FOOTHILL CONSERVANCY GROUP ACQUIRING MCKENZIE PRESERVE VOWS TO CONTINUE ITS PRESERVATION

   MARK GROSSI THE FRESNO BEE

Geologist Craig Poole pointed out the table-top mountains - as flat as an aircraft carrier - and said they actually formed the San Joaquin River bottom 100 million years ago.

"If we were standing here in those days, we would be 700 feet underground," said Poole of California State University, Fresno. "The table-top mountains in Fresno and Madera counties were formed by a volcano that sent lava down the ancestral river channel."

The hardened lava preserved the river bottom as the surrounding area dramatically eroded and sank. The ancient river bottom now is counted in a line of flat-top hills among the Sierra foothills, 25 minutes east of Fresno.

But these foothills are not fortified against human development, says Sierra Foothill Conservancy, a nonprofit group dedicated to protecting the area.

The object of their love and preservation is the McKenzie Preserve, almost 3,000 acres of grasslands, oak woodland and basalt formations that contain the table-top mountains.

The conservancy, formed in 1996 and championed by board president Chuck Peck of Prather, will own the McKenzie Preserve in a few weeks when a larger nonprofit, the Nature Conservancy, signs it over to the local group.

The Nature Conservancy, based in San Francisco, received the land in 1991 through the will of owner Ruth McKenzie, who died in 1990.

"She didn't want it to be divided and developed," said Peck, who joined Poole and Fresno State botanist John Stebbins at the site to discuss the conservancy. "We will not break up this property or develop it."

The Foothill Conservancy began working on the land in 1996 after the Nature Conservancy had managed it for five years. The Foothill Conservancy brought together biologists, animal scientists, range conservationists and geologists to decide how the land should be managed.

The group plans to continue cattle grazing, a decision that may seem unwise to environmentalists who fear damage along streams and meadows from grazing animals.

But Stebbins said grazing will preserve the variety of plant species in the area if it is managed correctly. Species diversity is not possible without some control of the foothill grasses introduced by European settlers over the last century.

"In places where the non-native grasses are not managed through grazing or fire, you don't find as many species of plants," he said. "They have not developed ways to grow through the thick grasses."

The conservancy allows about 500 head of cattle onto the land in fall, winter and spring. Grazing is not allowed in summer when the animals would move toward streams and damage banks and trees.

To protect streamside areas and to re-establish some of the native plants, the conservancy has fenced off some areas to keep cattle out. Some Fresno State graduate students are studying the results.

"You could say this is like a big lab experiment," Peck said. "We bring a lot of schoolchildren and teachers here to learn. But you have to remember, this is private property, not open to public access. People need to contact us for the once-a-month tours."

The tours might include a close look at Indian grinding stones, circular holes in large granite rocks where tribes broke down acorns for various uses.

"These are in very good shape compared to others around Fresno County," Peck said. "Ruth McKenzie kept people from damaging these cultural resources. We want to do the same thing."

THE DETAILS:

PHONE: 855-3473

INTERNET: http://www.sierrafoothill.org

              Photo by Steve R. Fujimoto - The Fresno Bee

Fresno Bee, The (CA) Published September 8, 1998 Section: METRO Page B1

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