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A few words from theNRS systemwide office

4 New NRS reserve!Field scientists can order“surf and turf” at theKenneth S. Norris RanchoMarino Reserve —our 34th site.

9 Oak researchers at NRS sitesplan how to protect animperiled native habitat

12 CA Coastal Conservancyhelps two NRS reservesIn

Th

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Wilbur W. (Bill) Mayhew, 1945.

B ill Mayhew was talking about his World War II experiences and hismany close shaves with death: “I should not have made it through.”

But lots of folks are sure grateful he did, including thousands of former studentsand colleagues, and legions of others who have worked with this UC Riversideemeritus professor of zoology to solve diverse ecological dilemmas across Cali-fornia. Many people know Wilbur (“Bill”) Mayhew as one of the three foundersof the NRS, along with Ken Norris and Mildred Mathias. Few understand howhis combat and other military service experiences during World War II preparedthis soft-spoken man for the many hard environmental battles he would laterengage in.

Wartimechallengespreparedone nrsfounder forfutureenvironmentalbattles

W e are privileged to offer inthis issue a tribute toWilbur W. Mayhew, the

man and his legacy. Bill Mayhew rec-ognized in the 1950s that in Califor-nia the “natural laboratories,” wherestudents and researchers could find outhow the natural world works, werevanishing under a wave of rapid devel-opment. He dedicated himself tosecuring reserves for the University ofCalifornia, which later became the cor-nerstones of the NRS.

His selfless decision to put this questahead of his own research has alreadybenefited thousands directly. Those, inturn, share their experience and knowl-edge with many others. And, with gen-erous help, the NRS continues to buildin many ways on the foundation laid

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In October 1940, Bill was taking classes at Modesto JuniorCollege, where he had recently completed an A.A. degree inbiology. Bored with his courses, a mid-term looming, Billabruptly enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps, along withthree gung-ho friends. His plan, to the extent that he hadone, was to save a little money during a year in the service tohelp underwrite his further education. Though he earnedonly $21 a month (with about $4 of that going to laundry),he still expected he would be able to put some money aside.This was at a time when the Great Depression had beengrinding on for more than a decade, and, according to Bill,“You could have a lot of fun on one dollar during an eveningin town.” Back in 1940, Bill estimates, “80 percent of thecountry was still isolationist.” But fourteen months later,the attitude of the American public would change abruptly.

Bill was assigned to the 88th Reconnaissance Squadron,which was attached to the 7th Bombardment Group of theArmy Air Corps.*

His close scrapes began in 1941. The troop ship on whichhe was traveling to Australia, passed through Honolulu on

November 29, just nine days before PearlHarbor was bombed. He and the otherYanks on board the Republic (referred toby some as the “Repulsive,” for its lackof grace) would become the first Ameri-cans in Australia in World War II.

Bill volunteered for combat duty and wasmade a ball turret gunner. To get intothe ball turret, which hangs like aPlexiglas bubble from the belly of theB-17s on which he served, “you have topoint the guns [two .50-caliber machine-guns] straight down and get in througha door that is also your seat. From thisposition, when the plane is flying and thedoor is back in place in the plane’s un-derside, you are surrounded by sky.” Billsaid, “My first flight in a ball turret wasvery frightening. But it wasn’t so badafter that.”

Then, on September 13, 1942, at around midnight overAfrica, Bill almost froze to death. It was during his first (andlast) night mission. The Allies were trying to catch Rommelin Tobruk, Libya. A landing of 40,000 troops, some atTobruk, some at Benghazi, was to take place at 3:00 a.m.The B-17 on which Bill was a crew member was supposedto “keep the gunners (on the ground) occupied. We weretarget practice, to divert attention from the convoys in theharbor.” The B-17’s crew flew at 25,000 feet through a layerof dense smoke and exploding shells. Bill could see Alliesflying at 8,000 feet in Wellingtons — small, two-engine,

*Bill’s World War II experiences, and the friendships he hasmaintained with members of the 88th Reconnaissance Squad-ron, 7th Bombardment Group of the Army Air Corps, haveprofoundly influenced his life. He has served as photo editor oftwo books encompassing the history of the 7th BombardmentGroup from 1918 to 1995.

