Research use at SNARL remains very high, with housing and laboratory facilities operating at or near capacity from March through September. During the off-season the research groups of the resident scientists (Roland Knapp, David Herbst, Robert Jellison, and Daniel Dawson) create an active core of about a dozen researchers. New research equipment is added each year; the acquisition and installation of a second fume hood taking place this year. In addition to research users from the 8 general campuses of the University of California, researchers came to SNARL from 3 other colleges or universities in California and 5 universities from outside California. SNARL is maintaining it's national research constituency. SNARL had approximately 37 active research projects this year. This number is approximate because it is confusing how to count investigators with multiple projects and large projects with multiple investigators.

TEACHING:

Instructional use of the Reserve increased considerably with ten college level courses using the Reserve this year. One geology group traveled from Indiana University for an extended stay at the Reserve. Given the distance from SNARL to the various campuses this is a high level of educational use.

PUBLIC SERVICE:

The VESR Outdoor Science Education Program continues as the showpiece of UC public service in the eastern Sierra. Approximately 1000 Inyo and Mono County elementary school students from 8 different schools visited SNARL on field trips this year. Demand exceeds the number of days we have available for the program. In addition, 2 summer classes were held at SNARL. A huge milestone was passed this year with acquisition of secure funding for the program. Mammoth Mountain Ski Area will be underwriting the annual $20,000/year cost of the program.

The spring SNARL Seminar Series, held at the Green Church, offered a series of 6 lectures to the public. Approximately 250 people attended talks this season. This year's speakers and topics were:

May 2 Clearing the Air in Owens Valley: A Progress Report on Owens Lake Restoration -- Dr. Jim Paulus, Biological Resources Monitoring Specialist, Great Basin Air Pollution Control District
May 9 Is Stocking Necessary to Maintain Populations of Introduced Trout in the Sierra Nevada? -- Trip Armstrong, Department of Aquatic Ecology, UC Davis
May 16 Success Stories in Restoration of California Native, Perennial Grasses -- Mark Stromberg, Reserve Director, Hastings Natural History Reservation
May 23 Dumb Ants and Humans Solving Complicated Problems. Why Being Smart is not Always a Good Thing. -- Dr. Peter Nonacs, Department of Biology, UCLA
May 30 Developing Watershed Management Plans for Mono County -- Dr. Rick Kattlelmann, Planning Commissioner, Mono County
June 6 Volcanoes Make Good Neighbors -- Dr. Robert Curry, Professor Emeritus, UC Santa Cruz

Two GIS (Geographic Information System) training courses were offered at SNARL this year. The first was an ESRI-certified "Introduction to ArcView 3.2" course taught by Dick Lewis of RLA Geosystems. The second, a non-certified course, was called "Intermediate ArcView 3.2" and was taught by a local GIS consultant, Nate Greeberg of Talon Associates. Approximately 20 people attended each course from the NRS, San Diego State, Mono County, the Town of Mammoth and the US Forest Service.

Dr. Robert Curry offered a training course in wetland delineation at SNARL. Staff of the Regional Water Quality Control Board and the CA Dept. of Fish and Game attended. Reserve Director Dan Dawson continues to consult on local resource management issues including consultation with the Mono County District Attorney's office on adequate stream flows in the Owens Gorge and with Sierra Star Golf Course on use of reclaimed water.

Former Governor Pete Wilson and his wife Gayle visited both Reserve sites over a two-day period. Mrs. Wilson sought our help in identifying candidates for the University's COSMOS program, a math and science outreach program for high school students. Mrs. Wilson is the chair of the advisory board for COSMOS. The Wilsons were very enthusiastic about the Reserve and Mrs. Wilson wrote a letter supporting Alex Glazer's nomination of Leslie Dawson and the VESR Outdoor Science Education for a 2002 Governor's Economic and Environmental Leadership Award. Staff and donors from the Yosemite Fund visited both Reserve sites and saw Mono Lake from the SNARL research boat. The Fund is considering expanding its sphere of influence to include parts of the eastern Sierra.

STEWARDSHIP & ADMINISTRATION:

The Haddad property, a gift to the Reserve, has been sold to the CA Department of Fish and Game with funds from the Metropolitan Bakersfield Habitat Conservation Plan Trust Group. Escrow was expected to close earlier this season but has been delayed by DFG. The delay should not effect the outcome. The Reserve will net approximately $150,000 from the transaction, which will form the seed for a staffing endowment. In anticipation of this income stream, UCSB NRS Director Murdoch requested matching funds from VC Cordova to assist with Reserve staffing. The Office of Research was able to provide $10,000/year for two years. Using these funds Mr. Marshall Minobe was hired as a part-time Computer Resource Specialist for SNARL. Using an annual gift from Paul and Kate Page for technology enhancement at the Reserve, a new file server was purchased and installed for the SNARL LAN. The system provides high security, redundancy, and automated system backup for critical research and monitoring data. This year the Reserve received its first gift for graduate student support, $3000 to support Masters student Gwen Noda from UCLA with her work on the impact of an exotic mud snail in the Owens River.

