Pine Hill Ecological Reserve
Encyclopedia
Pine Hill Ecological Reserve is a nature reserve
of 403 acres (1.6 km²) located due east of Folsom Lake
, in El Dorado County, California
. The reserve was established in 1979, and is managed by the California Department of Fish and Game
.
The Pine Hill Ecological Reserve is one unit of the much larger Pine Hill Preserve system that consists of five separate units of varying size that total more than 4000 acres (16.2 km²) and protects eight rare plants and their gabbro
soil habitat. It is jointly managed by several local, state and federal agencies through a Cooperative Management Agreement.
Preservation efforts started in 1977, when surplus lands managed by the California Department of Forestry were to be disposed of in the Pine Hill area. Environmental groups joined together to urge the state to set aside significant natural areas from development and by 1979, the summit of Pine Hill became a state-owned ecological reserve of 320 acres (1.3 km²). In 1991, 40 acres (161,874.4 m²) were added by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and in 2002 and 2004, BLM and the county of El Dorado added another 43 acres (174,015 m²).
Four of the eight rare plants are endemic and known to exist only in the Pine Hill area and nowhere else. Five of the eight species are listed as threatened or endangered under both the state and federal endangered species act
s.
The western portion of El Dorado County has almost 10% (740 species) of California's native plants growing here, making the site nationally significant for species diversity.
Six of the eight rare plants grow in the Pine Hill Ecological Reserve unit.
(ESA) which mandates that the agencies authorized by the ESA (US Fish and Wildlife Service, National Marine Fisheries Service) provide the secretary of interior the names of species needing protection, a final determination is then made by the secretary and the list is published in the Federal Register, the species are now officially "listed" or "federally listed". The Endangered Species Act also requires these same agencies to undertake recovery plans with the goal of delisting the species (for example, the bald eagle
is no longer a listed endangered species.)
The state of California has four similar laws: The California Endangered Species Act, Native Plant Protection Act, California Environmental Quality Act, and Natural Comminities Conservation Planning Act.
The five plant species that are state and federally listed are:
Stebbins' morning glory
It is a leafy perennial herb of the morning glory
family (Convolvulaceae). There are four unique observations in Nevada County and fifteen in El Dorado County. Stebbins' morning glory looks similar to the common morning glory, the difference is the leaf shape. Flowers are white and bloom in spring.
Named after G. Ledyard Stebbins, who collected a type specimen in 1970.
Layne's butterweed
A perennial herb of the aster family (Asteraceae), it has yellow flowers and blooms from April to August. Besides El Dorado County, it can also be found in Yuba, Tuolumne and Butte counties. It is found in all the units of the Preserve in rocky, open chaparral and in woodland areas, and is believed to be a successional species (temporarily occupies an area until other vegetation grows in).
It was first collected under the name Senecio layneae by Kate Layne-Curran near Sweetwater Creek, El Dorado County in May 1883.
It is now believed that the Sweetwater Creek population has been extirpated by the inundation of Folsom Lake.
A low-growing shrub of the cacao family (Sterculiaceae) with red-orange flowers that bloom April through July. It is possibly a close relative to the dwarf flannelbush species found in Nevada, Yuba and Butte counties, but ongoing studies have yet to determine to what degree. The species was first collected by Beecher Crampton in 1956.
The Pine Hill flannelbush is endemic (grows nowhere else) to Pine Hill area.
Total species population is estimated at 2,000, which makes the flannelbush one of the rarest plants in California.
El Dorado bedstraw
It is endemic to El Dorado County. A low-growing perennial herb of the coffee
family (Rubiaceae) with pale-yellow flowers blooming in May and June. First described by Dempster and Stebbins in 1968. It is distinguished from other Galium subspecies by the very narrow leaf shape.
