Conservation Value: Focal Species and Connectivity in California's North Coast

The Pacific Fisher, a rare small carnivore, was used as an indicator species for the mature forest habitat that once dominated this 5.5 million acre region. Six basic factors were used to assess the values of land for the conservation of biodiversity, and the largest concentrations of high value areas were used as "core areas" for the Fisher and other mature forest species. Connectivity between these areas was then assessed using road and habitat information. The result is a map of places that will be most important to protect if biodiversity in this region is to be maintained and restored.

Developing a Habitat Linkage Network for the North Coastal Basin and Klamath-Siskiyou Regions of Northwestern California

Ecological Assessment of Potential Wilderness Areas in the Klamath-Siskiyou Region of North Western California

U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer and U.S. Representative Mike Thompson are considering forty-six potential wilderness areas (PWAs) in the Klamath-Siskiyou region of northwestern California for wilderness designation. The northern California portion of the Klamath-Siskiyou Ecoregion contains many unprotected roadless areas of varying sizes and ecological importance. The California Wild Heritage Campaign (CWHC) is now proposing legislation to protect millions of acres of land that are mapped as PWAs across the state and in the northern California portion of the Klamath-Siskiyou ecoregion. However, the PWAs mapped by CWHC have no documented ecological attribute information from which to support their inclusion in the proposed wilderness legislation. The purpose of this report is to document the individual contribution of the PWAs to a regional reserve design for the California portion of the Klamath-Siskiyou region. The information contained in this report documents the important ecological contribution the PWAs make to the regional reserve system of the Klamath~Siskiyou Ecoregion in northwestern California. The information will be used to assist the CWHC, conservation groups, and legislators in documenting the importance of PWAs in the Klamath-Siskiyou ecoregion and ensuring their inclusion in the proposed wilderness legislation.

Ecological Integrity Assessment of The North Coastal Basin

One of Legacy’s primary goals is to create a biodiversity conservation strategy for the California North Coastal Basin (NCB). This plan will highlight a network of areas within the region that stand out from the others due to their ecological function and conservation value. One step in the process of locating these areas is to understand the current level of ecological integrity within the major community types across the NCB.

Ecological Inventory Manual

This is a not-for-profit, non-published, uncopyrighted manual created and compiled for community use in the conservation of wildlands. This manual offers valuable ecological inventory techniques for community members who wish to understand and steward their homesteads for wildness.

Forsythe Wildlife Uplands Ecology Assessment

The primary purpose of this wildlife assessment is to demonstrate the value of the Forsythe Watershed as part of a potential wildlife linkage between Jackson Demonstration State Forest (JDSF) on the west side of Mendocino County and the Mendocino National Forest (MNF) on the east side.

Klamath/Central Pacific Coast Ecoregion Restoration Strategy: Vol. 1 - Description of the Ecoregion

This volume is the first of three volumes describing a strategy for restoring the function and health of the Klamath / Central Pacific Coast Ecoregion (Figure I-1), hereafter termed the "Klamath Ecoregion." In this volume, we describe the ecoregion from an ecosystem perspective and summarize some of the human forces that have caused or are continuing to cause ecosystem degradation.

LEGACY-The Landscape Connection Long Range Strategy: Creating a Biodiversity Conservation Network

The long-term goal of LEGACY - The Landscape Connection is to implement a Biodiversity Conservation Plan (BCP) for the California North Coastal Basin. Based on scientific analysis and collective community input, we are currently delineating ecologically and culturally important areas in the California North Coastal Basin (CNCB). Upon completion of this mapping process, we will work collectively to develop watershed level biodiversity conservation plans that responds to the site-specific requirements of each community within the planning area and the CNCB as a whole. We promote social, cultural, and economic practices that maintain or restore the region's ecological integrity.

Rare and Threatened Vegetation of the California North Coastal Basin

The purpose of this document is to provide information that will help citizens and resource managers identify, protect and restore rare and threatened vegetation in the California North Coastal Basin. It addresses floristic diversity primarily at the series-level, but contains information that will be useful in both broader and finer-scale approaches to conservation. The primary project objectives are to: 1) identify series of the CNCB that are uncommon, rare and threatened on a statewide and/or global scale, 2) identify habitats and community types associated with high numbers of uncommon, rare, and threatened series within the region, 3) recommend strategies for identifying and protecting rare and threatened vegetation, and 4) present this information in a format that is useful to citizens, scientists, educators, and others interested in the rare and unique vegetation of the region.

The Bioreserve Strategy for Conserving Biodiversity

The bioreserve strategy is a promising but largely untested approach to conserving biodiversity. The strategy involves zoning regional landscapes into areas that range from total protection (minimal human activity) to areas of intensive human use. Zoning, in this context, does not necessarily refer to a formal regulatory designation, but rather to a societal agreement to limit certain human activities and uses on certain lands. This agreement may be expressed and played out in a variety of ways ranging from formal designation as reserves or parks to conservation easements or landowner agreements.

Stebbins, R.C. 1985 A field guide to western reptiles and amphibians 336pp.

Sawyer, J.O. and T. Keeler-Wolf 1995 A Manual of California Vegetation

Rosenburg D., Noon B., Meslow E. Biological Corridors: Form, Function, Efficacy. Linear conservation areas may function as biological corridors but they may not mitigate against additional habitat loss

Aberly, Doug 1993 Boundaries of Home, Mapping for Local Empowerment

Noss, Reed F. 1998 Redwood Ecology

Noss, Reed F. and Cooperrider, Allen Y. 1994 Saving Nature's Legacy--Protecting and Restoring Biodiversity 417pp.

Allaby, M. 1994 The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Ecology

Pickett S., Ostfeld R., Shachak M., Likens G., eds 1997 The Ecological Basis of Conservation, Heterogeneity, Ecosystems and Biodiversity

Noss Reed F. 2000 The Redwood Forest, History, Ecology, and Conservation of the Coast Redwoods

Noss R.F., O’Connell M.A., Murphy D.D. 1997 The Science of Conservation Planning, Habitat Conservation under the Endangered Species Act 121pp.