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Habitat Suitability and Potential Corridors for San Joaquin Kit Fox in the San Luis Unit Fresno, Kings and Merced Counties, California

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Habitat Suitability and Potential Corridors for San Joaquin Kit Fox in the San Luis Unit Fresno, Kings and Merced Counties, California HABITAT SUITABILITY AND POTENTIAL CORRIDORS FOR SAN JOAQUIN KIT FOX IN THE SAN LUIS UNIT FRESNO, KINGS AND MERCED COUNTIES, CALIFORNIA PREPARED FOR THE U.S. BUREAU OF RECLAMATION SOUTH-CENTRAL CALIFORNIA AREA OFFICE AND THE U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE ENDANGERED SPECIES PROGRAM Prepared by: Brian L. Cypher, Scott E. Phillips, and Patrick A. Kelly California State University, Stanislaus Endangered Species Recovery Program 1900 N. Gateway #101 Fresno, CA 93727 May 22, 2007 esrp_sldfre_kitfoxsuitability_final.doc HABITAT SUITABILITY AND POTENTIAL CORRIDORS FOR SAN JOAQUIN KIT FOX IN THE SAN LUIS UNIT Brian L. Cypher, Scott E. Phillips, and Patrick A. Kelly California State University, Stanislaus Endangered Species Recovery Program 1900 N. Gateway #101 Fresno, CA 93727 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction....................................................................................................................... 1 San Joaquin Kit Fox ................................................................................................................. 1 San Luis Unit and Proposed Drainage Feature Re-evaluation Project................................ 1 Goal and Objectives.................................................................................................................. 3 Methods.............................................................................................................................. 3 Habitat Suitability..................................................................................................................... 3 Current habitat suitability...................................................................................................................... 3 Habitat suitability under the Water Needs Alternative ......................................................................... 4 Potential Connectivity............................................................................................................... 6 Results ................................................................................................................................6 Habitat Suitability..................................................................................................................... 6 Habitat Connectivity............................................................................................................... 10 Discussion......................................................................................................................... 17 Habitat Suitability................................................................................................................... 17 Habitat Connectivity............................................................................................................... 18 Pertinent Recovery Plan Tasks.............................................................................................. 20 Information Needs .................................................................................................................. 21 1. Regional status of kit foxes............................................................................................................ 21 2. Ecosystem restoration strategies .................................................................................................... 21 3. Habitat management strategies ...................................................................................................... 21 4. Prey and competitor response to land retirement ........................................................................... 22 5. Outreach......................................................................................................................................... 22 Literature Cited .............................................................................................................. 23 Appendix A. Natural and Agricultural land Values for San Joaquin Kit fox ......... 25 Natural land values ............................................................................................................................. 25 Agricultural land values...................................................................................................................... 26 Fallow land values .............................................................................................................................. 27 Value of Retired Agricultural Lands for Kit Foxes............................................................................. 28 Literature Cited ...................................................................................................................... 30 i Appendix B. Artificial Den Designs.............................................................................. 31 Escape Dens ............................................................................................................................. 31 Subterranean Dens.................................................................................................................. 31 Chambered Dens..................................................................................................................... 31 TABLE OF TABLES Table 1. Estimated area (in acres) of suitable and sub-optimal available under existing conditions and the Water Needs Alternative....................................................................................................................... 7 Table 3. Comparison of corridor length (least cost path) and cost per distance (least cost corridor value / corridor length) between an optimal corridor, a corridor between Panoche Valley and Pleasant Valley, and though the San Luis Unit under both current conditions and estimated conditions under the Water Needs Alternative. .............................................................................................................. 10 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Location of the San Luis Unit. ....................................................................................................... 2 Figure 2. Retired farmland, evaporation/treatment facilities, potential reuse areas, and farmland buffers under the Water Needs Alternative. ...................................................................................................... 5 Figure 3. Estimated habitat suitability under current conditions. .................................................................. 8 Figure 4. Estimated habitat suitability under the Water Needs Alternative................................................... 9 Figure 5. Model result showing a least cost corridor under current conditions of the Water Needs Alternative between either Panoche Valley or Pleasant Valley and isolated blocks of suitable habitat on the Valley floor. ............................................................................................................................. 11 Figure 6. Model result showing a least cost corridor under estimated conditions of the Water Needs Alternative between either Panoche Valley or Pleasant Valley and isolated blocks of suitable habitat on the Valley floor. ............................................................................................................................. 12 Figure 7. Model result showing a least cost corridor under current conditions between only Pleasant Valley and isolated blocks of suitable habitat on the Valley floor. ................................................................ 13 Figure 8. Model result showing a least cost corridor under estimated conditions of the Water Needs Alternative between only Pleasant Valley and isolated blocks of suitable habitat on the Valley floor. ............................................................................................................................................................ 14 Figure 9. Model result showing a least cost corridor between Pleasant Valley and Panoche Valley. ....... 15 Figure 10. Model result showing a least cost corridor in a in an area of optimal habitat conditions between Buena Vista Valley and Lokern, western Kern County. ..................................................................... 16 ii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Vast acreage of agricultural land within the San Luis Unit (SLU) of the Central Valley Project in the San Joaquin Valley of California suffers from soil drainage issues. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) is under obligation to assist with disposal of drainage water from these lands. Reclamation has evaluated various alternative strategies for disposing of this water and has selected a preferred alternative. This preferred alternative, the “In-Valley/Water Needs Land Retirement Alternative”, involves treatment and reuse of drainage water and also reducing the quantity of drainage water produced by retiring lands from irrigated agricultural production. As many as 194,000 acres may be retired, and these lands potentially could provide habitat for rare species, particularly the San Joaquin kit fox (Vulpes macrotis mutica). The California State University-Stanislaus, Endangered Species Recovery Program (ESRP) conducted analyses to assess habitat suitability for kit foxes in the SLU under current conditions and under the preferred alternative. Under the preferred alternative, potential kit fox habitat would increase from the current 26,102 acres to 104,228 acres. Much of this habitat would occur in contiguous blocks sufficient to support multiple kit fox family groups, which would facilitate kit fox
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