California Vernal Pools
a collection of information and resources

[ VernalPools.Org ] [ General Information ] [ Kids & Education ] [ Animals & Plants ] [ Places To See ] [ Conservation Links ] [ Regulatory Links ] [ Mitigation & Creation ] [ Publications & References ] [ Outside California ] [ Mather Field ] [ UC Merced ]

Only about 13% of the vernal pools which originally occurred in California remain. Most if the best remaining vernal pool landscapes are still under private ownership. These tend to be in the rolling grasslands along the eastern edge of the Central Valley used as grazing land. Ranchers have been stewards of the vernal pool landscape for generations. Long-term preservation of vernal pools will require a partnership between local governments, conservationists and ranchers.

2008 Guided Tour Schedules

• Jepson Prairie Preserve -- Solano County
  
• Mather Field Vernal Pools -- Sacramento County
   
• Rancho Seco Howard Ranch Trail -- Sacramento County 
   
• Santa Rosa Plateau -- Riverside County
    
• Vina Plains Preserve -- Tehama County

Photo Galleries on the Web

• Plants of Mather Field -- A photographic flora of Mather Field by Carol W. Witham

• Vernal Pools: A Vanishing Habitat -- By Dianne Fristrom and John Game, California Native Plant Society photo gallery

• San Diego's Vernal Pools - by Ellen T. Bauder 

Reserves, Preserves and Open Space

• Boggs Lake Preserve -- Napa County
    
• Grouse Ridge Vernal Pools -- Nevada County Land Trust
   
• Jepson Prairie Reserve -- UC Natural Reserve System 
   
• Jepson Prairie Preserve -- Solano Land Trust
   
• Pixley Vernal Pools -- Center for Natural Lands Management
   
• Sacramento Valley Conservancy -- Sacramento County
   
• San Diego National Wildlife Refuge Vernal Pools Unit -- US Fish & WIldlife Service
   
• Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve -- The Nature Conservancy
   
• Vernal Pool plant communities of Mount Diablo State Park -- Mount Diablo Interpretative Association
   
• Vina Plains Preserve -- The Nature Conservancy

Docent & Interpretative Programs

• Plants of Mather Field -- A photographic flora of Mather Field
   
• Jepson Prairie Wildflowers -- An interactive plant identification tutorial for the Jepson Prairie docent program. 
   
• Mather Kids Web -- A fifth grade curriculum by Sacramento Splash.

VernalPools.Org - dedicated to saving California's vernal pool landscapes