Cal Poly Master Plan Update

Draft June 25 1999

1. Preamble: Cal Poly Land encompasses nearly ten thousand acres in three large parcels--two in San Luis Obispo county, and one in Santa Cruz county. Cal Poly Land comprises one of the university's most valuable assets. It is an indispensable resource for education and research; it is the home of vital ecosystems and varied lifeforms; it is a haven for recreation and renewal; it is a fertile source of food and fibre; it is a legacy to preserve for future generations. This asset is bound to increase in value as California's population and development pressures mount and as environmental protection becomes a growing national priority. The Master Plan must articulate reasons why Cal Poly Land is held as a public trust and what the University's principles are for managing it.
2. Summary of Principles. Cal Poly will:
1. Explore, name, inventory, map, zone, describe and monitor the land and its environmental resources--animal, vegetable and mineral
2. Guarantee that present and projected future teaching and research uses of these environmental resources will be protected and fostered and will take precedence over other uses, including recreation and revenue generation .
3. Abide by the highest standards of natural resource management as steward of publically owned lands.
4. Promote campus-wide participation in long-range planning, protection, oversight and fair distribution of environmental resources
5. Join other Green Universities in a leadership role as models of environmental protection, education and innovation
3. Elaboration of Principles
1. Cal Poly will explore, name, inventory, map, zone, describe and monitor University lands and their flora and fauna
1. Rationale
1. Planning is decision making based on large-scale, long-term as well as detailed knowledge. Knowledge of the land is necessary for all decision-makers and is desirable for the whole community. Information must be systematically and collaboratively collected, processed, and disseminated to heighten awareness of Cal Poly lands' values.
2. Policies and Programs
1. Develop GIS database
2. Organize data with multiple categories
1. Watersheds
1. Brizziolari Creek
2. Horse Creek
3. Stenner Creek
4. Dairy Creek
5. Pennington Creek
6. Scotts Creek
2. Mountains and Ridges
1. Poly Mountain,
2. Horse Unit Mountain,
3. Swine Unit Mountain,
4. Radio Tower Hill,
5. White Cattle Ridge
3. Ecosystems
1. ponds, marshes, vernal pools, swales, riparian corridors, oak woodland, mixed hardwood, pine forest, chaparral, pasture, serpentine outcrop, cactus, sycamore groves
4. Roads and trails
1. jeep, mountain bike, hiking only
5. Historic locations
1. ranch names, cabins, homestead sites, mines, springs, rock corrals, mortar holes
6. Habitats
1. for common as well as rare and endangered animal and plant species, distinguishing native from exotic
7. Areas and objects of special value or significance
1. Ancient oaks, sycamores
2. Springs and vernal pools
3. Geological formations
3. Devise methods for officially naming landscape features
1. Historical
2. Memorial
3. Fund raising
4. Designate degraded or threatened areas as restoration sites
1. E.g. quarry in Poly Canyon, Erosion area under railroad tracks near Stenner Canyon, DWR right of way above railroad tracks
5. Designate present and potential land use categories and zones
1. Biology, Agriculture, NRM, Recreation, Aesthetics, Conservation, Habitat
6. Archive and disseminate information gathered
1. Make Inventory and Maps available to the University community and the public on an updated, maintained website linked to Cal Poly Home Page
2. Publish accurate detailed attractive Cal Poly lands map
3. Encourage student, faculty, grant-funded scientific and humanistic studies of Cal Poly land
1. Revise and update the Stechman Report on Cal Poly Land.
2. Promote new graphic, literary, and historical projects
2. The University will guarantee that teaching and research uses of Cal Poly Land are protected, and fostered and given precedence over other uses, including recreation and revenue generation.
1. Rationale
2. Cal Poly Land was acquired from donors who intended to promote the University's primary mission of transmitting and extending knowledge. Carrying out that educational mission--especially in fields of biology, agriculture and Natural Resource Management--requires the living laboratories that only extensive tracts of lands harboring a variety of ecosystems can provide. Growing demand for environmental protection and resource management by government, industry and the general public will increase career opportunities for Cal Poly graduates. The excellence of the university's programs in these areas relies upon the quality and quantity of its environmental assets.
