California State University, Fullerton
OP-T2-19: Native Plants

The Institution's practice is to incorporate native plant use into any new construction and to make use as a priority when conducting renovations. Tucker Wildlife Sanctuary (TWS), located in Modjeska Canyon and owned and operated by Cal State Fullerton, is a 12 acre nature preserve adjacent to the Cleveland National Forest. This area is considered a "biological hotspot" by conservation biologists as it contains 2,000 of the 7,000 species of plants native to California, many of which are rare or important to the habitat. Over the past several years, TWS has has worked diligently to eradicate non-native plants from its gardens and has replaced them with native plants. CSUF interns are currently assisting TWS in the process of compiling an "Herbarium," which is a collection in pressed flower/ plant specimens of all of the native species within the area. Currently, there is only one other "Herbarium" in California, located at UC Riverside. Tucker Wildlife Sanctuary is collaborating with UC Riverside to share this valuable information. Since the Santiago Canyon Fire of 2007, TWS has been collecting valuable data relative to water quality and the return of native plants and birds to the area. This data is available for research projects. Lastly, thanks to a Boy Scouts Eagle Project, TWS has a native plant greenhouse where we propagate and sell native plants for use in our own gardens and to encourage others to use them in theirs.