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Title: Habitat restoration plan for Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 1, Kern County, California

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:6237780

In 1976 Congress directed that production on the US Department of Energy's (DOE) Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 1 (NPR-1) in Kern County, California, be increased to the maximum efficient rate to fulfill some United States needs for domestic oil and gas. The US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) issued a Biological Opinion, required under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, that proposed construction activities on NPR-1 would jeopardize the continued existence of the endangered San Joaquin kit fox (Vulpes macrotis mutica) and blunt-nosed leopard lizard (Gambelia silus) and damage their critical habitats. One of the reasonable and prudent alternatives that the FWS required if the project were to proceed was that DOE prepare this plan to restore disturbed habitats. The plan was based on published information and the results of habitat restoration studies conducted on NPR-1 between 1981 and 1983. Preconstruction surveys will be used to insure that new disturbances are the minimum size necessary, topsoil is salvaged, and engineering practices are implemented to control soil erosion and enhance revegetation. Existing disturbances will be located, inventoried, classified, and restored using existing guidelines. Native and naturalized plant seeds will be harvested and cultivated; shrub seedlings will be grown in containers suitable for transplantation. An inventory of disturbances, results of preconstruction activities, inventory of topsoil reserves, changes in habitat quality, uses of herbicides and toxic substances, and program costs will be monitored and used to document progress and evaluate the success of the program. Results of the program will be documented in an annual report, at technical information meetings and published in DOE topical reports and scientific journals. 46 refs., 1 fig. 4 tabs.

Research Organization:
EG and G Energy Measurements, Inc., Goleta, CA (USA). Santa Barbara Operations
DOE Contract Number:
AC08-83NV10282
OSTI ID:
6237780
Report Number(s):
EGG-10282-2081; ON: DE86007008
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English