3. Policies and Programs
1. Survey present and projected uses of Cal Poly's Environmental Resources by relevant Majors, Concentrations or Departments
1. Landscape Architecture and Environmental Design
2. Environmental Geography
3. Environmental Management
4. Environmental Science and Technology
5. Biology
1. Pennington Creek Biological preserve--200 acres
2. Bird Surveys at the Reservoirs
3. Native bunch grass studies
6. Environmental Biotechnology Institute
7. Environmental Horticultural Science
8. Bio-resource and Environmental Engineering
9. Soil Science
10. Natural Resources Management
1. Studies of Environmental damage and mitigation of State Water pipeline construction through campus
11. Recreation Administration and Physical Education
1. Park development and management
1. Trail building and maintenance
2. Nature preserve/botanical garden/ arboretum creation and promotion
12. Geology
13. History
1. Pre-historical archeological sites and sites of interest in California History
14. English
1. Classes on Nature poetry or romantic literature can be held in pastoral surroundings within walking distance of central campus
15. Philosophy
1. Classes on environmental ethics now given
2. Offer additional Environmental Studies courses and make them part of General Education
1. Work collaboratively with San Luis Obispo School District's Environmental Education Center at El Chorro Ranch, adjacent to Cal Poly Land
3. Promote classes and research projects by faculty and students emphasizing "Poly Ecology" and local environmental/natural resource issues
1. contribute to mapping and description of university lands
2. study the environmental, economic and social consequences of rapid conversion of cattle grazing lands to vineyards
3. study of the environmental and economic consequences of large scale gopher poisoning programs
4. study methods of economically viable small scale organic agricultural production
5. study the ways that tax benefits and other incentives can help to preserve agricultural land from overdevelopment [Ag Biz]
6. study ways that agricultural landowners have partnered with environmentalists
7. study environmental activism taught by local and guest experts
8. study present environmental issues
1. North Coast, SOAR, Wineries, City vs. County, Population growth, parks vs. habitats, etc.
9. Use as model the partnership between National Park Service and new UC Merced located in Sierra Nevada foothills
3. Abide by the highest standards of natural resource management as steward of publically owned lands..
1. Rationale
2. In addition to carrying out its primary mission of education and research through academic programs, the university functions as a prestigious and powerful institutional citizen. The donors of Cal Poly Land assumed that the University was qualified to hold precious assets in long term public trust. The university's treatment of its environmental resources wields direct influence in the community and teaches students by precept and example.
3. Policies and Programs
1. Maintain ecosystem health, diversity and integrity on Cal Poly Land
1. Abide by highest legal standards of environmental protection and maintenance
1. Never go lower than standards applying to private developers by state, county and city regulations and whenever possible go higher.
2. Require EIR with full opportunity for public input in planning any new construction outside central core of campus
3. Use all "Best Management Practices" to minimize negative impacts to riparian areas.
1. Incorporate all the principles in City of SLO Conservation and Open Space element regarding creek and riparian area protection, hillsides, viewsheds, agricultural buffers and maintaining Greenbelt around the city.
4. Prevent erosion through the planting of drought tolerant, native vegetation in a manner that is aesthetically pleasing.
5. Eliminate or minimize introduction and spread of non-native/invasive plants. Restore native plant communities
6. Build no roads that impinge on viewshed and create erosion without proper EIR and mitigation
2. Clean up and restore polluted or disturbed landscapes
1. e.g. along Brizziolari [cattle unit] and Stenner Creek [sheep unit], Smith Reservoir [horse unit], Architecture ruins in Poly Canyon
3. Avoid and reduce fragmentation of landscape
1. identify and preserve wildlife preserves and migration corridors
2. recognize and protect wild and semi-wild areas from any further development
3. Acquire land or easements to enlarge or link protected areas
4. Sell, trade or lease land only if exchange produces obvious environmental gains and if recipient's use can be assured to involve no environmental degradation
4. Protect all scenic resources and viewsheds on Cal Poly Land
2. Collaborate with neighboring governments, environmental organizations and private landowners to protect community environmental assets
1. link up with city and county open space, greenbelt and agricultural land initiatives
1. the Morros committee
2. Packard Foundation
3. Land Conservancy of SLO
4. The Nature Conservancy
5. Acknowledge that Cal Poly land lies within the City of San Luis Obispo Greenbelt area [San Luis Obispo Planning Area General Plan 4-9] and continue to participate in the development of Greenbelt program providing hard edge for Urban border
6. Declare Poly's willingness to serve as steward or recipient of surplus Government Land, such as Camp San Luis Obispo
2. Recreational
1. Work with Sierra Club and other organizations to build and maintain trail systems through Cal Poly land and connecting with adjacent lands.
