University of California, Los Angeles
OP-T2-20: Wildlife Habitat

The Stone Canyon Creek restoration project has been ongoing since 2006 with the goal of restoring the creek to a healthy, functioning, native riparian habitat. Decades ago, the creek was routed underground and today only the small segment running through the University Lab School campus and behind the Anderson School of Management remains above ground. Over the years, the creek site became overun by invasive plants that provided lower value habitat for native birds and other wildlife species.

The restoration work began as a collaboration between the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, UCLA Facilities and Heal the Bay. Starting in 2008, the project has been spearheaded by Santa Monica Baykeeper, an organization that has conducted river and coastal restoration projects that have helped to improve water quality and viable habitats in the watersheds of the Los Angeles Basin.

The restoration process involves manually removing non-native vegetation and weeds and, once the areas are cleared, planting appropriate native riparian vegetation. In Phase 1 of the project, the 600ft reach of creek located behind the Anderson School of Management, 15 non-native trees were removed to make room for the 53 new native trees that were planted. In total, over 1,750 native plants consisting of 37 different species have been installed along the banks of the creek.

This work has been accomplished almost entirely by volunteers. Between April 2008 and March 2010, Santa Monica Baykeeper organized 20 individual volunteer events with nearly 900 volunteers donating 2,387 work hours. Volunteers were recruited from various UCLA student groups, faculty, and alumni, community members and other Los Angeles area colleges and high schools.

Through the years, support and funding for the project, over $200,000 in total, has been provided by: Switzer Foundation, Southern California Wetlands Recovery Projects Small Grant Program, CA State Coastal Conservancy, Heal the Bay, Santa Monica Baykeeper, Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission, UCLA Facilities and UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability.

The campus is now partnering with Baykeeper, the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission and UCLA Lab School to continue restoration efforts in Phase 2, the area upstream on the Lab School campus. The section of the creek that runs through the elementary school campus provides a unique learning experience as an outdoor laboratory and will educate students about ecological relationships and the importance of habitat diversity.

http://www.sustain.ucla.edu/get_involved/article.asp?parentid=5066

UCLA also maintains the Stunt Ranch Santa Monica Mountains Reserve, a 310-acre biological field station located four miles inland on the north central flank of the Santa Monica Mountains. The UCLA Reserve officially joined the University of California Natural Reserve System (UC NRS) in November 1995, becoming the system's 32nd site and the only one administered by the Los Angeles campus.

http://stuntranch.ucnrs.org/