About San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge
The San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge located in Stanislaus County encompasses more than 7,300 acres of riparian woodlands, wetlands, and grasslands that host a diversity of wildlife native to California’s Great Central Valley. The refuge is situated where three major Valley rivers – San Joaquin, Tuolumne, and Stanislaus – join creating a mosaic of habitats that provide ideal conditions for great wildlife and plant diversity. The refuge was established in 1987 under the Endangered Species Act and the Migratory Bird Conservation Act. The refuge has played a major role in the recovery of Aleutian cackling geese by serving as an important wintering area and continues to be of major importance to this species. By the mid-1970s, the total population of Aleutian cackling geese was fewer than 1,000. Removing nest predators from the breeding grounds in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands and improving wintering habitat in California’s Great Central Valley resulted in the goose being delisted as an endangered species and a population today well over 200,000 and growing. Restoring wetlands, and providing grasslands and croplands at this refuge has provided ideal wintering habitat for the geese. It is estimated that ninety-five percent of the San Joaquin Valley’s riparian woodlands were lost during the last century due to changing land uses. This critical habitat is being restored on a landscape level at the refuge. Within the borders of the refuge is one of California’s largest riparian woodland restoration projects to date: more than ½ million native trees and shrubs including willows, cottonwoods, oaks, blackberry, and rose have been planted across 2,500 acres of river floodplain, creating the largest block of contiguous riparian woodland in the San Joaquin Valley. This important riparian woodland habitat supports many rare animals.Through efforts at the refuge, there is hope the highly-endangered riparian brush rabbit will one day join the Aleutian cackling goose as a fully
