Swanton Pacific Ranch
The ranch is owned and operated by California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) for educational and research in sustainable agriculture.
The ranch encompasses rangeland, livestock, and forestry operations for the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences, comprises a significant part of the community of Swanton, and includes the lower Scott Creek watershed.
In November 1843, the land was granted to Ramon Rodriguez and Francisco Alviso by the Mexican Governor of California Manuel Micheltorena.
The land grant, named Rancho Agua Puerca y las Trancas, meaning "Hog Water and the Bars", was confirmed by president Andrew Johnson on March 1, 1867.
To manage the dairy farm he hired Ambrogio Gianone, a Swiss immigrant who constructed the cheese house in 1867 and the barn in 1880 which are still standing.
"The landscape is different here than on campus," notes natural resource management Professor Brian Dietterick, a certified hydrologist and the ranch's director.
The Al Smith House is located on the east side of Swanton Road, just north of the Cal Fire station.
The Staub House has a living area upstairs for resident graduate students, and a kitchen which serves the yurts on the lower level.
The Yurts, located in front of the Staub House provide accommodations for forty people on field trips to Swanton Ranch.
[10] Swanton Pacific Ranch is a self-sustaining non-profit organization and educational institution that provides hands-on learning about sustainable resource management.
Management activities range from prime commercial Redwood/Douglas fir forests to restoring poor quality damaged stands and improving the genetic base of native Monterey pine trees.
These properties provide Cal Poly SLO students with an excellent "learn by doing" opportunity that encompasses the full spectrum of forest management.
To accomplish the goals of the program, Cal Poly SLO provides the most up to date and innovative management practices available to minimize environmental damage during the harvest.
Each stand will have an ongoing evaluation data sheet developed to measure environmental factors such as effects on the trees due to disease, mass land movements and fire.
A mixture of both natural and planted stands of Monterey pines and a variety of hardwood trees including riparian forest make up this unit.
Cal Poly is considering building a hauling road across Scott's Creek to provide permanent access for the railroad and vehicles.
Following a baseline and grid system report done in November 1999, a Continuous Forestry Inventory (CFI) was completed by Steve Auten in January 2000.
The proper management includes monitoring, removing dead and diseased trees, and maintaining a healthy stand.
Possible insect infestation could include borers, moths, caterpillars, beetles (red turpentine) and aphids.
[3] The department raises all natural grain-fed and grass fed beef in the meadowlands at the ranch, selling it twice a year on campus.
[20] Cropland area is approximately 115 acres (47 ha), all of it CCOF Certified organic production of vegetables and oat hay.
[21] Dr. Dietterick, Brian Long-term Evaluation of Suspended Sediment Exiting a Coastal Mountain Stream Following Selection Timber Harvesting Activities.
[22] Long-Term Water Quality, Geomorphic, and Habitat Evaluation of a California Coastal Mountain Stream Following Selection Timber Harvesting Activities Full Report This project is essentially an augmentation of an existing ARI project (00–3–011) which uses a paired watershed design to study the effects of timber harvesting practices on water quality.
Sophisticated interaction between instream sensors and automated water quality samplers will maximize sampling efficiency and statistical validity of the results.
The ability of high-resolution laser altimetry to accurately identify and evaluate watershed and channel characteristics will be investigated.
Comparisons will be made between field-mapped inner gorge areas, streamside landslides, and channel characteristics with the same landscape features generated with digital terrain models derived from the laser altimetry.
A model will be developed to identify areas susceptible to streamside landslides to help predict potential sediment sources for the cumulative effects analysis and to possibly warrant additional WLPZ (watercourse and lake protection zone) considerations.
[23] Dr. Piirto, Doug Silviculture Management Strategies for Pitch Canker Infected Ano Nuevo Stands of Monterey Pine Full Report Pitch Canker (Fusarium subglutinans) has become a major cause of growth loss, mortality, and associated economic impacts in California Monterey pine forests.
An initial ARI grant was awarded to cover the first three of six proposed objectives: 1) install a Continuous Forest Inventory System for the Scotts Creek Study Area; 2) collect seed from Monterey pine pitch canker resistant trees; 3) plant this resistant seed in greenhouse nurseries; $0 outplant these resistant seedlings as part of the group selection experimental design; 5) evaluate the effectiveness of broadcast seeding; and 6) develop a model to visually characterize the influence of pitch canker on Monterey pine stands.
Development of Pitch Canker Resistant Stock of Monterey Pine, Ano Nuevo Stand Major Objective (s): 1.)