Pine Hill ceanothus
A low-growing shrub of the buckthorn
family (Rhamnaceae) that is endemic to the Pine Hill area. Flowers are small, white clusters with a faint blue or pink tint, blooming period is April to June. Fruit is a small capsule that is globe-shaped and horned. The species is named for Wayne Roderick, who first realized its horticultural value as an endemic shrub.
) and the Bisbee Peak rush-rose (Helianthemum suffrutescens) are not on the state or federal lists, but are a "species of concern" (or "sensitive"), which is a species that may not meet the Endangered Species Act criteria for listing, but have issues such as locally rare, newly discovered, or not enough information about the plant.
El Dorado mule ears is native to the Pine Hill area and spreads by underground root sprouts (clonal). Some parent plants may be several hundred years old.
Red Hills soaproot is also found in the Red Hills area of Tuolumne County, is a perennial herb and blooms in June with flowers opening at dusk and closing at morning. It grows in chaparral on serpentine
and gabbro
soils, and also in Ponderosa pine woodland.
The Bisbee Peak rush-rose (Helianthemum suffrutescens) is a low-growing evergreen shrub with yellow flowers, and flat leaves covered with soft, very dense white hairs. Besides El Dorado County, it is found in Amador, Calaveras, Tuolumne, Mariposa, and Sacramento counties and looks very similar to the common rush-rose (Helianthemum scoparium). It is a species of concern because more information is needed about this plant.
along with perennial and intermittent tributary streams such as Weber, Martel and Sweetwater creeks.
The Preserve is formed by five non-contiguous units (of which the ecological reserve is the centrally-located, state-owned unit), that stretch over a 30000 acres (121.4 km²) area of the gabbro soil formation. The gabbro soil formation dates from 175 million years ago during the late Jurassic Period. The dominant soils are classified as sandy loams of the Rescue Soil Series. These soils are well drained, with a high iron and magnesium
content and a characteristic red color. The other units in the Preserve are: Cameron Park, Martel Creek, Penny Lane and Salmon Falls.
There are three main vegetation types-grassland, woodland and chaparral. The chaparral type is known as Northern Mixed Chaparral (NMC) or gabbroic NMC and is the most common occurring vegetation within the Preserve. Plant species of the chaparral type include chamise (Adenostoma fasiculatum), white leaf Manzanita (Arctostaphylos viscida
), toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia), California redbud (Cercis occidentalis
), poison oak (Toxicodendron diversiloba), different species of ceanothus, and California buckthorn (Rhamnus californica).
Wildlife in the area include coyote, black-tailed jackrabbit, black-tailed deer, mountain lion, California ground squirrel, and black bear. Bird species include Red-winged Blackbird, Great Egret
, Red-tailed Hawk, and Valley Quail. Some of the reptiles in the Pine Hill Preserve are western rattlesnake
, California whipsnake, and the California horned lizard.
Beginning in 1977, the California Native Plant Society
became aware of CDF's intention to dispose of the 300 acres (1.2 km²) property surrounding the fire lookout station. Correspondence from CDF to the state's Department of General Services listed properties, induding Pine Hill, as surplus. The surplus parcels list then went through the legislative process where it was determined that the properties were indeed surplus to the state's needs.
The Society united with other environmental groups to encourage the state government to begin a coordinated effort to preserve significant natural areas. From 1978 to 1979, a multi-constituent committee, including the California Native Plant Society, Audubon Society, and California Resources Agency, met to set up a significant natural area for Pine Hill.
In May 1979, the California Fish and Game Commission accepted the property and a transfer was made from the Department of Forestry to the Department of Fish and Game.
Seven of the eight species were in the first edition of CNPS's Inventory of Rare and Endangered Vascular Plants of California published in December,1974.
One month later, the Smithsonian Institution
presented to the US Congress their report that listed four of the eight species as either endangered or threatened.
In 1992, The Board of Supervisors had an advisory committee formed, with members from the development community, county, state and federal agencies, and environmental groups, including the American River Conservancy.
