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Management Excellence Supported by Science
The long term health of the rare species and ecosystems on the Irvine Ranch Natural Landmarks depends on excellent resource management driven by cutting-edge science. Innovation in these areas is a fundamental part of the Irvine Ranch Conservancy’s work. IRC’s Stewardship team conducts collaborative projects with partners, academic colleagues and public agencies that ensure the best science and practices are applied to long-term management of the land. IRC and its partners and volunteers work on a wide variety of stewardship and management activities on the Natural Landmarks. These include habitat restoration in the Coastal wildlands of El Moro Canyon working with Crystal Cove State Park, and restoration in Willow Canyon in Orange County’s Laguna Coast Wilderness Park. IRC is also beginning a cactus scrub restoration project with funding from the California Department of Fish and Game. All the seeds and plants that were planted at the sites are from local sources. Planting seed in the two Coastal restoration sites was completed in late December after the first flush of weeds was eliminated and just in time for light winter rains. Sites were planted with native grasses and coastal sage scrub plants ranging from seven to 18 species. Oaks were also planted in December at the Willow Canyon site as part of the effort to restore the woodland once found there. Weeds will be controlled and the sites monitored for two to five years. Another current stewardship project is planting of many-stemmed dudleya (Dudleya multicaulis), a cactus-like plant that is under threat in California due primarily to habitat loss. The Irvine Company donated approximately 400 dudleya plants to IRC, which were salvaged from development areas in Bonita Canyon. The plants were relocated to Bommer Canyon in the City of Irvine’s Open Space Preserve. Stewardship projects are an easy way for volunteers to get involved in helping protect and restore the Natural Landmarks. IRC has an active Land Steward program that involves dozens of people in ongoing projects as well as provides opportunities for organized groups to spend a day on the land pulling weeds or planting native habitat. Other projects that involve volunteers include: 
(1) Remote Wildlife Monitoring: Volunteers maintain and collect data from remote cameras that have been placed throughout the land to record
wildlife activity patterns.
(2) Oak Woodland Restoration: Volunteers assist in planting oaks and comparing the success of different techniques for restoration of this
important and rare native habitat.
(3) Cactus scrub restoration: Staff and volunteers help to establish cactus scrub and compare techniques to learn best practices for restoring this
globally-rare habitat.
To learn more about Resource Management and Stewardship projects on the Irvine Ranch, visit http://www.irconservancy.org/stewardship/science.aspx. To get involved or inquire about volunteer opportunities for your group, visit http://www.irvineranchwildlands.org/involved/opMain.asp. |