University of California Natural Reserve System

The University of California Natural Reserve System (UCNRS) is a system of protected areas throughout California.[1] The reserves support UC's mission of teaching, research, and public service. Unlike national and state parks, they are not available for recreational uses, because they were specifically created to enable UC scientists to conduct research free from such distractions.

Bodega Marine Lab, Bodega Marine Reserve

The system began with UC Berkeley zoology professor Joseph Grinnell. In 1937, near the end of his career, Grinnell began to work on a proposal to establish UC's first wildland field station for zoology teaching and research. He had initially looked to the U.S. national parks for research sites, but became frustrated with the National Park Service and how its other priorities often got in the way of his priorities. Grinnell became convinced that only a natural reserve owned by the university itself "would provide the permanent protection necessary for long-term teaching, research, and monitoring of California's ecosystems."[2]

Grinnell did not live long enough to see his proposal succeed. In May 1939, two weeks after Grinnell's sudden death from a heart attack, the Regents of the University of California voted to accept his proposal and created the oldest reserve in the system, Hastings Natural History Reservation.[2]

On January 22, 1965, at the suggestion of Kenneth S. Norris, the UC Board of Regents voted to formally join together Hastings and six other reserves into the Natural Land and Water Reserves System.[3] In 1970, it was renamed to the Natural Reserve System.

List of reserves
Reserve Campus Area (ha) Area (Acre) Coordinates Web Notes
Angelo Coast Range ReserveBerkeley3,1667,91539°43′45″N 123°38′40″W[4]On the South Fork of the Eel River.
Protected by The Nature Conservancy (TNC).
Año Nuevo Island ReserveSanta Cruz102537°6′30″N 122°20′10″W[5]On Año Nuevo Island.
UC manages site within the larger Año Nuevo State Reserve, owned and operated by California State Parks.
Blue Oak Ranch ReserveBerkeley1,3193,26037°22′53″N 121°44′14″W[6]In the Diablo Range, northwest of Mount Hamilton.
Bodega Marine ReserveDavis17643638°18′25″N 123°3′54″W[7]On Bodega Bay.
Box Springs ReserveRiverside6516033°59′31″N 117°17′43″W[8]Adjacent to the Riverside campus.
Philip L. Boyd Deep Canyon Desert Research CenterRiverside6,74916,87333°35′N 116°20′W[9]In the Santa Rosa Mountains, near Palm Desert.
Burns Piñon Ridge ReserveIrvine12430634°8′20″N 116°27′10″W[10]In the Mojave Desert, near Joshua Tree National Park.
Carpinteria Salt Marsh ReserveSanta Barbara9323034°24′N 119°31′W[11]In Carpinteria.
Chickering American River ReserveBerkeley6951,72039°14′48″N 120°19′31″W[12]In the headwaters basin of the North Fork of the American River, Sierra Nevada.
Coal Oil Point Natural ReserveSanta Barbara6817034°25′N 119°52′W[13]Adjacent to the Santa Barbara campus. Coal Oil Point seep field is offshore.
Dawson Los Monos Canyon ReserveSan Diego9323033°8′30″N 117°15′20″W[14]In the northwestern Laguna Mountains.
Elliott Chaparral ReserveSan Diego4310732°52′6″N 117°8′33″W[15]At former Camp Kearny, on the Kearny Mesa.
Emerson Oaks ReserveRiverside10225533°28′N 117°2′W[16]In the Temecula Valley, southern Riverside County.
Protected by TNC.
Fort Ord Natural ReserveSanta Cruz24260636°40′N 121°46′W[17]At the former Fort Ord, near Monterey Bay.
Hans Jenny Pygmy Forest ReserveBerkeley287039°17′N 123°45′W[18]Above the coast in Mendocino County.
Protected by TNC.
Hastings Natural History ReservationBerkeley9322,39236°12′30″N 121°33′30″W[19]In the Santa Lucia Mountains, upper Carmel Valley.
James San Jacinto Mountains ReserveRiverside122933°48′30″N 116°46′40″W[20]In the San Jacinto Mountains.
Satellite site Oasis de los Osos (west end of the Coachella Valley) protected by TNC.
Jepson Prairie ReserveDavis6341,56638°16′N 121°49′W[21]In the Central Valley.
Protected by TNC and the Solano Land Trust.
Kendall-Frost Mission Bay Marsh ReserveSan Diego71632°47′N 117°13′W[22]On Mission Bay.
Kenneth S. Norris Rancho Marino ReserveSanta Barbara20050035°31′41″N 121°4′35″W[23]In the Santa Lucia Mountains, near Cambria.
Landels-Hill Big Creek ReserveSanta Cruz1,5843,91136°4′N 121°35′W[24]In the Santa Lucia Mountains, along the Big Sur coast.
TNC involved in the protection of this site.
McLaughlin Natural ReserveDavis2,8007,05038°52′N 122°24′W[25]Within the Blue Ridge Berryessa Natural Area.
Merced Vernal Pools and Grassland Reserve Merced 2601 6,428 37.3753°N 120.413°W / 37.3753; -120.413 (Merced Vernal Pools and Grassland Reserve) [26] Next to the UC Merced campus
Motte Rimrock ReserveRiverside28971533°48′45″N 117°15′30″W[27]In western Perris Valley, Peninsular Ranges.
Quail Ridge ReserveDavis7841,93738°28′59″N 122°8′58″W[28]Near the Blue Ridge Berryessa Natural Area. QuRiNet deployed here.
Sagehen Creek Field StationBerkeley18345239°25′57″N 120°14′13″W[29]In the Northern Sierra Nevada, north of Lake Tahoe.
Operated by the University of California under a long-term special-use permit from the U.S. Forest Service.
San Joaquin Marsh ReserveIrvine8220233°39′30″N 117°51′30″W[30]Upper Newport Bay.
Santa Cruz Island ReserveSanta Barbara18,62446,02034°0′N 119°44′W[31]Santa Cruz Island.
Protected, owned, and managed by TNC.
Scripps Coastal ReserveSan Diego34284432°52′30″N 117°15′15″W[32]Adjacent to the UC San Diego Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
Sedgwick ReserveSanta Barbara2,3585,89634°42′N 120°1′W[33]In the Santa Ynez Valley and the foothills of the San Rafael Mountains.
Sierra Nevada Research Station—Yosemite Field StationMerced37°32′23″N 119°39′29″W[34]Yosemite National Park, Sierra Nevada.
Stebbins Cold Canyon ReserveDavis23358338°30′32″N 122°5′50″W[35]Within the Blue Ridge Berryessa Natural Area.
Steele Burnand Anza-Borrego Desert Research CenterIrvine248,882615,00033°14′N 116°23′W[36]An agreement with Anza-Borrego Desert State Park and the Anza-Borrego Foundation makes the park, which is managed by California State Parks, available to field station users.
Stunt Ranch Santa Monica Mountains ReserveLos Angeles12631034°6′N 118°39′W[37]In Los Angeles County, within the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.
Sweeney Granite Mountains Desert Research CenterRiverside3,6009,00034°48′20″N 115°39′50″W[38]In the Granite Mountains, within the Mojave National Preserve.
Valentine Eastern Sierra ReserveSanta Barbara8720537°37′30″N 118°59′30″W[39]In the high Sierra Nevada and the upper Owens Valley.
Includes Valentine Camp and the Sierra Nevada Aquatic Research Laboratory (SNARL).
White Mountain Research CenterLos Angeles184537°21′41″N 118°19′36″W[40]Five research facilities ranging from the Owens Valley to the highest point of the White-Inyo Mountains east of the town of Bishop.
Younger Lagoon ReserveSanta Cruz102636°57′3″N 122°3′57″W[41]The northwest edge of Monterey Bay on the west side of the city of Santa Cruz.

