BIOLOGICAL RESOURCE PLANNING & PROTECTION
SPECIES & HABITAT
The AFCB provides opportunities to implement ongoing biological resource planning and protection efforts in the region by conserving a portion of the highly valuable grassland ecosystem occurring on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley. Large reserves such as this are recommended whenever possible as they increase species survival rates, the likelihood ecosystem functions will remain intact, and facilitate management.
The lands comprising the AFCB are known to provide habitat for the San Joaquin Kit Fox, Western Burrowing Owl, California Tiger Salamander, and Swainson’s Hawk. The property is also located within designated critical habitat for the California red-legged frog (Rana aurora draytonnii) as well as other species.
Maintained by a permanent financial endowment, the AFCB adheres to long-term management and enhancement plans designed to maximize wildlife survival.
The purchase of mitigation credits within the AFCB enables responsible development of acreage in adjacent or surrounding vicinities that otherwise would be prohibited.
San Joaquin Kit Fox
(Vulpes macrotis)
California Tiger Salamander
(Ambystoma californiense)
Western Burrowing Owl
(Athene cunicularia)
The Western Burrowing Owl is a species of concern throughout much of their range in the United States and Canada. In California, the Burrowing Owl has been designated as a Species of Special Concern due to diminishing habitat and concurrent population declines (CDFG 1995).
The San Joaquin Kit Fox is the largest subspecies of Kit Fox. The San Joaquin Kit Fox was listed as endangered by the U.S. Department of the Interior (USFWS 1967) in 1967 and as threatened by the State of California in 1971. The site is within the historic range of the Kit Fox and several studies have documented San Joaquin Kit Foxes within the AFCB land and surrounding area (CDWR 1990; Williams 1989, 1991).