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Introduction to Vernal Pools
Vernal Pools and Human History
For many thousands of years tribes of
native people came to the vernal pool grasslands to collect food. As
recently as 1868, conservationist John Muir described his first view of
spring in the Central Valley vernal pool grassland. —Sauntering in
any direction my feet would brush about a hundred flowers with every step,
as if I were wading in liquid gold.— He carefully noted that
this natural flower garden was nearly 400 miles long and 30 miles wide.
Within 125 years of his visit, up to 90
percent of California’s vernal pools were gone. Most had been drained
and plowed to feed the ever-growing population of California and the
nation. In the furrows left by the plow, farmers still find the stone
mortars and pestles of the native people who had used the land before
them.
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Most of the vernal pools we find
today occur in the few large cattle ranches that remain in
California. As these ranches are converted to vineyards and new
communities, more vernal pools disappear. Military bases are the
other refuge for vernal pool grasslands. Much of the land within
their fences was not developed during the 1900s. As these bases
are converted to non-military uses, roads and buildings threaten
these vernal pools too.
Looking into a vernal pool is like
looking back in time. These temporary wetlands look much like they
did over 100,000 years ago. Visiting a vernal pool is like walking
into a time when animals roamed this land and there were no
people. You can see a piece of what John Muir described and
explore a unique part of California’s natural heritage. When you
are done, perhaps you can answer a question many people ask,
"What good are vernal pools, anyway?" |
Stone mortar used by native people to
grind
seeds and perhaps even fairy shrimp.
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