Dr. Mayhew’s conservation legacy is tangible and vast, pro-tected within thousands of acres of diverse habitats. Hehas devoted most of his life to conservation, but most of hisfriends do not know that he served his country with equaldedication and courage. … He flew many combat mis-sions [during World War II], including one in which hesurvived serious wounds and a crash landing on Maltaafter an attack by German fighters. Bill completed his mili-tary service with a Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal,Purple Heart, and Presidential Unit Citation with twooak leaf clusters. … [He] has worked most of his life indefense of natural habitats with the same steady courageand humility with which he defended his country.

— Arturo Gómez-PompaDistinguished Professor of Botany

Botany and Plant Sciences, UC Riverside

Bill (front row, right) and other men of the 88th ReconnaissanceSquadron, 7th Bombardment Group, at the Karachi Airport, India, 1942.Photo courtesy of Bill Mayhew

Wartime challengesContinued from page 1

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British planes known as “Wimpies” (after Popeye’s friend,J. Wellington Wimpey) — and being shot down.

It was very cold in the ball turret, since the temperatureinside that plastic-and-metal ball was not much differentthan on the outside. Worried about this mission and aboutthe cold, Bill had borrowed another man’s electric suit, twothin layers of felt containing heating elements. But hehadn’t checked in advance to see if the electric plug on thesuit was compatible with the outlet in his ball turret. Itwasn’t. He couldn’t plug in the borrowed suit. And he hadleft his bulky leathers, his regular flying clothes, back at thebarracks — there had been no room for them in the plane.“It was -50°F that night. I should have frozen to death.I think adrenaline is all that kept me alive.”

Back on the ground at the end of that mission — after atotal of five hours in the air, with 45 minutes over the tar-get at 25,000 feet, enduring subzero temperatures — Billhad to be lifted out of the ball turret.

Another time, the B-24 Pink Lady — on which Bill was awaist gunner — was lost in a storm over the Arabian Sea.The crew was returning to the Mediterranean from a mis-sion to China. One of their four engines was out. Theradio operator could not contact the base. The navigatorcould not get a fix from stars. He estimated they were fivehours from base with only a few hours’ worth of fuel re-maining. They flew on for two hours, blind in the storm,wings flaming with Saint Elmo’s Fire — a colorful brushdischarge of electricity sometimes seen on planes and shipsduring thunderstorms. Suddenly they heard a voice callingthem over the radio. They were just abovethe base! Bill is forever grateful to thegut instincts of the navigator for “find-ing” the base on that horrific night.

The Pink Lady and members of her crewwere shot up and badly damaged overMessina, Sicily, on January 31, 1943.That afternoon the plane had headed intowhat seemed to Bill to be a “a solid wallof flying steel” and “clouds of smoke fromthe exploding ack-ack shells.” They sawtheir friends in the lead plane shot downand crash into the sea about 20 miles offthe coast of Sicily. The entire crew waskilled. But the Pink Lady’s crew man-aged to survive engine fires, loss of oxy-gen and hydraulic systems (no brakes, nolanding flaps), German fighter pilots

chasing them, and a crash landing on Malta. The tail gun-ner, Augustus (Pat) Patrick, was shot through the feet bymachine gun fire and would have to have his feet ampu-tated. Bill was more fortunate: he recovered fairly rapidlyfrom a leg wound. But the day’s events ended Bill’s combatduty. No wonder, decades later, he would look back to thistime and say, “I should not have made it through.”

He returned to California in 1943 and served as a gunneryinstructor for the remainder of the war, including oversightof 90 instructors at one point. Surviving extreme challengesto life and limb throughout his early years of military ser-vice proved highly motivating. As an instructor, Bill’s goalwas to impart what he knew to young recruits and do it wellenough to help them stay alive. This period gave Bill a keenappreciation for teaching. That’s when Bill decided teach-ing was a noble art.

