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AN ECOLOGICAL EVALUATION OF BROVELLI WOODS, SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY WITH AN EMPHASIS UPON VEGETATION AND LAND USE INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES OF THE VEGETATION ANALYSIS The property known as Brovelli Woods is located in northwestern San Joaquin County. The parcel has several local names including Brovelli Woods, referring to the long-time owners and the tract of forest bordering the Mokelumne River, Jahant Slough, referring to the slough and a nearby community, and Tracy Lakes, referring to the two ephemeral lakes on the property. For the rest of this report I will refer to the property as Brovelli Woods . The Nature Conservancy was approached by the property owners , the Catwil Group, and asked if they might be interested in acquiring a conservation easement on a portion of this 860 acre property. The Nature Conservancy requested this site evaluation to assist them in making a decision regarding the conservation easement. The site evaluation has five primary objectives: first, to describe the vegetation of the property with particular attention to the OAK forest bordering the Mokelumne River; second, to identify the major ecological values of the site ; third, to evaluate the effects of anticipated uses upon ecological values ; fourth, to suggest potential areas suitable for habitat restoration efforts ; and fifth, to identify particular areas of concern requiring further investigation or negotiation. DESCRIPTION OF THE SITE The boundaries of the 860 acre Brovelli Woods property follow the Mokelumne River to the south and Forest Lake Road to the north. The eastern edge is bounded by vineyards and on the west, the pasture is grazed by livestock. On the Lodi North 7. 5 " topographic map (see Figure 1 ) the property lies in township 4N, range 6E, sections 9 and 10 as well as an unsurveyed section to the west, part of the Sanjon de los Moquelumnes land grant (Figure 1 ) . By road, the property can be reached by driving north from Stockton on Interstate 5 , taking the J12 exit and following J12 to its intersection with J10 , then driving north along J10 to the intersection with Forest Lake Road. Follow Forest Lake Road to the west, past all the houses , and make a left turn towards the locked gate after you have passed the vineyards. Visually , the property is dominated by three features: the two large and linear lake beds, an oak-buckeye savanna and a densely canopied, largely evergreen forest bordering the Mokelumne River. The terrain is rolling with obvious microrelief relating to drainage channels . In April of 1989 four long and narrow treeless "transects" were cut into the western portion of the forest and will be developed into fairways for a golf course. 1