer Work Day - March 20 - 8 a.m. - Noon

Come on down to the preserve this Saturday and help with another great project. We will be planting large cuttings of willow and cottonwood on some of the acquisition properties.

Bring gloves, wear long sleeves and pants, sturdy shoes/boots and safety glasses if you have them. Meet at 8:00am, in the parking lot at the Kern River Preserve headquarters.Please RSVP. Contact our Land Steward, Sean Rowe or call 760-417-1149, to RSVP.

More Land Protected

In November and then again in January we closed escrow on two important pieces of land. The long delayed Kelso Creek acquisition finally cleared all the legal hurdles and is now in the process of transfer to the BLM for inclusion in the Bright Star Wilderness. In late November Audubon acquired an 80-acre ranch which was the only land along the South Fork Kern River between Fay Ranch Road and Sierra Way that was not permanently protected. READ MORE...

Monthly Nature Exploration

Saturday, April 3rd from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.

Hey, gardeners! Have you ever wondered how to plant a forest? OK, well maybe you don't want to plant an entire forest, but might want to know about what it takes to restore natives to the Kern River Valley. Then this workshop is for you. Join Reed Tollefson, Preserve Manager, on a walkabout to learn about past, present and future restoration projects on the Kern River Preserve.

No RSVP needed. Email krpfriends@audubon.org for more information.

Student Conservation Association Helps KRP

For many years parts of the ranches Audubon has helped to protect in perpetuity had ranch-based dumps associated with them. This was common and accepted practice – although in retrospect a poor choice.

These eyesores have been a project that many volunteers and staff have tackled. We have made great progress since we purchased the property. We have removed tons of steel and had it recycled including wire, broken, equipment, appliances. Also hundreds of tires. Ag fertilized and pesticides, used oils, closed open ag well, and removed fuel storage tanks have also been removed and brought to appropriate facilities for disposal.) What was/is left is largely nuisance trash and plenty of it. We continue work with our staff and volunteers to finish up.

On Friday through Sunday, January 22-24 through a twist of fate, a five-person SCA crew  along with our own Sean Rowe and Katy Harvey helped to fill an entire pull-off dumpster with over 9 tons of trash. They worked on the dump and helped to haul off and recycle trash and helped with some other preserve projects over the weekend. While they didn't finish clearing the dump, they made a significant dent in ridding the preserve of this nuisance trash.

We thank: Jamie, Allison, Daniel, Alexandra, and Chris for their hard work and hope they can return to help on a more fun project in the future.

Geocaching on KRP

How many of you own a Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) device? Many people use GPS in a competitive nature as an excuse to get outside and enjoy nature. Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices. The basic idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, outdoors and then share your experiences online. Recently with the blessing of the preserve, some local geocachers started placing little caches on the preserve in the public areas. In order to place the hidden treasure troves, one must always secure permission from the landowner before placing the boxes.

A traditional cache is filled with swag (approximately 10 desirable items but of little value) and is hidden by the cache owner for other Geocachers to find. It is a Geocaching rule that that if a finder takes something he will leave something. For many Geocachers the value in the cache lies in the search rather than in the value of the swag and they prefer to take nothing and leave nothing.

So if you want to play the game search the geocaching website for birdland and then come on down. Be sure to sign the guestbook in the Visitor Center while you are here and let us know how many people are playing the game.

Sunrise to Sunset: A year on the Kern River Preserve

Some landscapes from winter through fall by our Outreach Director, Alison Sheehey. Photos from our Allen Sanctuary, Kelso Creek Sanctuary, Kern River Preserve and even one from the South Fork Kern near Kennedy Meadows.

Visit the Kern River Preserve in Weldon, California. Open every day of the year from dawn to dusk.