Maps of Los Padres National Forest: 1925-2012

10 February 202110 February 2021 ~ Pseudogryps

During the middle decades of the 20th century, all California condors depended on habitat found within the Los Padres National Forest. This national forest was key to the survival of the species.

With that in mind, I collected 7 maps of the Los Padres National Forest published by the federal government’s Forest Service. These are maps intended for the public. They reveal something of the “multiple uses” management of the forest, including the designation of areas for the condor. More importantly, because they include supplementary information about the forest, the maps serve as guides to the forest, including its most famous avian residents.

So here’s a look at these maps.

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An island refuge?

20 April 20209 April 2020 ~ Pseudogryps

In the 1950s, concern about the extinction of the California condor led to a proposal to move California condors to an island in the Pacific Ocean. Here’s a look at that idea.

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Regional field guides & checklists: 1964-2009

27 June 201928 March 2020 ~ Pseudogryps

Thomas R. Dunlap’s excellent In the Field, among the Feathered: a History of Birders and Their Guides (Oxford University Press, 2011) describes how bird guides gradually improved over time. One important innovation was the development of place- or region-specific guides and checklists.

In this post, I note 7 such guides and checklists with an eye on the California condor.

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