Canebrake Ecological Reserve protects 6,700 acres in Kern County’s South Fork Valley, a fertile area settled early and long valued for mountain farming. Created through state land purchases beginning in 1994 and expanded in 2002 and 2005, it includes noncontiguous sections that help connect wildlife habitat with Sequoia National Forest. The reserve brings together cottonwood-willow riparian forest and a relict stand of Joshua trees, creating unusual habitat important to birds, including one of the nation’s largest populations of the federally endangered southwestern willow flycatcher. It is also a major center of restoration work to rebuild riparian and wetland habitat damaged by clearing and Lake Isabella’s creation.