Starting in 1945, with GI Bill support, Bill rapidly earnedhis bachelor’s, master’s, and doctor’s degrees in zoology fromUC Berkeley (1948, 1951, and 1953). His graduate re-search was conducted under the mentorship of A. StarkerLeopold. Bill subsequently worked a short stint in the UCLADepartment of Nuclear Medicine and Radiation Biology,studying the effects of strontium 90 on living tissue (and“not really knowing what we were doing”). Meanwhile, hecourted employment at the emerging UC campus beingestablished in Riverside.

From 1954, when Bill began his tenure at UC Riverside asa founding faculty member, until his retirement from teach-

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Bill teaching in the field, releasing a kangaroo rat, at Boyd DeepCanyon Desert Research Center, 1983. Photo by Galen Rowell

A little site history

Archaeological evidence of middendeposits at this site and the many arti-facts collected on adjacent land suggestthat a large Chumash village once ex-isted here, supporting perhaps as manyas 3,000 people.

Europeans developed dairy ranches incentral California in the mid-nine-teenth century. Each year, from theearly 1900s through the 1960s, Chi-nese algae collectors would harvest al-gae from a narrow band along miles ofthe high intertidal zone.* In the 1940s,this site became a cattle ranch.

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New NRS site in central Californiaoffers excellent marine resourcesand rare terrestrial habitats

G reat new NRS reserves don’toften come along nowadays.Not only are the pressures of

development and competing land usesgreater than ever in California, but anysite proposed for NRS inclusion mustmeet stringent scientific, academic, andeven administrative criteria. It’s causefor celebration, therefore, that the NRSnow announces its 34th site — theKenneth S. Norris Rancho MarinoReserve — has become available forresearch and teaching.

Located in northern San Luis ObispoCounty on the southern edge of thetown of Cambria, the reserve offers oneof the most spectacular stretches ofcoastal intertidal habitat in central Cali-fornia. This “surf and turf” site encom-passes 500 acres (200 hectares) thatinclude such diverse habitats as an ex-tensive rocky shoreline (about a mileand a half of it), nearshore kelp forests,a coastal terrace grassland, and slopescovered with Monterey pine forest withcoast live oaks, grassy prairies and hill-sides, and coastal scrub.

In 1966, the site was visited by mem-bers of the UC reserve system and itspotential value as a reserve was pointedout by the NRS founder himself, KenNorris. Again in January 1970, the in-tertidal area was visited by a group ofbiologists from UC Santa Barbara, whoconcluded that “this locality is a goodexample of exposed outer coast withhigh floristic diversity which warrantsreserve status.”

But the course of natural resource man-agement seldom runs smoothly. An-other three decades would pass beforeinterest and opportunity joined handsover this land. In January 2001, due tothe generosity of the landowner, theNRS started its program at the reserveunder a six-year use-agreement. Underthis agreement, access is limited to uni-versity-level research and teaching.

Outstanding marine resources

The Kenneth S. Norris Rancho MarinoReserve is unique for its marine re-sources. The intertidal area stands outas an excellent and increasingly rare ex-ample of central California coastline,particularly impressive because of howextensive it is. In fact, no other siteavailable to campuses in California cancompare with this one in terms of theundisturbed richness and extensivenessof its intertidal area. It is anticipatedthat, as part of the NRS, this reservewill become one of the major sites formarine research and teaching along theCalifornia coast.

Flanking the reserve and forming anearshore band are extensive kelp for-ests, a combination of giant kelp andbull kelp. This is one of the largest beds

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*Editor’s note: Each winter, these Chi-nese algae collectors used propane torchesto scorch the intertidal rocks, killing al-gal spores and ensuring that Porphyra —a weedy algae species commonly knownas nori and widely used in Asian food —would be able to settle and grow in theseareas. Each spring, they harvested thePorphyra, then dried and sold it to mar-kets in San Francisco and China. Mod-ern-day marine ecologists use this samerock-scorching technique in their studies.

