Conservation
Welcome to The Bird Ranch
The Bird Ranch at San Luis Creek is situated along the last remaining riparian stretches of San Luis Creek and is cared for as a working conservation landscape.
​
The land is managed with the intention to support wetland restoration, native habitat, and migratory bird corridors, including areas dedicated to Monarch butterfly habitat through native milkweed plantings.
​
Conservation here is an ongoing commitment woven into how the land is stewarded, restored, and respectfully shared with those who stay on the ranch.
Wetland & Butterfly Restoration
The Bird Ranch at San Luis Creek plays a small but meaningful role in supporting migratory birds. butterflies, and riparian ecosystems
Responsible Use of the Land
The Bird Ranch’s approach to stewardship has been featured in a PBS short documentary, Growing Forward | The Big Tell, exploring how working agricultural lands can also support wildlife and healthy ecosystems. Watch the short film › https://youtu.be/SGzjjR0TfjI
Eco-Conscious & Nature-Centered Weddings
The Bird Ranch is an eco-friendly wedding venue rooted in stewardship, restoration, and respect for the land. Native landscaping, wetland preservation, and thoughtful use of historic structures allow couples to celebrate in a setting that honors both beauty and sustainability.
Agriculture and Bird Migration
The introduction of irrigation in the 1870’s made it possible for agriculture to flourish in the San Joaquin Valley. The Westside is now one of the most fertile, productive, and diverse farming regions in the United States.
​
Agriculture has become more important to wetland conservation as habitat degradation and fragmentation continue. Waterfowl arriving in the Central Valley during annual migrations require a rich diet in carbohydrates and often eat crops because they are widespread, easily accessible, and provide the needed high levels of carbohydrates. Additionally, invertebrate populations that live in flooded agricultural fields provide essential increased protein requirements during molt and egg-laying periods, as well as necessary habitat and forage for wintering and breeding shorebirds and riparian songbirds.
The Landscape of San Luis Creek
This landscape was shaped over thousands of years by the deposition of sediment across merged deltas, floodplains, and alluvial fans formed by more than 200 streams flowing down from surrounding mountain ranges, including San Luis Creek itself.
Long before Spanish explorers entered the region, the Yokuts people lived along the banks of San Luis Creek, sustained by its seasonal waters, wetlands, and abundant birdlife. The creek served as a gathering place and life-giving pathway through an otherwise dry and open plain, supporting generations of Indigenous stewardship. Thousands of large hoofed herbivores such as elk, antelope, and deer roamed the valley floor, while populations of waterfowl and shorebirds numbered in the millions. These interconnected habitats formed a resilient and diverse ecosystem capable of surviving both extreme drought and seasonal flooding.
The landscape changed dramatically in the 19th and early 20th centuries with the introduction of domestic animals, non-native species, and the rise of modern agriculture. Dams, canals, and land leveling altered natural waterways, and many small streams disappeared. The construction of the San Luis Dam in 1962 permanently blocked the upstream flow of San Luis Creek. Today, the creek corridor is sustained by backwater from the Main Canal, yet it continues to provide essential riparian habitat and a critical nesting area for great blue herons, egrets, and other bird species.
Life on The Bird Ranch
Conservation Partnership &
The Pacific Flyway
​
The Bird Ranch at San Luis Creek is part of a much larger conservation story shaped by collaboration and shared stewardship. We are deeply grateful for the partnership and support of Grassland Water District Education Fund, Central California Irrigation District (CCID), Ducks Unlimited, and Valley Eco, whose dedication has been instrumental in protecting and restoring critical habitat throughout the region. These organizations have been remarkable partners in our ongoing conservation journey.
​
San Luis Creek lies within the Pacific Flyway, one of North America’s most important north–south migration routes for birds, stretching from Alaska to Patagonia. Along this flyway sits the Grassland Ecological Area (GEA), an internationally significant landscape and the largest contiguous block of wetlands west of the Mississippi River. Each fall and winter, the Central Valley hosts one of the largest concentrations of migratory birds in the world, making this region essential to the survival of countless species.
​
In the 1800s, the Central Valley supported more than four million acres of wetlands, sustaining an estimated 20 to 40 million waterfowl annually. Today, more than 95% of those historic wetlands and over 90% of riparian habitats have been lost to agricultural and urban development. Of the approximately 300,000 acres that remain, the Grassland Ecological Area represents a rare and irreplaceable refuge preserved through decades of public and private investment and strong partnerships.
​
Situated within this vital flyway, The Bird Ranch at San Luis Creek plays a small but meaningful role in supporting migratory birds and riparian ecosystems. Our work reflects the belief that conservation succeeds best through cooperation, care, and long-term commitment to shared values we are proud to uphold alongside our partners.
Native American Life
The area of San Luis Reservoir was once occupied by Native Americans, including the Yokut and Matsun Tribes, which had settlements all along the San Luis Creek.
​
When Gabriel Moraga and his troops came to scout potential mission sites in 1805, they brought with them the demise of the local native communities.
​
Little is known about the life of the Yokuts or Matsuns before the arrival of Europeans. The tribes had organized social and political structures and advanced skills to live off the land. The Yokuts used the reeds and tules around the wetlands for everything, from baskets to houses to the canoes they used to travel. Native people’s diet consisted of hunting and gathering salmon, waterfowl, large game like pronghorn antelope and tule elk, seeds, marsh cattail roots, and acorns.