3. Develop conservation agreements with neighbors
1. ranch owners in Stenner Canyon
2. Harold Miossi
3. Eleanor Trucchio
4. Cal Poly will promote campus-wide participation in long-range planning, protection, oversight and fair distribution of its environmental assets
1. Rationale
2. Cal Poly Land attracts the claims of many interests. Those of housing, parking, athletics, commercial development, utility easements, and agricultural leases compete with the higher priorities of teaching, research and land stewardship. Further competition flourishes within those priorities. Protection of a reservoir serving as a bird sanctuary used for field study by biology classes competes with agriculture's use of its banks for livestock grazing. Procedures must be established to establish and enforce consistent, fair and open adjudication of these claims-- procedures modeled upon those developed by government for land use decision and environmental protection. An official voice must be appointed to speak for the environment itself.
3. Policies and Programs
1. Define resource uses by the Master Plan rather than by funding from donors
2. Incorporate environmental impact review at the first stage of any development proposal rather than after resources have been invested in the creation of any plan
3. Promote a higher level of environmental review and input than required by law to set standard and example
4. Create a position of environmental caretaker, advocate and monitor, one like the County of San Luis Obispo's environmental coordinator
5. Employ the expertise of Cal Poly faculty in environmental protection by allowing for release time for professional consulting
6. Create a Land Conservancy/Land Trust type of body to acquire and manage donations of additional land or conservation easements
7. Establish a permitting system to forestall uses of Cal Poly land that would violate these principles and also that would adjudicate among competing users
8. Establish written policies and procedures for granting of easements to outside agencies that allow no damage of environmental resources
5. Join other Green Universities in a leadership role as models of environmental protection, education and innovation
1. Rationale
2. The last five years have seen the worldwide growth of a movement to make universities agents for environmental reform, known variously as Green Universities or Universities for Sustainability. Recognizing the position of Universities as powerful, independent but affiliated institutions, as producers and disseminators of knowledge, as agents of reform, as molders of the next generation, students, faculty and administrators at institutions like University of Colorado at Boulder, Tufts University and the University of Kansas have committed themselves to environmental leadership. In addition to adopting responsible environmental policies for its own campus, Cal Poly should identify itself as part of this movement.
3. Policies and Programs
1. Continue Provosts programs
1. Provost's forum
2. staff and student hikes
2. Join Green Campus movement
1. Develop contacts with Center for Regenerative Studies at Cal Poly Pomona, Campus Center for appropriate technology at Humboldt State and other CSU Environmental organizations
2. President Baker should sign The Talloires Declaration signed by more than 200 University Presidents
3. Develop a "green" Cal Poly slogan and logo
1. e.g. "Stewards of the Land"
4. Sponsor a conference of University Presidents for a Sustainable Future at Cal Poly
5. Perform environmental audit on campus activities
6. Reduce Campus Waste
7. Maximize Energy efficiency
8. Promote Recycling
1. Blue recycling baskets in every office
2. Recycling containers everywhere on campus
9. Institute environmentally responsible purchasing policy
10. Develop a transportation policy that discourages presence of automobiles on campus
1. Continue and expand [not discontinue] bus subsidy
2. Deal with parking shortage on campus not by building more garages on the central campus and thereby encouraging vehicular traffic, but by providing better bicycle facilities, off campus "Park and Ride" facilities, and shuttle busses.
