Drive west into Del Puerto Canyon from Patterson and you’ll climb into San Antonio Valley cradled between the ridgelines of the Coastal Range.It is here amid oaks and brush that has just turned golden that a herd of tule oak roam on a 3,282-acre nature reserve. There are little signs of civilization save an occasional ranch house, a barn or two and three paved main roads between Mt. Hamilton to the south and Lake Del Valle near Livermore to the north.Less than 20 years ago the Gods of California Freeways got then Congressman Richard Pombo’s ear.