Kettleman Hills Area

Located on the western margin of the San Joaquin Valley, this area best known as a petroleum field harbors several rare or endangered species. About 70% of the vegetative cover here is grassland, a mixture of endemics and exotics; Vulpia microstachys var. pauciflora and Puccinellia simplex are important natives. Much of the remaining area is a xeric shrub cover with alkali blite, Suaeda moquinii, iodine bush, Allenrolfea occidentalis, and quail bush, Atriplex lentiformis, among the more prominent species. The rare San Joaquin saltbush, Atriplex vallicola, occurs here.

Grassland animal species abound. Populations of the endangered blunt-nosed leopard lizard, Crotaphytus silus, and the rare San Joaquin kit fox, Vulpes macrotis mutica, are found in the area.

This area includes portions of the north and middle domes of the geologically young Kettleman Hills. Pliocene and Pleistocene sediments are in evidence.

Integrity: Sparsely settled, the area has a number of oil and/or gas wells and related structures, a network of dirt roads, and is now crossed by U. S. Highway 5 and the California Aqueduct. Present use has not been a major disturbance; however, increased agriculture in the area would be damaging.

Use: Private. In the Bureau of Land Management area, research, education.

Ref: Woodring, W. P. and others, 1940. Geology of the Kettleman Hills Oil Field, Calif. U. 5. Geol. Sur. Prof. Pap. 195

May 1975