General Information

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On  January 17, 2001, the President of the United States signed a proclamation designating the public lands of the Carrizo Plain as a National Monument.  Located in the southeastern portion of San Luis Obispo County and parts of southwestern Kern County, the Carrizo Plain encompasses nearly 250,000 acres (204,107 of federal land) and is home to 13 species of plants and animals which are federally or state listed as threatened or endangered.  Rich in Native American cultural values, the Carrizo was once an important area where the Chumash and Yokuts peoples traded, gathered food and held ceremonies.  The Salinan tribal group immediately to the north of the Carrizo Plain also used the area. The landscape still holds remnants of a past when dryland farming and ranching were the predominant ways of life on the Plain.

The Carrizo Plain is a narrow, valley grassland bordered on the east side by the Temblor Range and the San Andreas Fault.  The west side is bordered by the Caliente Range which gives the Carrizo Plain its highest elevation point of 5,106 feet.  The monument also includes the 19,000-acre of Caliente Mountain Wilderness Study Area.  With direct influence from the San Andreas fault, the Carrizo Plain contains a 3,000 acre seasonal alkali lake, along with numerous vernal pools and sag ponds.  Previously known as a "Natural Area", the Carrizo Plain will be  managed by the Bureau of Land Management in cooperation with the California Department of Fish and Game and The Nature Conservancy.