Open space at San Joaquin River national Wildlife Refuge

This shows the native grasslands returning at the San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge, managed by the US

Fish and Wildlife Service. This refuge in Stanislaus County is made up of 1,700 acres of riparian woodlands

near Modesto. Additional lands owned by the Lyons family have remained preserved and seen rebound in endangered

populations of the endangered Aleutian Canada Geese.  We met up with Bill Lyons at a Tuolumne River Trust

fundraiser at the end of our trip where  we met Bill Lyons and his family.  Even though the family once had

plans for development, they decided to protect it after a family member noticed a rookery of Egrets in the

trees and was moved to see the natural qualities preserved. Many of the willow trees in the foreground were

planted during restoration efforts. The preserve had abundant wildlife and gave me a feeling of floating

through an African savanna with its open grasslands, only no giraffes or hippos were sighted on this trip.