Habitat Projects

Award Winning Habitat Program

What is Habitat?

The most critical aspect of wildlife conservation is habitat management. Habitat loss presents the greatest threat to wildlife. Five essential elements must be present to provide a viable habitat: food, water, cover, space, and arrangement.

Habitat is defined as:

habitat: Complete environmental requirements of an animal for survival: food, water, cover, space, and arrangement.

In an effort to prevent the needless depopulation of upland game and wildlife, SCVQU Chapter #480 conducts numerous habitat outings. On these outings we maintain and make repairs to guzzlers. A guzzler is a natural spring or man-made source of water which is a concrete pad and reservoir. Low rainfall averages and severe seasonal weather such as droughts, extreme cold or hot periods can decimate a population of upland game and wildlife due to a lack of water.

"Day Fire" Aftermath & Update

By John Nelson - Habitat Coordinator - Santa Clarita Valley Quail Unlimited

The thermometer in my truck registered 2 degrees as I pulled up to the ranger station in Frazier Park, Ca. It was Saturday January 13^th. and fifteen members of Santa Clarita Valley QU were going into the Los Padres National Forest to asses the damage brought about by the Day fire. This fire started on Labor Day 2006 and burned for one month, it was the fifth largest fire in state history burning over 160,000 acres. Over the past thirteen years our chapter has constructed thirty guzzlers in the Los Padres Forrest and six were overrun by the fire. We needed to know what damage had been done and more importantly what maintenance and repairs needed to be done to assure that water would be available when wildlife returned. We were the first non-governmental group to enter the forest after the fire and we will be the first to work with the forest service to heal the scars from the fire.

The day started with a safety meeting and film outlining the dangers that were still present, such as trees that were dead but still standing and limbs that were waiting to fall on an unsuspecting worker (these are known as widow makers.) After the meeting we were issued hard hats and keys to the gates. By 9:00 AM we were ready to go and the temperature had climbed to 4 degrees.

When we started constructing our guzzlers in 1993 we decided that the systems made of concrete, even though more expensive and more labor intensive to construct were best suited for our area. Forest fires are not uncommon in the west and being close to a major city we are constantly fighting vandalism, and concrete holds up well to both. In the past we have had offroaders drive over our tanks, and shooters use them for target practice. We even had someone drain their oil into a tank, needless to say it took a has-mat crew to clean out the tank and make the water safe for wildlife to drink. We have dealt with the vandalism and now we would see how we survived the forest fire.

As described by Tom Kuekes, the District Ranger, the Day fire was a successful fire, no deaths, no major injuries, and no structures lost. Also, habitat that had not burned in fifty years will be replaced by new growth providing food and cover and open spaces for wildlife to move about. The fire burned in a mosaic pattern charring one side of a hill and leaving green growth on the other side.( Our group was amazed that the fire burned through a grassy meadow yet stopped at a barbed wire fence how do you explain that?) Obviously a lot of wildlife was lost due to the fire however pockets of chaparral, pine trees, and Manzanita provided cover for some wildlife. The smaller animals can’t outrun a fire but larger animals can, most birds succumb to smoke inhalation. We saw three deer leaving a spring that we developed several years ago, but the only birds observed were ravens.

We were pleasantly surprised that we found very little damage to our units, the concrete held up to the heat, only minor damage was observed at several sites and the repairs are being planned. We cleaned the ash and other debris off the rain aprons but were unable to check the quality of the water since it was frozen solid. The temperature was now up to 15 degrees. Our first project will be to build brush piles around the entrance to the water to provide safe cover for birds and small animals and if necessary pump the water out and replace it with clean water.

By 1:00PM we were on our way back to the ranger station to return our hard hats and keys and then to the local pizza parlor for lunch. By days end we drove a total of 2620 miles and donated 146 man hours.

It will be at least spring before the forest is open again to the public and by then I can envision a carpet of green growth and animals returning to their native range, and water provided by Quail Unlimited will be waiting for their return.

Join Santa Clarita Valley Quail Unlimited and help us restore the Los Padres Forest & Habitat for Wildlife.