Kern River Preserve is a 3,000-acre riparian reserve near Weldon, California, along the South Fork Kern River, within one of the state’s largest remaining contiguous riparian forests and a Globally Important Bird Area. Once part of Andrew Brown’s nineteenth-century ranch, the land was gradually protected beginning in 1979 and passed to the National Audubon Society in 1998, with more parcels added afterward. The river and its flood-renewed alluvial soils sustain rare Great Valley cottonwood forest and important habitat for the endangered southwestern willow flycatcher and other sensitive birds. The preserve also supports research, conservation management, and public nature programs.