Getting Out: Pulling up to the Jepson Prairie Preserve, it would
be easy for the casual observer to dismiss the landscape as nothing
more than flooded pastureland. But it is actually a rare vernal
pool. The Central Valley was once a vast wetland where vernal pools
were common, but agriculture has erased all but a few.
I have to fess up. In the past, when I have traveled from the coast to the Sierra, I viewed the Central Valley as this broad featureless flatland which stood between me and my destination. My only interest in it was to get to the other side.
It turns out this is just another case of ignorance rearing its ugly head. The aesthetic charms of the oak-studded Coast Range or the granite peaks of the Sierra are emblazoned across the horizon like some sweeping movie marquis for all to see. But this past weekend, I learned that spectacular topography is not a requirement for natural magic.
Solano Land Trust has worked to protect nearly 20,000 acres of important open space in Solano County since its inception in 1986. They have four preserves, and I was fortunate to get a guided tour of the 1,556-acre Jepson Prairie Preserve that was purchased by the Nature Conservancy in 1980 and transferred to the Solano Land Trust in 1997.
Pulling up to the Jepson Prairie Preserve, it would be easy for the casual observer to dismiss the landscape as nothing more than flooded pastureland. But it is actually a rare vernal pool. The Central Valley was once a vast wetland where vernal pools were common, but agriculture has erased all but a few.
Our docent explained that a vernal pool is formed when an impermeable layer, in this case clay sediments that washed down eons ago from the nearby Coast Range, prevent rainfall from percolating down, thereby forming a small seasonal lake. Olcott Lake, the 93-acre ephemeral pool at Jepson Prairie Preserve, looks like a giant puddle of muddy water, but it is teeming with life. Over thousands of years, as this little lake forms each rainy season before evaporating, primitive bizarre creatures have learned to thrive here.
Creepy-crawly vernal tadpole shrimp, which look just like tiny (half inch or so) horseshoe crabs, survive in this brown soup among hordes of squirming fairy shrimp. Each year, they lay cysts that somehow persist through the hot dry summer and hatch when the pool returns the following season. These various shrimp were an important source of protein for Native Americans.
As the pool recedes under summer’s approaching heat, concentric rings of flowers are left behind. These displays can be stunning in wet years. Our visit was past the peak of the flower season, and this has not been a wet year, but bright yellow goldfields put on a fine show, and we stumbled on a few clumps of elegant Downingia.
Jepson Prairie is one of four preserves managed by the Solano Land Trust. You can learn more about King-Swett Ranches, Rush Ranch, and Lynch Canyon at: www.solanolandtrust.org (Rush Ranch will host its annual open house this Saturday, April 25, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. It will feature food, live music, a host of craft demonstrations including falconry, pony and wagon rides, and a lot more. Everything is free except the hot dogs. Details about the event as well as directions are available at: www.rushranch.net).
To get the most out of your visit to Jepson Prairie, I would plan for it to coincide with a docent-led tour. The charms of a place like this vernal pool are brought to life in a surprising way when a knowledgeable guide tells the story.
I learned by getting off my high horse and taking a closer look. The folks at the Solano Land Trust showed me there are considerable charms lurking there.
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Docents lead tours every Saturday and Sunday morning at 10 a.m. from early March through early May (May 10 is the last day this year). A small donation is requested. Directions to the preserve are available at the Solano Land Trust Web site.
