Natural Resources Management Quest for Excellence

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Natural Resources Management Quest for Excellence

• by Doug Piirto NRM Faculty
• March 3, 2006

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Possibilities
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Glad You To Be Here!!!

• Thank you for inviting Cal Poly
• We appreciate this opportunity to be speaking at
  the CLFA Conference.

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What I Will Discuss

• NRM Department
• Curriculum SAF/NRPA Accreditation
• Applied Research
• Swanton Pacific Ranch
• Strategic Planning and Challenges
• We need your support!!!
• Were in the News
• Regulation vs. Certification
• Recreation, Parks, Tourism
• FSC Certification of our Swanton Forest
• SELECTREE, Forest Health and much more

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NRM Department

• 14 Faculty Members
• 3 Staff and numerous lecturers
• 3 undergraduate programs
• FNR, ENVM, REC
• 2 graduate programs
• Forest Science. Recreation
• 2 research institutes (UFEI, CRI)
• College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental
  Science (in top 5 largest)

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Our Mission

• Learn-by-doing is our motto
• NRM Dept Mission
• To advance educational excellence, stewardship,
  and leadership in natural resources, forestry,
  recreation, tourism, and environmental management

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Equipment and Facilities

• Computer Modeling Labs
• Two CAGR GIS Laboratories
• Dendrology/Forest Health Labs
• Farm, ranch and school forest

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Swanton Pacific Ranch

• Forestry Education Center
• Applied research
• Demonstration/showcase forest
• FSC certified
• A wonderful place where students, faculty and
  staff can learn-by-doing

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FNR-SAF AccreditedREC-NRPA Accredited

• Quest for excellence
• Program Review Action Plans
• FNR Program Accredited 11-30-04 (Refer to SAF
  letter)
• REC Program in process for re-accreditation

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NRM Enrollment Fall 2005

• Undergraduate Students
• ENVM--68 Students
• FNR--209 Students
• REC-300 Students
• Graduate Students
• Forestry Sciences8 Recreation--8
• Total Student Population for NRM
• Undergraduates--577
• Graduate Students16
• Ethnicity and Gender in NRM
• 299 Male, 294 Female
• Diversity--23.6
• CAGR Enrollment3500/- students

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FNR Curriculum (05-07 Catalog)

• SAF accredited
• 192 units to graduate
• Major--97 to 99 units
• 31-33 units in one of 7 Concentrations
• Support--37 to 39 units
• 8 Concentrations
• GE B--72 to graduate (16 in support)
• We require Calculus

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FNR Concentrations

• Environmental Planning and Assessment
• Forest and Environmental Practices
• Natural Resources Recreation
• Urban Forestry
• Watershed Management and Hydrology
• Wildland Fire and Fuels management
• Individualized Course of Study
• Minors and other concentrations possible

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ENVM

• A new major
• Interdisciplinary
• Mgmt. of ecosystem structures and processes that
  sustain use of environmental resources
• 180 units to graduate
• 4 concentrations

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Recreation, Parks, and Tourism Administration

• Fully accredited
• 180 units to graduate
• Focused on event management, tourism planning and
  management, natural resources recreation

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Graduate Programs

• M.S. in Forestry Sciences
• M.S. in General Agriculture with a specialization
  in Recreation, Parks, and Tourism Management

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Applied Forest Research

• Many different projects
• All areas of forestry, natural resources
  management, and environmental management. CDF
  Student Assistant Program FS Central California
  Consortium
• Two research institutes UFEI and CRI

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Forest Health Project

• Project Directors Drs. Mark and Piirto
• Sudden Oak Death
• Pine Pitch Canker

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Urban Forest Ecosystems Institute-UFEI
www.ufei.org

• SelecTree--Web based tree selection guide
• UFEI web page averaging over 24,000
  sessions/month most on SelecTree
• UrbanWood--Online directory of urban wood waste
  utilization
• California Big Trees Web Site (AFA)
• Job and conference postings
• E-mail discussion group
• Building a forest health interactive guide
• Building a PGE power line safety module

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Valuation Of Tree Aesthetics On Small
Urban-Interface Properties

• Project Director--Dr. Douglas D. Piirto
• Accomplishment An hedonic model was developed to
  predict the property value contribution of forest
  condition on small urban-rural interface
  properties
• Thompson, R.P., J.E. Noel, R. Hanna, and D.D.
  Piirto. 1999. Hedonic Valuation of Forest
  Aesthetics on Small Urban-Interface Properties
  J. of Arboriculture, 25(5) 225-234

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Application of Urban Tree Volume Equations to
Determine Biomass in Community Forests

• Project Director--Dr. Norm Pillsbury
• CUFIM, the Community and Urban Forest Inventory
  and Management program, a new Excel based
  computer program that allows urban foresters
  control over their tree inventory.
• CUFIM allows unprecedented options to determine
  volume of anticipated tree removals, and
  estimates of their dollar value.

