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UC Davis turns campus farm land back into habitat for wildlife at Russell Ranch
The new Russell Ranch Wildlife Area at UC Davis is a 380-acre project to restore creekside and crop land to habitat for native Central Valley plants and animals.
The wildlife area will create, improve and preserve, in perpetuity, a two-mile stretch of riparian forest along Putah Creek and a large, continuous swath of native grassland between the creek and Russell Boulevard, just west of Davis.
It particularly aims to benefit three endangered species -- the Swainson's hawk, burrowing owl and valley elderberry longhorn beetle. This is the largest grassland restoration project in Yolo County.
UC Davis, at 5,300 acres, is the largest of the 10 University of California campuses and has extensive open-space areas that support the university's programs in agricultural and environmental education and research.
On the home page: UC Davis riparian reserve manager Andrew Fulks shows how Putah Creek's banks are returning to normal now that they are free of tall, erosion-inducing tamarisk shrubs. (Rachel Van Blankenship/UC Davis photo)
This open space includes five miles and 550 acres along Putah Creek, which is a major aquatic and riparian resource for wildlife between Lake Berryessa and the Yolo Bypass.
Just one year after it was established, the Russell Ranch Wildlife Area is already attracting endangered wildlife and hosting student research projects.
During the next 10 years, as UC Davis develops about 380 acres on the main campus to accommodate increased enrollment, the Russell Ranch Wildlife Area will serve to mitigate the removal of that acreage from open space.