(UFEI) is a program developed by the Natural Resources Management Department faculty to address the increasing need for improved management of the urban forests in California.

• Dr. Rich Thompson - Director
• ufei@polymail.calpoly.edu
• www.ufei.calpoly.edu

(CRI) provides students and faculty from a variety of disciplines the opportunity to work together. Research is conducted and management strategies for the coastal area are developed with co-operation from a network of the colleges here at Cal Poly.

• Dr. James Vilkitis - Director
• cri@calpoly.edu
• www.calpoly.edu/~cri

Swanton Pacific Ranch consists of a diverse landscape overlooking the Pacific Ocean, 12 miles North of Santa Cruz. Scott Creek, a year round stream reaching to the ocean, bisects the property. Forested areas exist throughout the property and are made up of 80 year-old second-growth stands of redwood and Douglas-fir. These are being managed commercially on an uneven-aged, sustained yield basis. The majority of the forest lies in the Little Creek watershed, a tributary of Scott Creek. Rangeland accounts for approximately 1,900 acres of the land use, primarily on bluffs on the ocean side of the ranch. Croplands are primarily in the Scott Creek valley with approximately 125 acres of irrigated land.

Each quarter Cal Poly students work at the ranch under an internship program begun in 1987. Over, 300 students have completed an internship at the ranch. Several faculty members regularly utilize the ranch for course field trips. Yearly, over 20 course field trips come to Swanton and, as a result, several thousand Cal Poly students have been to Swanton Pacific since 1986. Natural Resources Management (NRM) faculty members make consistent use of the ranch through course field trips and research projects. Student clubs and faculty retreats and planning days also occur regularly at Swanton Pacific Ranch. Some courses have completed class projects relating to Swanton Pacific Resources. Cal Poly Logging Team constructed and maintains a competition site on the ranch. Competitions held there since 1999 include the California Conclave and the Associations of Western Schools Conclave.