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Establishing Reference Variability For Giant
Sequoia Groves--Ecosystem Management Implications

• Project Director Dr. Douglas D. Piirto
• Six papers were published. The most notable
  being
• Piirto, D. D., and R. Rogers. 2002. Achieving
  an Ecological Foundation for Management of Giant
  Sequoia Groves. Environmental Management
  30(1)110-128 (peer reviewed.
• Piirto, D. D., Robert R. Rogers, and Mary
  Chislock Bethke. 1997. Communicating the Role
  of Science in the Management of Giant Sequoia
  Groves. In Proceedings for the National
  Silviculture Workshop, May 19-22, 1997. USDA
  Forest Service, Northeast Forest Experiment
  Station, Warren, Pennsylvania. General Technical
  Report GTR-NE-238.

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Uneven-age Management of Coast Redwood

• Project Directors--Drs. Thompson Piirto
• Practicing foresters in California now have new
  information on an alternative approach to
  sustainable forest management of coast redwood.
• Piirto, D. D. R. Thompson and K. Piper. 1997.
  Implementing Uneven-Aged Redwood Management at
  Cal Poly's School Forest.

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Forest Structure, Fuel Loads, Snag Densities,
Spatial Patterns, Fire History of Old-Growth
Jeffrey pine--Mexico

• Project Directors--Drs. Scott Stephens/Dr.Samantha
  Gill
• Researchers investigated the structure and fire
  history of a mixed conifer forest in the Sierra
  San Pedro Martir (SSPM), Baja CA, Mexico
• Stephens, S.L., C.N. Skinner, and S.J. Gill.
  2003. A Dendrochronology based Fire History of
  Jeffrey Pine-Mixed Conifer Forests. 33
  1090-1101
• Stephens, S.L..and S.J. Gill. 2004. Forest
  structure and mortality in an old-growth Jeffrey
  pine-mixed conifer forest in northwest Mexico.
  Accepted in Forest Ecology and Management
  October, 2004

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Crown Profile Modeling

• Project Director--Dr. Samantha Gill
• The crown radius and canopy cover work is
  important for predicting tree growth and wildlife
  habitats
• Gill, S.J. and G.S. Biging. 2002. Autoregressive
  Moving Average (ARMA) Models of Conifer Crown
  Profiles. Journal of Agricultural, Biological,
  and Environmental Statistics. 7(4) 558-573.
• Gill, Samantha J., Gregory S. Biging, and Edward
  C. Murphy. 2000. Gill, S.J., G.S. Biging, and
  E.C. Murphy 1999. Modeling conifer tree crown
  radius and estimating canopy cover. Forest
  Ecology and Management. 126 (3) 405-416.

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Geomorphic Evaluation Following Selection Timber
Harvesting on the Little Creek Watershed

• Project Director--Dr. Brian Dietterick
• Comparison of LIDAR-generated channel features
  with on-ground surveys
• Two peer reviewed papers expected this next year

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Effects of Post-Harvest Fuel Loading on Fire
Behavior and Soil Erosion in a Coast Redwood
Forest

• Forest managers provided information regarding
  fire risk, fuel management, soil erosion

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Challenges

• Developing the required field quarter at Swanton
  (e.g., staffing and facilities)
• Recruiting
• Maintaining faculty resources
• Balancing faculty workloads (teaching, service,
  applied research activities)
• Enhancing excellence given
• Declining state budgets

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Ongoing NRM Strategic Planning Efforts

• Key strategic areas have been identified for the
  department
• FNR--resource mgmt., environmental stewardship,
  water, modeling, fire, and leadership
• REC--Sustainable tourism, planning, mgmt.
  leadership, event mgmt., environmental
  stewardship, community development
• Key strategic partners are being identified this
  is an evolving list

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Department Needs

• Support and advice
• Assistance in locating extramural funding
• Sourcing funds for improved facilities
• Providing leads on applied research opportunities
• Keeping us informed and involved
• Many exciting possibilities

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Check Us Out

• Were in the news!!!
• Funded applied research projects underway
• Recipient of McIntire Stennis and ARI funding
• We are having an impact (e.g., refer to ARI
  Impact Research Reports)
• NRM Web Page (www.nrm.calpoly.edu)

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Its About Our Students

• Learn-by-doing
• Keeping their eye on the prize
• Graduation
• Establishing successful careers

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Final Comments

• Amazing success given current staffing and budget
  levels
• I am very proud of the work our NRM faculty,
  staff, students, Advisory Council members and
  friends of NRM are doing!!!
• Time for a few questions

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Thank youTime for Questions