Bob has a long time interest in the Kern River Valley, the Southern Sierra, and SSRS. He has been actively involved in multiple conservation organizations in this area including serving on the board of Kern Community Foundation, California Wilderness Coalition, Kern River Valley Community Fund, Kern River Valley Heritage Foundation, Kern River Valley Chamber of Commerce, and Tulare County Audubon Society. During this time he helped to get multiple pieces of legislation passed to create wilderness areas in and around the Kern River Valley. As a co-founder of the Southern Sierra Research station in 1991, he was the first chair of its Board of Directors. Bob has a long-standing interest in birds and riparian conservation including chairing the California Riparian Habitat Joint Venture. He conducted one of the most extensive surveys of the riparian bird community in the Kern River Valley which involved walking several hundred miles in the South Fork of the Kern River. This work, his work as Audubon California Bird Conservation Programs Director, and his frequent guided bird walks have made him one of the local experts on birds and conservation in Southern California.
Robert A. Barnes