11. Divest Foundation investments in Polluter Companies
4. Management principles for specific Cal Poly Landscapes
1. Campus Core
2. Policies and Programs
1. Review all campus core projects in terms of their impact on resources and environmental concerns.
2. Use Sustainable landscaping practices-shift from exotic species to longer lived native species
1. Promote water conservation in materials, installation and management
2. Improve plant suitability
3. Promote species and age diversity
4. De-intensify eucalyptus trees
3. Maximize natural resource values
1. habitat values
2. habitat and open space linkages
3. Enlarge/preserve existing open space and promote tree planting, encourage core transportation via bike, trams
3. Agricultural Fields
1. Description
1. This area extends from the campus core to the rising hillsides and over to Highway 1 and west to Cheda Ranch.
2. Academic assets.
1. The fields of agriculture are the laboratories of the College of Agriculture.
2. Soils on many of these fields are uniquely rich
3. Reservoirs and runoff ponds within this area serve as wildlife habitat and sanctuaries
1. Smith, Shepherd, Indonesian, Cheda
3. Policies and Programs
1. Require approval of Faculty Senate for withdrawal of lands from any instructional or research uses associated with Agriculture, Natural Resource Management or Biology
2. Review fields and their uses in terms of environmental concerns including noise, smell, etc.
3. List structures on AG/Open Space land that are of historic or significant value and retain them for educational and historical purposes.
4. Retain as agricultural production zones all Class I and Class II soil on lands under the control of the College of Agriculture (opposite side of railroad tracks) and the Campus Core (this side of the railroad tracks).
5. Endorse the principles set forth in the Storm Water Prevention Plan (SWPP), which is a plan to control erosion and runoff during the wet season. (FNR 435)
6. Minimize use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers
7. Develop and maintain a pesticide and nutrient monitoring program or application rates and runoff from agricultural fields and other sources of nutrient pollution, such as the Dairy Unit. (FNR 435)
8. Perform a thorough inventory of the Cal Poly campus to determine which unbuilt/undeveloped lands are suitable/unsuitable for structures/buildings based upon soil mantle characteristics, bedrock, and local earthquake faults. (FNR 435)
9. Use all "Best Management Practices" to minimize negative impacts to riparian areas. (FNR 435)
10. Set design standards for all agricultural buildings and structures to comply with County Sensitive Resource Area and Highway Corridor Design Area Specifications
4. Ridgeline and Hillsides
1. Description
1. The ridgeline is the dominant visual backdrop for the campus and defines its territorial range. Cal Poly is at the edge of a wilderness and the hillsides provide the buffer between the urban core of the school and the outback areas.
2. Academic assets.
1. Provides an outdoor environment for classes that is within walking distance of the core campus.
3. Policies and Programs
1. Balance proximity to core (i.e. appropriateness for development) with environmental and viewshed concerns.
2. Adopt City of SLO Conservation-Open Space Element OS 2.2.4 Statutes and allow no more roads to be gouged into hillsides
3. Adopt City of SLO OS 2.3.1: "The City, County, and Cal Poly should adopt...hillside development standards that fulfill the intent of this Element’s policies.
4. Re-vegetate the firebreak on Poly Mountain
5. Clean up Poly Mountain including the P. Make new reservoir and fencing less of an eyesore
6. Plant native trees in deforested areas with volunteer campus tree planting program
7. Encourage growth of young oaks by fencing reproduction areas from livestock
5. Poly Canyon including Peterson Ranch
1. Description
1. The Canyon provides a direct route to the deeper wilderness of Cal Poly’s great landholdings. The steep walls and rolling hillsides protect a rich variety of flora and fauna.
2. Academic assets.
1. This area is used extensively by biology students, natural resource management classes, ROTC, and cattle operations in animal science. The Canyon offers a serene setting for studies using the natural resources and those that come for something more spiritual.
3. Policies and programs
1. Preserve habitat for endangered species
1. Serpentine grasses and other native grasses, native oaks
2. Protect aesthetic and promote recreational values
1. Seclusion and quiet and insulation from light pollution, despite closeness to campus core and city
2. Varied and dramatic landforms
3. Plant and protect native oaks to mitigate losses of small trees to livestock grazing and large trees to old age
4. Designate Poly Canyon as a preserve for the study of ecosystems and utilized for educational purposes, protection of flora and fauna and recreation.