Dawson continues as a member of the NRS Data Management Committee. This year we have shifted the program to the James Reserve. Kevin Browne is now supporting products developed by Rudolf Nottrott. Browne (with IMC direction) has developed the Reserve Administration Management System (RAMS). This web-based system manages applications, approval, tracking of use, generation of invoices, and annual report data management. It is currently in beta testing with many NRS sites using it.

Architectural and engineering plans for a new lecture hall for SNARL are nearly complete. Construction of the new building will be funded by the Federal Aviation Administration through the Town of Mammoth Lakes as mitigation for impact to the Green Church, which will no longer be usable due to airport expansion. The new 1400 sq. ft. structure will be just east of the existing dorm building and connected to that building with a substantial deck. Plans and specifications will go to UCSB for review at the end of November and the project should be submitted to the Office of the State Architect in early 2003. Construction will take place in 2003 or 2004.

A new rate structure was developed for VESR in consultation with the resident SNARL researchers. This was then sent out for comment to the entire VESR community. The new rates are scheduled to go into effect January 1, 2003.

VALENTINE CAMP

RESEARCH:

Research use of the Reserve is increasing. Dr. Rachel Levin of Pomona College continues her work on the nesting behavior and endocrinology of House Wrens at SNARL and Valentine. She is interested in the effects of latitude and altitude on mate fidelity and the degree to which hormones control behavior. Valentine provides a higher elevation site with a shorter breeding season. UCSD graduate student Andy McCall continued his projects on plant-insect interactions. UCSC grad student Aaron Gabbe performed observations of hummingbirds for a project he will start in 2003. Dr. Peter Nonacs, a professor at UCLA, extended his observations of ants at SNARL to several populations at Valentine. UCD graduate student Louie Yang deployed a number of wasp nesting boxes at the Reserve as part of a wide ranging study using several reserve sites. Due to excessive snow, the Reserve is closed from November-May.

TEACHING:

With a short season and limited housing Valentine Camp is generally not an overnight host for university level courses. Typically, courses staying at SNARL use Valentine for part of their teaching activities. This trend continued this year with many courses visiting Valentine for a single day.

PUBLIC SERVICE:

The VESR Outdoor Science Education Program continues as the showpiece of UC public service in the eastern Sierra. Approximately 1000 Inyo and Mono County elementary school students from 7 different schools visited Valentine Camp on field trips this year. The field trip program is now securely funded. Annual support of $20,000 is being underwritten by Mammoth Mountain Ski Area. In addition, 140 students attended two-week summer courses at Valentine. We offered several new classes this summer and employed seven teachers in addition to our permanent staff of Leslie Dawson and Sherry Taylor. Each class also has a volunteer teacher's aide resulting in a student/adult ratio of 5/1. These volunteers or docents have been trained by Leslie and also assist with the school field trips. The Reserve's Outdoor Education program was featured in an article in California Wild, the magazine of the California Academy of Sciences.

As part of our Community Outreach Program VESR Education Coordinator Leslie Dawson offered several public tours of the Reserve. Most of these took place at Valentine Camp and replace our annual open house. The tours are advertised via local media and an email list and were all fully subscribed.

STEWARDSHIP & ADMINISTRATION:

Activities have focused on forest management at Valentine Camp. The Forest Management Plan, prepared by Duck Creek Associates of Corvallis, OR was completed. A Modified Timber-Harvest Plan was prepared by Dan Dawson and Registered Professional Forester Phil Nemir and submitted to the CA Dept. of Forestry and Fire Protection. To begin implementation of the plan Dawson submitted a grant proposal to the USDA's National Fire Plan Economic Action Program. Dawson was awarded $50,000, which will fund equipment and additional staff for the project. Additional thinning and fuel reduction work took place during the summer of 2001. Work was concentrated in an area just south of the Caretaker's Cabin. In November, working closely with local agencies, we completed the first slash burn at the Reserve in 20 years. This was done during a snowstorm with 4-6" of snow on the ground in order to guarantee containment.

In an effort to provide a visual barrier to potential trespassers and to clearly demark the Reserve boundary, approximately 1500' of wooden fence was constructed along the Old Mammoth Road frontage of the Reserve. As this fence must be able to withstand considerable winter snow accumulation it was made sufficiently strong. It is attractive and we have received positive feedback from the neighbors. In an effort to "harden" the Reserve trails through sensitive habitat we constructed two new bridges and approximately 250 feet of elevated boardwalk across the edge of the Valentine meadow. The project includes a viewing platform on the edge of the meadow large enough to accommodate small to moderate sized classes.

The Final Mammoth Creek EIR/EA will be released soon. The process was started in 1996 when the Mammoth Community Water District proposed a change in minimum flows requirements for the creek and a change in the location of the point of measurement. Dawson submitted comments on the draft EIR in January, 2002 and met with District staff and their consultants in November. The document will set the stage for hearings before the State Water Resources Control Board who set the minimum stream flow requirements. Mammoth Creek flows through Valentine Camp and the University has been in disagreement with the District over minimum flows since 1976.

Page last updated Friday, August 15, 2003

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