References
  1. "University of California Natural Reserve System—UCNRS". The Regents of the University of California. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
  2. Alagona, Peter S. (2013). "Evolution of the UC Natural Reserves: An Introduction". In Fiedler, Peggy L.; Rumsey, Susan Gee; Wong, Kathleen M. (eds.). The Environmental Legacy of the UC Natural Reserve System. Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 9–29. ISBN 9780520272002. Retrieved March 24, 2023. (at p. 10.)
  3. Alagona, Peter S. (2013). "Evolution of the UC Natural Reserves: An Introduction". In Fiedler, Peggy L.; Rumsey, Susan Gee; Wong, Kathleen M. (eds.). The Environmental Legacy of the UC Natural Reserve System. Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 9–29. ISBN 9780520272002. Retrieved March 24, 2023. (at p. 12.)
  4. Angelo Coast Range Reserve
  5. Año Nuevo Island Reserve
  6. Blue Oak Ranch Reserve
  7. Bodega Marine Reserve
  8. Box Springs Reserve Archived 2009-10-22 at the Wayback Machine
  9. Philip L. Boyd Deep Canyon Desert Research Center
  10. Burns Piñon Ridge Reserve
  11. Carpinteria Salt Marsh Reserve
  12. Chickering American River Reserve Archived 2008-05-16 at the Wayback Machine
  13. Coal Oil Point Natural Reserve
  14. Dawson Los Monos Canyon Reserve
  15. Elliott Chaparral Reserve
  16. Emerson Oaks Reserve
  17. Fort Ord Natural Reserve
  18. Hans Jenny Pygmy Forest Reserve
  19. Hastings Natural History Reservation
  20. James San Jacinto Mountains Reserve
  21. Jepson Prairie Reserve
  22. Kendall-Frost Mission Bay Marsh Reserve
  23. Kenneth S. Norris Rancho Marino Reserve
  24. Landels-Hill Big Creek Reserve
  25. McLaughlin Natural Reserve
  26. "Field Station Planned for UC Merced's Vernal Pools and Grassland Reserve | Newsroom". news.ucmerced.edu. Retrieved 2022-05-16.
  27. Motte Rimrock Reserve
  28. Quail Ridge Reserve
  29. Sagehen Creek Field Station
  30. San Joaquin Freshwater Marsh Reserve
  31. Santa Cruz Island Reserve
  32. Scripps Coastal Reserve
  33. Sedgwick Reserve
  34. Yosemite Field Station
  35. Stebbins Cold Canyon Reserve
  36. Steele Burnand Anza-Borrego Desert Research Center
  37. Stunt Ranch Santa Monica Mountains Reserve
  38. Sweeney Granite Mountains Desert Research Center
  39. Valentine Eastern Sierra Reserve
  40. White Mountain Research Center
  41. Younger Lagoon Reserve

Further reading
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