October 2, 2004:
Exploring Big Sur's Big Creek Reserve

The UC Natural Reserve System's 4200 acre Landels-Hill Big Creek Reserve is one of the little-known gems of the Big Sur Coast. Stretching from the coast (and an adjoining 1200 acre offshore state marine reserve) to the top of the ridgeline, the reserve protects one of the least disturbed watersheds in central California for research and teaching.

The Natural Reserve System is opening its site to a limited number of NCSWA members (30 total) for a Saturday, October 2 program. Participants will have an opportunity to hike around the watershed, meet the reserve staff and hear about research going on there. At 11 A.M., a representative from PISCO, the Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans, will talk to the group about their research in the Big Creek Marine Reserve, and the unprecedented intertidal and subtidal surveys they are conducting along the entire west coast.

That afternoon, Keyte Fischer from the Wildlife Conservation Society will talk about her research at the reserve which focuses on the environmental implications of introduced forest pathogens and pests such as Phytophthora ramorum, the organism that causes sudden oak death. Though SOD has not yet been found in the reserve it has appeared in a number of nearby watersheds.

Because of the distance to the reserve, NCSWA members may wish to drive down Friday and camp in Big Sur Friday and Saturday nights. Big Creek has room for 15 people (six bunking in a researcher’s cabin and nine camping nearby). Facilities at the reserve are very rustic. The cabin, located on a spectacular ridge overlooking the ocean, has one bathroom and a small kitchen.

NCSWA members who'd like to join us at Big Creek should e-mail Jerry Booth at Jerry.Booth@ucop.edu. Indicate whether you want to come down just for the day or also would like to camp at Big Creek. Because of the limited number of people this event can accommodate, only two people per party please. A quick and decisive response is of the essence: the first people to contact Jerry will be registered for the event. After Jerry fields the first flurry of e-mail, he'll notify everyone who writes as to whether they contacted him in time to be included.