This new sitemakes 1.5 milesof coastlineavailable forresearch andstudy. Photo byDon Canestro

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within this region of the coast. Giantkelp lives for up to three to four years,can grow to lengths of 200 feet (60meters), and can cover an area varyingfrom several hundred feet to one milewide. It may extend for several milesand is found along the North Ameri-can Pacific coast from central Califor-nia down to Bahía Asunción, BajaCalifornia. Bull kelp, an annual thatcan grow up to 20 meters in length, isa major constituent of kelp beds fromAlaska down to San Luis Obispo County,California. Kelp forests support millionsof individual organisms and more than1,000 species of marine plants and ani-mals. Kelp is also important habitat forthe recruitment of commercially impor-tant rockfish species and is itself an im-portant crop with many commercial uses.Its harvesting is regulated by the Cali-fornia Department of Fish and Game.

The intertidal area at this reserve isalgae-dominated and very robust.There are no distinct mussel or barnaclezones. Fucoid brown algae predomi-nate in the upper intertidal. A high spe-cies diversity of mostly foliose red al-gae is found throughout the intertidal.The low intertidal zone has seagrassesand laminarian brown algae.

Rare grassland habitats

Roughly one-quarter of the reserve har-bors patches of coastal terrace prairiemixed with upland purple needlegrassprairie. Coastal terrace grasslands areamong the most threatened and rareplant communities in North America.Grassland is the most altered of thereserve’s habitats — in old, cultivatedfields, introduced grasses have almostcompletely replaced the native plantcommunity. Yet, overall, the area re-mains a surprisingly vital example ofcoastal terrace prairie, characterized bygood species diversity. The soils aredeep, well drained, nearly level, andvery productive. A current flora of ter-restrial vascular plants lists approxi-

Above: Reserve’s coastline, looking north.Below: Reserve’s coastline, looking south.Photos by Alex Glazer

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mately 90 species, with 60 percent (50+species) native.

The northern end of the reserve isdominated by an introduced perennial,Harding grass. Extensive areas are com-prised of dense mixtures of introducedgrasses, mostly annuals. There is a largepatch of kikuya grass near the owner’sresidences. Native speciesmaintain a hold in the vi-cinity of the blufftops,where stands of Californiaoatgrass, Pacific ryegrass,and saltgrass are present. Afew patches of saltgrass andan occasional patch of rushextend farther into the grass-land. Along the lip of thebluffs are several native pe-rennial forbs and prostrateshrubs, including golden-bush, sea thrift and speciesof clarkia, gumweed, andbuckwheat. Introducediceplant is present, but notextensive.

The northern end of the re-serve was grazed by cattleuntil four years ago. In ad-dition to the site’s goodcoastal terrace prairie mixedwith upland purpleneedlegrass prairie, reserve

users have access to a large area (per-haps 65 acres) of fields relatively cleanof persistent agricultural weeds. Thisarea could be used for demonstrationand as an outdoor laboratory for coastalgrassland restoration. Restorationclasses are in demand throughout theUC system, and this reserve is especially

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Continued from page 5New NRS site

well suited for studies of grassland res-toration ecology because of its currentdivision into grazed and nongrazed ar-eas. Researchers may also be interestedin aspects of coastal influence on grass-land restoration.

Native Monterey pine forest

The reserve’s grassland extends up intoa forest of Monterey pine, native to thecentral coast of California. The pineforest runs along the ridgetop andslopes for most of the reserve’s length,permitting fairly extensive replicationof study plots. Although Montereypines are fast-growing and raisedthroughout the world in plantations asa source of lumber (one of the world’slargest timber crops), only a few smallnative forests exist — the Cambria areais one of just three places in theUnited States. Such remnantnative stands are significant be-cause native forests exhibit anatural genetic diversity notfound in plantation trees. In-deed, they contain the entiregenetic history of the species.