5. Close Poly Canyon road to all but official vehicular traffic
1. To lower impact on wildlife
2. For safety and enjoyment of pedestrians and bicycle riders
3. To reduce erosion and need for road maintenance
4. To promote non vehicular uses
6. Discontinue quarrying activities and restore disturbed landscape at quarry
7. Work with Sierra Club and other student groups to develop and maintain hiking trail system
6. Stenner Canyon
1. Description
1. Farther from the core than Poly Canyon, Stenner offers more pristine examples of coastal scrub and, eventually, an avenue to the rare serpentine ridge with endemic species not yet degraded by the grasses of Europe and Africa.
2. Academic assets.
1. Natural laboratory adjacent to Los Padres National Forest but close enough for field study within regular class periods
2. Biology
1. Rare and endangered species habitat studies
3. Agricultural
1. Sheep and cattle grazing; experimentation with pasture/grassland planting and cultivation principles
4. Natural resource management
1. Opportunity for experimentation with reforestation of degraded or non regenerative oak groves due to livestock grazing
2. Watershed study on Stenner creek and tributaries
3. Watershed biosystems can be studied as integrated wholes and compared with those on Western ranches
5. Recreation administration
1. Center for Teaching and Learning, ASI
2. hiking, mountain biking, trail riding, wilderness camping.
3. ASI's "Chumash Challenge" Program using campus outdoor recreation facilities for training and enjoyment.
3. Policies and Programs
1. Abide by regulations for Special Resource Area because its viewshed for the railroad and Highway 1
2. Protect ancient oak groves, unusual cliffs and rock formations, extraordinary views of Morros and Ocean, year-round creeks and cascades, direct access to Los Padres National Forest
3. Reduce fragmentation of landscapes
1. Maintain wildlife corridors and continuity with National Forest Lands
4. Study and mitigate effects of built environment--railroad, pipeline construction, roads, on erosion and habitats
7. Western Ranches
1. Description
1. Three thousand acres rising up from Chorro Valley, across from the plutonic remains of Hollister Peak, the western ranches offer agricultural and biological resources both typically and valuably a part of the original California coastal landscape.
2. Academic assets.
1. Agriculture
1. Grazing, Vineyards, Dry farming, potential for organic farming
2. NRM
1. Paired watershed studies and experiments with restoration and control of sedimentation and runoff--in connection with National Estuary program for Morro Bay
2. Fire control classes have access to landscapes like remote ones and steep hillsides and canyons; an opportunity to learn topography
3. Biology
1. 200 acre wildlife preserve now exists on Escuela Ranch
4. Education/Recreation Administration
1. Adjoining County Environmental Education center and SLO Botanical garden in Chorro Park
3. Policies and Programs
1. Reduce fragmentation of landscapes
1. Maintain wildlife corridors
2. Contiguity to Los Padres National Forest and projected Santa Margarita Ranch preserve
3. Study Watershed biosystems as integrated wholes
2. Collaborate with County Open Space/Agriculture programs and Land trusts to keep this land protected
3. Partner with adjoining Rancho El Chorro and SLO botanical Gardens to expand Environmental education programs
8. Swanton Pacific Ranch
1. Description
1. This jewel on the Pacific coast of Santa Cruz is a 3,000 acre gift to the university rich with forest and other biological resources. Swanton offers opportunities of education remote from our school, yet soon to be intricately tied to Cal Poly.
2. Academic assets.
1. Residential Summer school classes
2. Events planning
3. Community market
4. Public use for recreation
5. Forestry classes--on natural cycles of change; adaptation of forests to sustained yield forestry
6. Longitudinal studies of tree growth under different logging practices
1. Senior projects
7. Forest health; silviculture
8. Forestry and legal regulations in Santa Cruz county
9. Management of coastal trails
3. Policies and Programs
1. Promote ethical land use.
2. Preserve the forest and other coastal resources associated with the "Swanton Ranch" property for educational purposes, with the exception of a portion reserved for natural resource management.
3. Carry out logging only in accordance with the highest standard of habitat and forest protection--i.e. according to a "selection system" whereby the forest is culled of inferior specimens and species diversity is maintained, and not according to the "selective" or "high-grading" system whereby the largest and most valuable specimens are harvested for maximum commercial value.
4. Rule out maximizing short term revenue from logging at expense of long term management goals
5. Appendix: Soliciting more input
1. Send draft copy to all departments named plus selected individuals--with letters asking for additional input--especially about their projects and needs-- and names of other faculty who should be approached