Donald and Sylvia McLaughlin Reserve Annual Report

6. DONALD AND SYLVIA McLAUGHLIN NATURAL RESERVE NOTE: Not formally a UC reserve yet, waiting for Regents approval Faculty Reserve Manager - Dr. Robert Matthews (Geology) Reserve Steward - Kevin Williams Management Committee: appointed Fall 1991 Management Plan: draft being worked on Habitats: serpentine and nonserpentine chaparral, serpentine and nonserpentine grasslands, serpentine and nonserpentine riparian, oak woodland, serpentine cypresss Facilities: camping facilities, housing and lab facilities to be developed Environmental Monitoring and Baseline: Homestake Mine has an intensive multimillion dollar environmental monitoring program in place, incuding a network of climatic, water, and air quality stations tied directly into a computer database. Longterm monitoring of the limmnology of the Davis Creek Reservoir have continued from the initial establishment of the reservoir, as well as monitoring of the wildlife using the reservoir. Instructional Use: Dr. Robert Matthew's geology classes visited the site again this year. Research Use: A number of existing research studies continued at the site this year including the limnological studies of Dr. Charles Goldman and Dale Slotkin [Environmental Studies], as well as studies of Plecotus townsendii and other bat populations by biologists from Berkeley. Two new studies by UC students were initated this year: David Carmean [Entomology] received a UCD NRS Sudent Research Grant to study the insect fauna, and Denise Dunn from UC Irvine initiated a study of serpentine vegetation. Management Issues: 1. The Bureau of Land Management has agreed to the establishment of an 2,000 acre Area of Critical Concern in the Hunting Creek corridor adjacent to the Homestake Property. 2. The Hoinestake Mining Company has agreed to a phased establishment of the property as an NRS reserve. The first phase will be the establishment of relatively small areas to be used for the reserve, a number of other areas may be used for research by arrangement with Homestake. The final phase will involve the establishment of most of the Homestake property (about 8,000 -9,000 acres) and existing buildings as an environmental research station. 3. The UC Regents still need to give their approval for the establishment of this new reserve, this is expected to happen in the very near future. 4. A management committee was appointed in October in order to address a number of issues concerning the establishment of the reserve, as well as issues concerning the BLMs mangement planning for the surrounding area. 5. The BLM issued a draft of a mangement plan for the area proposing among other things the develpoment of an extensive network of offroad vehicles roads in the region, including some in the immediate area of the proposed reserve. The University, at the management committee's recommendation, requested some modifications in the BLM's plan so as to direct offroad vehicle use away from the proposed reserve. The BLM has cooperated in addressing the University's concerns.