Because the Monterey pine is sorestricted in its natural distribu-tion (restricted to the coastalfogbelt), with such a limitednumber of individuals — and,in addition, is now threatenedby a recently arrived and fast-spreading disease, pine pitchcanker — efforts are being madeto protect the species by havingit declared threatened and listedunder the California Endan-gered Species Act. Some 36 en-dangered or special status plantsand animals are found in or nearMonterey pine forest and maybe dependent on that particu-lar forest habitat for theirsurvival.

The native Monterey pine forest at thereserve appears healthy, with even-agedstands that include many seedlings andsaplings, and many large, dead trees arein various states of decay. (In contrast,forests to the north in the Montereyarea are dominated by over-maturetrees.) No fires have been reportedsince 1900, but clearly the pines aregerminating successfully even in theabsence of fire.

Considerable infestation by pine pitchcanker is present here. This non-nativefungus from western Asia, which isquickly spread by insects feeding onbranch tips and by people moving bitsof wood, is devastating Monterey pines.Although about one-quarter of thetrees at the reserve are dead from pitchcanker or infected with it, the forestappears healthier than more northerlyexamples. The U.S. Forest Service isconducting studies on the reserve and

throughout the Monterey pine’s rangeto determine if resistance is a geneti-cally heritable trait (see the website ofthe Pitch Canker Task Force:<http:frap.cdf.ca.gov/pitch_canker/index.htm>).

Coast live oaks are an abundant un-derstory in the pine forest, creating re-search opportunities on a variety oftopics, including Sudden Oak Death,a new, non-native species of fungus thatrecently appeared in central and north-ern California and has been creatingarboreal havoc in Marin County (seepage 11). The understory of shrubs,forbs, grasses, rushes, and ferns is fairlydiverse and mostly native. Grasslandswithin the woodland and on the slopeshave not been cultivated like those onthe lower terrace, with good stands ofnative grasses present. Poison oak iscommon in some parts of the forest, butnot so dense as to discourage research.

In the pine forest near thereserve’s northern end is a tur-bid, 1.5-acre pond, 7 metersdeep. It provides some wetlandhabitats and a fairly diverseshoreline of rushes and sedges.Constructed more than fortyyears ago, it appears to be fedby springs, in addition to win-ter runoff.

Diverse fauna found on site

The north end of this site’scoastal terrace grasslands is cov-ered with a thick gray layer ofthatch (made up of the oxidiz-ing stems of annuals — the re-sult of no grazing for the pastfour years) and this area is swiss-cheesed by the runways of voles,many of which can be observedrunning underfoot. Red-tailedhawks, white-tailed kites,kestrels, marsh hawks, commonegrets, blue herons, and barnowls are often seen feeding here.

All age classes of native Monterey pines arepresent on site. Photo by Don Canestro

A half-a-century-old stock pond provideswetland habitats. Photo by Alex Glazer

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Common grassland birds includenorthern flickers, meadowlarks, blue-birds, and red-winged blackbirds.

Moving toward the south end of thereserve, where the native coastal prai-rie grades abruptly into coastal scrubdominated by California sage,woodrats and other mice are common.Bats, raccoons, skunks, coyotes, andbobcats can also be found on site. Tur-keys travel the reserve.

The reserve’s intertidal area supports ahigh density of turban snails, few mus-sels, and all three species of Anthopleuraanemones. The invertebrate grazercommunities differ here from those ofother NRS reserves that include an in-tertidal component.

Also existing in the low intertidal zoneare modest numbers of black abalonewith no signs of “foot withering syn-drome.” This is the healthiest south-ernmost population of black abalone(see sidebar to the right above).

Ornithologically inclined reserve userswill note the Brandt’s cormorants, west-ern and Heerman’s gulls, black turn-stones, wandering tattlers, blue herons,and common egrets that forage alongthe shoreline and on the kelpbeds.

California sea otters are present at thissite, and their presence as a keystonepredator may affect the entire marineecosystem at the reserve. Currently,researchers from UC Santa Cruz andthe California Department of Fish andGame are tagging otters off the coastin an effort to understand their recentmovement to the south of PointConception.

