Preserving and Enhancing Nature’s Wonders

One of Tejon Ranch’s most significant treasures is its oak population, as countless trees, some as old as 400 years or more, dot the landscape.

“The largest and most pristine oak woodland in the state” is how Reed Holderman, executive director of Trust for Public Land, described this resource, when the ranch announced its partnership with TPL to permanently preserve up to 100,000 acres of pristine lands including oak habitat.

Nine species are found on the ranch including the scrub oak, canyon live oak, blue oak, brewer oak, tucker’s oak, California black oak, valley oak, shrubby live oak and interior live oak.

Generally, the oaks are identified according to four broad categories: oak woodland, oak scrub, oak riparian and oak savannah. All the oak communities serve as major sources of food, cover and breeding habitat for a variety of wildlife species.

• Oak woodlands refer to oak-dominated communities where overall tree cover is greater than 10 percent and tree canopies/crowns are largely overlapping.
• Oak savannahs are most often described as grasslands with large oak trees where overall tree cover is between 1 and 10 percent and adjacent tree crowns seldom overlap.
• Scrub oak habitat is typically found in arid habitats on south-facing hillsides with shallow soils.
• Riparian oak habitat usually is found on upper banks of streambeds.

Tejon Ranch is committed to protecting and managing its oak resources through a comprehensive oak management plan. The plan provides overall guidelines for the preservation, propagation, restoration and management of the oaks through the best-known science and technologies available.

The plan pays particular attention to monitoring the health of the larger, older “heritage” oaks, which generally are greater than five feet in diameter and stand alone or in small clumps. These large trees are valuable for shade, aesthetics and frequently provide habitat for a particular species and are important from a historical perspective.