The goal of the El Dorado County Rare Plant Advisory Committee was to identify feasible preserve sites, funding mechanisms, and management strategies for these future preserves using information from the EIP report and other sources.
The Committee presented the final report to the County in February, 1993. The report recommended setting aside more than 3000 acres (12.1 km²) in five separate areas and two small, satellite areas. The preserve sites were identified because they would protect more than one population of each species, protect against catastrophic loss at any one site, maintain genetic diversity within the rare plant species, and preserve a representation of the geographic range, diversity of plant associations, and other potentially important site-specific conditions associated with the rare plants. The Board of Supervisors approved, in concept, four of the preserves and directed that the Salmon Falls, Martell Creek, Pine Hill and Penny Lane preserve units be included in the General Plan update. The Board did not approve the Cameron Park southern preserve site at that time. The El Dorado County General Plan was adopted by the Board in January, 1996 and amended (Resolution 57-98) in March, 1998 to include the Cameron Park unit.
The American River Conservancy's participation includes maintaining property acquisition summary records on behalf of all the member agencies.
. A gated, closed road leads to the summit.
"Although these plants are fire-adapted, a fire at the wrong time of the year could be devastating to one or more of these rare species." explains DFG Botanist Daniel Burmester, in the Outdoor California magazine article dated Nov-Dec 2001.
Naturalist-led tours are offered by the Bureau of Land Management and are limited to 30 people.
Threatened species
California Native Plant Society
Protected area
Protected areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognised natural, ecological and/or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the enabling laws of each country or the regulations of the international...
of 403 acres (1.6 km²) located due east of Folsom Lake
Folsom Lake
Folsom Lake is a reservoir in Northern California about northeast of Sacramento in Placer, El Dorado, and Sacramento Counties. The lake is formed by Folsom Dam, constructed in 1955 to control the American River. The dam and lake are part of the Folsom Project, which also includes the Nimbus...
, in El Dorado County, California
El Dorado County, California
El Dorado County is a county located in the historic Gold Country in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and foothills of the U.S. state of California. The 2010 population was 181,058. The El Dorado county seat is in Placerville....
. The reserve was established in 1979, and is managed by the California Department of Fish and Game
California Department of Fish and Game
The California Department of Fish and Game is a department within the government of California, falling under its parent California Natural Resources Agency. The Department of Fish and Game manages and protects the state's diverse fish, wildlife, plant resources, and native habitats...
.
The Pine Hill Ecological Reserve is one unit of the much larger Pine Hill Preserve system that consists of five separate units of varying size that total more than 4000 acres (16.2 km²) and protects eight rare plants and their gabbro
Gabbro
Gabbro refers to a large group of dark, coarse-grained, intrusive mafic igneous rocks chemically equivalent to basalt. The rocks are plutonic, formed when molten magma is trapped beneath the Earth's surface and cools into a crystalline mass....
soil habitat. It is jointly managed by several local, state and federal agencies through a Cooperative Management Agreement.
Preservation efforts started in 1977, when surplus lands managed by the California Department of Forestry were to be disposed of in the Pine Hill area. Environmental groups joined together to urge the state to set aside significant natural areas from development and by 1979, the summit of Pine Hill became a state-owned ecological reserve of 320 acres (1.3 km²). In 1991, 40 acres (161,874.4 m²) were added by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and in 2002 and 2004, BLM and the county of El Dorado added another 43 acres (174,015 m²).
Four of the eight rare plants are endemic and known to exist only in the Pine Hill area and nowhere else. Five of the eight species are listed as threatened or endangered under both the state and federal endangered species act
Endangered Species Act
The Endangered Species Act of 1973 is one of the dozens of United States environmental laws passed in the 1970s. Signed into law by President Richard Nixon on December 28, 1973, it was designed to protect critically imperiled species from extinction as a "consequence of economic growth and...
s.