Bottlenose dolphins have been sightedbetween the kelp beds and shore. Cali-fornia sea lions and harbor seals are alsopresent, and a survey of marine mam-mals at this site may reveal that the rockoutcrops offer significant haul-out sites.

Site location and significance

The extent of rocky intertidal habitatavailable and the lack of human dis-turbance here make the reserve unusualfor this region of the state. Moreover,the site is suitable for year-round useand well located within reasonable driv-ing distance from several UC campuses:two hours from Santa Barbara, threehours from Santa Cruz, and four hoursfrom Los Angeles or Berkeley.

The reserve’s location is important forconducting California marine biogeog-raphy research. It fills a biogeographicgap in a system of marine sites alongthe coast. The reserve is centered in aregion, from San Simeon south toPoint Conception, where there is grow-ing evidence of unique oceanographicinfluences on community structure incoastal habitats. This section of coast-line is characterized by intense, con-tinuous coastal upwelling that elevatesnutrient concentrations and generatescurrents away from the coastline. Theseeffects lead to extremely rapid algalgrowth rates (because of high nutrients) Continued on page 8

and low settlement rates of marine in-vertebrates and fish (because of strongoffshore transport of larvae). As a re-sult, coastal communities in this regionare dominated by marine algae ratherthan sessile invertebrates, and the re-serve bears greater resemblance to morenortherly marine sites in terms of itsdense algal cover, lower abundance ofinvertebrates, such as mussels and bar-nacles, and large size of seaweeds.

Available facilities

Thirteen acres adjacent to this site areowned by Camp Ocean Pines — forhalf a century a YMCA camp, now op-erated locally. The cabins and dininghall are assets to the reserve, able to ac-commodate large overnight fieldclasses. No alternative field sites for in-tensive ecological courses exist anywhereelse in the vicinity of UC Santa Barbara.

Although the reserve cannot providelaboratory space, running seawater onsite, or vessel access at the beach, it maybe ideal for field classes, such as the Ma-

Black abalones have practically dis-appeared from the Channel Is-

lands off southern California and noware rarely found along the mainlandcoast as far north as Point Buchon,about 20 miles south of the KennethS. Norris Rancho Marino Reserve.Currently there are no black abalones in the more southern NRS sites.

The reason for this decline is “foot withering syndrome,” a conditionthought to be caused by a parasite. Also called “abalone wasting disease,”it is characterized by weakening and atrophy of the abalone’s foot muscles,which makes it difficult for the shellfish to adhere to its substrate.

For information on the current worldwide geographic distribution of blackabalones, check “ABMAP — The Abalone Mapping Project” of the LosAngeles County Museum of Natural History: <http://www.nhm.org/~dgeiger/ABMAP/index.html>.

Where did allthe black abalones go?

Photo by Kevin Lafferty

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Continued from page 7New NRS site

rine Biology quarter at UC Los Ange-les (which now operates from theBodega Marine Laboratory and Re-serve, 50 miles north of San Francisco).

Potential reserve users should contactthe site’s management for informationon evolving housing options. Thereserve’s resident manager recently putin place a 32-foot travel trailer withkitchen, bath, three single beds, andone double bed.

Reserve management

Day-to-day administration of the Ken-neth S. Norris Rancho Marino Reserve

PISCO researchers from UCSB and UCSC conductinga comprehensive survey of marine intertidalorganisms at the reserve. Photo by Don Canestro

is provided by UC Santa Barbara,which manages six other NRS sites:Carpinteria Salt Marsh Reserve, CoalOil Point Natural Reserve, Santa CruzIsland Reserve, Sedgwick Reserve,Sierra Nevada Aquatic Research Labo-ratory, and Valentine Camp.

