Atwell Island Projects

Protecting Vital Habitat in California’s Central Valley

7,000-acre Atwell Island is located along the southeastern portion of the now-drained Tulare Lake, once the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi River. In 2010, ALC protected 50 acres of endangered species habitat at the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) Atwell Island Land Retirement Demonstration Project, conserving critical habitat for the Tipton kangaroo rat and other threatened species.

The acquisition consists of two adjoining parcels (10 acres and 40 acres) and is part of a continuing effort by the BLM to restore native valley grassland, wetlands, and alkali sink habitats on an area that for the past century was farmed for cotton, oats, and alfalfa.

The area also provides habitat for the San Joaquin kit fox, as well as several state-listed threatened species and species of special concern, including Swainson’s hawk, mountain plover, tricolored blackbird, burrowing owls, horned lizards greater sandhill cranes, and others. In all, 204 birds, 30 mammals, 13 reptiles, 4 amphibians, 24 butterflies, 12 dragonflies, and 171 plants in 44 families have been identified on the island.

ALC continues to work in partnership with BLM to acquire additional unprotected parcels to help restore the site's native habitats.