The western portion of El Dorado County has almost 10% (740 species) of California's native plants growing here, making the site nationally significant for species diversity.
Six of the eight rare plants grow in the Pine Hill Ecological Reserve unit.
Rare plants
Rare plants are protected at the federal level by the Endangered Species ActEndangered Species Act
The Endangered Species Act of 1973 is one of the dozens of United States environmental laws passed in the 1970s. Signed into law by President Richard Nixon on December 28, 1973, it was designed to protect critically imperiled species from extinction as a "consequence of economic growth and...
(ESA) which mandates that the agencies authorized by the ESA (US Fish and Wildlife Service, National Marine Fisheries Service) provide the secretary of interior the names of species needing protection, a final determination is then made by the secretary and the list is published in the Federal Register, the species are now officially "listed" or "federally listed". The Endangered Species Act also requires these same agencies to undertake recovery plans with the goal of delisting the species (for example, the bald eagle
Bald Eagle
The Bald Eagle is a bird of prey found in North America. It is the national bird and symbol of the United States of America. This sea eagle has two known sub-species and forms a species pair with the White-tailed Eagle...
is no longer a listed endangered species.)
The state of California has four similar laws: The California Endangered Species Act, Native Plant Protection Act, California Environmental Quality Act, and Natural Comminities Conservation Planning Act.
The five plant species that are state and federally listed are:
Stebbins' morning gloryCalystegia stebbinsiiCalystegia stebbinsii is a rare species of morning glory known by the common name Stebbins' false bindweed. It is endemic to the Sierra Nevada foothills of California, where it is known from only two spots in El Dorado and Nevada Counties. It grows in unique habitat in chaparral on gabbro soils...
(Calystegia stebbinsii)
- State listed as endangered since 1981, federally listed as endangered since 1996.
Morning glory
Morning glory is a common name for over 1,000 species of flowering plants in the family Convolvulaceae, whose current taxonomy and systematics is in flux...
family (Convolvulaceae). There are four unique observations in Nevada County and fifteen in El Dorado County. Stebbins' morning glory looks similar to the common morning glory, the difference is the leaf shape. Flowers are white and bloom in spring.
Named after G. Ledyard Stebbins, who collected a type specimen in 1970.
Layne's butterweedPackera layneaePackera layneae, known by the common name Layne's ragwort, is a rare species of flowering plant in the aster family. It is endemic to California, where it is known only from the western slopes of the northern Sierra Nevada foothills, such as the Pine Hill Ecological Reserve.-Description:Packera...
(Packera layneae or Senecio layneae)
- State listed as rare since 1979, federally listed as threatened since 1996.
A perennial herb of the aster family (Asteraceae), it has yellow flowers and blooms from April to August. Besides El Dorado County, it can also be found in Yuba, Tuolumne and Butte counties. It is found in all the units of the Preserve in rocky, open chaparral and in woodland areas, and is believed to be a successional species (temporarily occupies an area until other vegetation grows in).
It was first collected under the name Senecio layneae by Kate Layne-Curran near Sweetwater Creek, El Dorado County in May 1883.
It is now believed that the Sweetwater Creek population has been extirpated by the inundation of Folsom Lake.
Pine Hill flannelbush (Fremontodendron californicum ssp. decumbens)
- State listed as rare since 1979, federally listed as endangered since 1996.
A low-growing shrub of the cacao family (Sterculiaceae) with red-orange flowers that bloom April through July. It is possibly a close relative to the dwarf flannelbush species found in Nevada, Yuba and Butte counties, but ongoing studies have yet to determine to what degree. The species was first collected by Beecher Crampton in 1956.
The Pine Hill flannelbush is endemic (grows nowhere else) to Pine Hill area.
Total species population is estimated at 2,000, which makes the flannelbush one of the rarest plants in California.
El Dorado bedstrawGalium californicumGalium californicum is a species of flowering plant in the coffee family known by the common name California bedstraw.-Description:...