The faculty manager for this reserve isSteve Gaines, UC Santa Barbara pro-fessor in the Department of Ecology,Evolution, and Marine Biology anddirector of the Marine Science Insti-tute at UCSB. He plans to use the re-serve as a core, long-term monitoringsite for a major new research programin intertidal studies under a grant re-cently received from the Packard Foun-dation. (The website for the researchconsortium called PISCO — Partner-

Marine botany students from UCLA identifying andpressing algae collected at the reserve. Photo byDon Canestro

ship for Interdisciplinary Studies ofCoastal Oceans — describes this workin its section on research into nearshoreoceanography:<http://www.piscoweb.org/research/oceanography/index.html>.)

Research and teaching use of thereserve is coordinated by the site’s resi-dent manager, Don Canestro (see side-bar above). Potential users can contacthim at:

Don CanestroKenneth S. Norris Rancho Marino Reserve393 Ardath DriveCambria, CA 93428Phone (and fax): 805-927-6833Email: canestro@lifesci.ucsb.edu

Don Canestro became resident reserve managerof the Kenneth S. Norris Rancho Marino Re-

serve in 2001, after nearly eight years as Diving andBoating Safety Officer at UC Santa Cruz. He hasworked as a lifeguard and maintenance and opera-tions park ranger for the East Bay Regional Park Dis-trict in Oakland, a marine biologist for the ChannelIslands National Park, a research associate at UCSanta Barbara, and a SCUBA instructor in varioussettings. He has dived in Antarctica and the BeringSea on various University research projects. Canestrohas a B.S. in Conservation of Natural Resources fromUC Berkeley and an M.A. in Marine Science fromMoss Landing Marine Laboratories. He has workedas an environmental consultant and is an expert onSCUBA diving standards.

New reserve gets buoyant new manager

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O ak woodlands and grasslands characterizemuch of California’s rolling hills. Yet thesegraceful landscapes are in peril. A large portion

of the state’s old oaks have been destroyed, and most of itsgrasslands have been transformed into weeds or lost to de-velopment. Such losses have prompted ambitious protec-tion efforts by agencies, citizens, and conservation groups.Since 1990 was proclaimed by the California legislature asthe Year of the Oak, hundreds of acres of oak woodlandhave been protected or replanted, most by volunteer effortsin communities across the state.

As important as these efforts are, theyhave protected less than 5 percent ofthe state’s remaining oak woodland,and native species continue to decline.Much publicized are the decline ofblue oaks and valley oaks, the dwin-dling populations of native plants andanimals, and the spread of invasiveweeds. Clearly, protecting wildlandsand open space is just the start to con-serving California’s oak woodlandecosystems.

NRS scientists have been studying oakwoodlands in California for more thanthirty years. This research has led sci-entists to examine many aspects of thelandscape, from the influence ofpredators on acorn production to theeffects of cattle grazing on perennialgrasses and oak seedlings. A recent gift

from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation will enableNRS scientists to greatly expand their research and moni-toring of California oak woodlands, and to provide stew-ardship training to agencies and landowners who managethese ecosystems.

Through the continued generosity and foresight of thePackard Foundation, the NRS has received a $263,600 grantto develop a framework for long-term study to restore andmanage California’s threatened coastal oak ecosystem. Thegrant will fund a 10-month planning process to develop anetwork of sites, scientists, managers, and landowners calledthe Coast Ranges Oak Woodland Network (CROWN). Thegoals of the network are to develop knowledge that willhelp support new policies and management to conserve,restore, and sustain California’s oak woodlands and grass-lands. The network will encompass a broad-based programfor monitoring wildlands in the Coast Ranges and will bringtogether existing programs into a wide-ranging educationnetwork for landowners, students, and resource managers.

A vital part of this network will be a series of protectedresearch sites where long-term experiments can be con-ducted. Three NRS reserves will serve as core areas forCROWN research: Hastings Natural History Reservation(Monterey County), McLaughlin Natural Reserve (Napaand Lake Counties), and Sedgwick Reserve (Santa BarbaraCounty). These sites provide a broad geographic range inwhich to study oak woodlands, as well as an establishedbody of previous research on which to build new knowledge.