(Galium californicum ssp. sierrae)
- State listed as rare since 1979, federally listed as endangered since 1996.
It is endemic to El Dorado County. A low-growing perennial herb of the coffee
Coffea
Coffea is a genus of flowering plants in the Rubiaceae family. They are shrubs or small trees native to tropical and southern Africa and tropical Asia. Seeds of several species are the source of the popular beverage coffee. Coffee ranks as one of the world's most valuable and widely traded...
family (Rubiaceae) with pale-yellow flowers blooming in May and June. First described by Dempster and Stebbins in 1968. It is distinguished from other Galium subspecies by the very narrow leaf shape.
Pine Hill ceanothusCeanothus roderickiiCeanothus roderickii is a rare species of shrub in the buckthorn family Rhamnaceae known by the common name Pine Hill ceanothus. It is endemic to western El Dorado County, California, where it grows in the chaparral and woodlands of the Sierra Nevada foothills, such as the Pine Hill Ecological...
(Ceanothus roderickii)
- State listed as rare since 1982, federally listed as endangered since 1996.
A low-growing shrub of the buckthorn
Buckthorn
The Buckthorns are a genus of about 100 species of shrubs or small trees from 1-10 m tall , in the buckthorn family Rhamnaceae...
family (Rhamnaceae) that is endemic to the Pine Hill area. Flowers are small, white clusters with a faint blue or pink tint, blooming period is April to June. Fruit is a small capsule that is globe-shaped and horned. The species is named for Wayne Roderick, who first realized its horticultural value as an endemic shrub.
Other rare plants
El Dorado mule ears (Wyethia reticulata), Red Hills soaproot (Chlorogalum grandiflorumChlorogalum grandiflorum
Chlorogalum grandiflorum is a species of flowering plant known by the common name Red Hills soap plant. It is endemic to the Sierra Nevada foothills, such as the Red Hills , of California, where it grows in chaparral, woodland, and forest.-Description:This uncommon perennial wildflower grows from a...
) and the Bisbee Peak rush-rose (Helianthemum suffrutescens) are not on the state or federal lists, but are a "species of concern" (or "sensitive"), which is a species that may not meet the Endangered Species Act criteria for listing, but have issues such as locally rare, newly discovered, or not enough information about the plant.
El Dorado mule ears is native to the Pine Hill area and spreads by underground root sprouts (clonal). Some parent plants may be several hundred years old.
Red Hills soaproot is also found in the Red Hills area of Tuolumne County, is a perennial herb and blooms in June with flowers opening at dusk and closing at morning. It grows in chaparral on serpentine
Serpentine soil
A serpentine soil is derived from ultramafic rocks, in particular serpentinite, a rock formed by the hydration and metamorphic transformation of ultramafic rock from the Earth's mantle....
and gabbro
Gabbro
Gabbro refers to a large group of dark, coarse-grained, intrusive mafic igneous rocks chemically equivalent to basalt. The rocks are plutonic, formed when molten magma is trapped beneath the Earth's surface and cools into a crystalline mass....
soils, and also in Ponderosa pine woodland.
The Bisbee Peak rush-rose (Helianthemum suffrutescens) is a low-growing evergreen shrub with yellow flowers, and flat leaves covered with soft, very dense white hairs. Besides El Dorado County, it is found in Amador, Calaveras, Tuolumne, Mariposa, and Sacramento counties and looks very similar to the common rush-rose (Helianthemum scoparium). It is a species of concern because more information is needed about this plant.
Landscape, wildlife and vegetation
The landscape of the reserve unit includes the summit of Pine Hill (2,031 ft) with prominent ridgelines heading northeast, west, and south. Waterways in the general area include a portion of the South Fork American RiverAmerican River
The American River is a California watercourse noted as the site of Sutter's Mill, northwest of Placerville, California, where gold was found in 1848, leading to the California Gold Rush...
along with perennial and intermittent tributary streams such as Weber, Martel and Sweetwater creeks.
The Preserve is formed by five non-contiguous units (of which the ecological reserve is the centrally-located, state-owned unit), that stretch over a 30000 acres (121.4 km²) area of the gabbro soil formation. The gabbro soil formation dates from 175 million years ago during the late Jurassic Period. The dominant soils are classified as sandy loams of the Rescue Soil Series. These soils are well drained, with a high iron and magnesium
Magnesium
Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg, atomic number 12, and common oxidation number +2. It is an alkaline earth metal and the eighth most abundant element in the Earth's crust and ninth in the known universe as a whole...
content and a characteristic red color. The other units in the Preserve are: Cameron Park, Martel Creek, Penny Lane and Salmon Falls.
There are three main vegetation types-grassland, woodland and chaparral. The chaparral type is known as Northern Mixed Chaparral (NMC) or gabbroic NMC and is the most common occurring vegetation within the Preserve. Plant species of the chaparral type include chamise (Adenostoma fasiculatum), white leaf Manzanita (Arctostaphylos viscida
Arctostaphylos viscida
Arctostaphylos viscida, with the common names Whiteleaf manzanita and Sticky manzanita, is a species of manzanita.-Distribution:...
), toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia), California redbud (Cercis occidentalis
Cercis occidentalis
Cercis occidentalis, the western redbud is a small tree or shrub in the legume family. It is found across the American Southwest, from California to Utah....
), poison oak (Toxicodendron diversiloba), different species of ceanothus, and California buckthorn (Rhamnus californica).
Wildlife in the area include coyote, black-tailed jackrabbit, black-tailed deer, mountain lion, California ground squirrel, and black bear. Bird species include Red-winged Blackbird, Great Egret
Great Egret
The Great Egret , also known as the Great White Egret or Common Egret, White Heron, or Great White Heron, is a large, widely-distributed egret. Distributed across most of the tropical and warmer temperate regions of the world, in southern Europe it is rather localized...
, Red-tailed Hawk, and Valley Quail. Some of the reptiles in the Pine Hill Preserve are western rattlesnake
Western rattlesnake
Western rattlesnake* Crotalus oreganus, a venomous pitviper species found in North America in the western United States, parts of British Columbia and northwestern Mexico....
, California whipsnake, and the California horned lizard.
Background
The summit of Pine Hill, elevation 2031 feet (619 m), has a fire lookout station operated by the California Department of Forestry (CDF). Botanists believed the rare plants were safe on the state-owned property until the agency bulldozed a firebreak across the summit in the mid 1970s. Stands of Pine Hill flannelbush and the El Dorado bedstraw were damaged.Beginning in 1977, the California Native Plant Society
California Native Plant Society
The California Native Plant Society is a California not-for-profit organization that seeks to increase understanding of California's native flora and to preserve that flora. Its "paramount purpose is to preserve wild plants".-History:...
became aware of CDF's intention to dispose of the 300 acres (1.2 km²) property surrounding the fire lookout station. Correspondence from CDF to the state's Department of General Services listed properties, induding Pine Hill, as surplus. The surplus parcels list then went through the legislative process where it was determined that the properties were indeed surplus to the state's needs.
The Society united with other environmental groups to encourage the state government to begin a coordinated effort to preserve significant natural areas. From 1978 to 1979, a multi-constituent committee, including the California Native Plant Society, Audubon Society, and California Resources Agency, met to set up a significant natural area for Pine Hill.
In May 1979, the California Fish and Game Commission accepted the property and a transfer was made from the Department of Forestry to the Department of Fish and Game.
Listings
Five of the eight rare plants were listed under California's Native Plant Protection Act in the years 1979 to 1982, and were federally listed in 1996.Seven of the eight species were in the first edition of CNPS's Inventory of Rare and Endangered Vascular Plants of California published in December,1974.
One month later, the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
presented to the US Congress their report that listed four of the eight species as either endangered or threatened.
County actions
The California Native Plant Society together with the Department of Fish and Game provided El Dorado County with information about the various species and the need for protection in 1989. Housing construction and the ensuing habitat fragmentation, road construction and maintenance, herbicide spraying, change in fire frequency, off-road vehicle use, illegal dumping, horse overgrazing, competition from invasive non-native vegetation, and mining activities imperil these species. The county Board of Supervisors approved funding of a field survey and study by the private company, EIP Associates in early 1991. The final report, titled Preserve Sites and Preservation Strategies for Rare Plant Species in Western El Dorado County was completed in November, 1991.In 1992, The Board of Supervisors had an advisory committee formed, with members from the development community, county, state and federal agencies, and environmental groups, including the American River Conservancy.
The goal of the El Dorado County Rare Plant Advisory Committee was to identify feasible preserve sites, funding mechanisms, and management strategies for these future preserves using information from the EIP report and other sources.
The Committee presented the final report to the County in February, 1993. The report recommended setting aside more than 3000 acres (12.1 km²) in five separate areas and two small, satellite areas. The preserve sites were identified because they would protect more than one population of each species, protect against catastrophic loss at any one site, maintain genetic diversity within the rare plant species, and preserve a representation of the geographic range, diversity of plant associations, and other potentially important site-specific conditions associated with the rare plants. The Board of Supervisors approved, in concept, four of the preserves and directed that the Salmon Falls, Martell Creek, Pine Hill and Penny Lane preserve units be included in the General Plan update. The Board did not approve the Cameron Park southern preserve site at that time. The El Dorado County General Plan was adopted by the Board in January, 1996 and amended (Resolution 57-98) in March, 1998 to include the Cameron Park unit.
Cooperative Management Agreement
In 2001, a Cooperative Management Agreement (CMA) for the Pine Hill Preserve was signed by three federal agencies (Bureau of Land Management, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and US Bureau of Reclamation), two state agencies (California Department of Fish and Game and California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection), El Dorado County, El Dorado Irrigation District, and the American River Conservancy. A separate agreement between El Dorado County and the Bureau of Land Management created funding for a preserve manager. The Cooperative Management Agreement sets the amount of participation for each agency. El Dorado County is tasked with several actions, one of which is to create and implement an INRMP-Integrated Natural Resources Management Plan.The American River Conservancy's participation includes maintaining property acquisition summary records on behalf of all the member agencies.
Public access-Pine Hill unit
Access is restricted to guided tours because of the rarity of the plants, and that the reserve is almost completely surrounded by private property. The reserve highlights the plant community that grow on a type of soil known as gabbroGabbro
Gabbro refers to a large group of dark, coarse-grained, intrusive mafic igneous rocks chemically equivalent to basalt. The rocks are plutonic, formed when molten magma is trapped beneath the Earth's surface and cools into a crystalline mass....
. A gated, closed road leads to the summit.
"Although these plants are fire-adapted, a fire at the wrong time of the year could be devastating to one or more of these rare species." explains DFG Botanist Daniel Burmester, in the Outdoor California magazine article dated Nov-Dec 2001.
Naturalist-led tours are offered by the Bureau of Land Management and are limited to 30 people.
See also
Pine Hills Preserve area map from Commons.
Threatened species
Threatened species
Threatened species are any speciesg animals, plants, fungi, etc.) which are vulnerable to endangerment in the near future.The World Conservation Union is the foremost authority on threatened species, and treats threatened species not as a single category, but as a group of three categories,...
California Native Plant Society
California Native Plant Society
The California Native Plant Society is a California not-for-profit organization that seeks to increase understanding of California's native flora and to preserve that flora. Its "paramount purpose is to preserve wild plants".-History:...
External links
- American River Conservancy.
- BLM's "Definitions of Plant Status" webpage. Good source to clarify confusing terminology.