The life cycle of an oak woodland is avery slow dance; it takes a long timeto learn its secrets. A generation ago,Hastings ecologist Jim Griffin noticedthe woodlands he studied containedvery few young oaks. In 1971, Grif-fin was the first scientist to documentthe lack of regeneration of valley oaksin the Carmel Valley. Other studies inother places confirmed that the ma-jestic old blue oaks and valley oaks thatgraced foothills throughout centralCalifornia had no replacements. Thisso-called lack of recruitment in oaksprompted a series of scientific meet-ings during the seventies and eighties.

Much of the information presentedcame from scientists working on UC’s

Oak woodland networkwelcomes support ofPackard Foundation

Oak at Hastings Reserve. Photo by David J. Gubernick

Continued on page 10Backlit oak.Photo by Galen Rowell

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natural reserves. In their search for clues, NRS scientistsexamined acorn production and the many kinds of wildlifethat depend on acorns as food. They found acorn produc-tion to be closely tied to spring weather, and the abundanceof the acorn crop to be synchronized across long distances.They studied the habits of jays and squirrels that effectivelyplant thousands of acorns each year, and the consequencesof deer and cattle grazing on the growing tips of seedlings.They examined the ecosystem dynamics affected by gophersand found that the churned earth created seedbeds for an-nual weeds that in turn sapped the soil of nutrients andmoisture.

Much has been learned, yet more questions remain. Earlierstudies examined ecological conditions at particular sitesand at particular times. The proposed CROWN researchextends the study to oak woodland ecosystems across theentire Coast Ranges and over a time scale of at least a de-cade, in order to learn how species develop adaptations todifferent local environments. New scientific tools enableinquiry at both very large and very small scales. In additionto geographic studies of adaptation, CROWN research pro-poses to examine the movement of genes among popula-tions to determine how landscape fragmentation affects ge-netic diversity. In this way, CROWN research will explorequestions from the molecular level to the ecosystem level inorder to better understand the processes important to sus-taining oak woodlands and grasslands.

Long-term research is necessary to understand natural pro-cesses that take one’s lifetime to unfold. But the CROWNproposal recognizes that research alone is not enough torestore woodland ecosystems. Therefore, a large part of theproposal includes the translation of scientific knowledge intoworkable strategies to restore and manage the foothill land-scapes of the Coast Ranges. Many partners will be engagedthrough outreach programs, and, through cooperation with Majestic valley oak. Photo by Galen Rowell

Oak tree after snow storm in Carmel Valley(!).Photo by David J. Gubernick

these partners, new techniques for restoration and manage-ment can be tested and monitored. Social scientists willexamine the values people attach to these landscapes andexplore how these values can be reflected in new policydesigns.

Several NRS scientists are working to develop the CoastRanges Oak Woodland Network, including NRS system-wide director Alex Glazer, who serves on the project’sexecutive committee. Frank Davis (UCSB) is principalinvestigator and director; Susan Harrison (UCD) is associ-ate director for the project. Hastings reserve director MarkStromberg serves as education and outreach director. Thesescientists will work with an advisory committee represent-ing a broad range of interests, from The Nature Conser-vancy to the California Cattlemen’s Association, to ensurethe project is closely connected with ongoing conservationefforts in all sectors.

The first work to be completed with the Packard Founda-tion grant will be to collect all that is known about oakwoodlands from the scientific literature and from local ex-perts. Informal workshops and small meetings will be heldthroughout the region to compare the experience of manypeople working to restore oak woodland ecosystems. Fromthis collected knowledge, CROWN organizers will developa long-term strategy that will strengthen the conservationof California’s oak woodlands.

— Margaret L. HerringNRS Senior Science Writer

For more information, contact:Susan HarrisonEnvironmental Science and PolicyUniversity of California, Davis, CA 95616Phone: 530-752-7110Email: spharrison@ucdavis.edu

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The fate of California’s oaks haslooked increasingly bleak since

1995 when scientists first becameaware of a devastating new patho-gen that causes Sudden Oak Death(SOD). Already SOD has killed tensof thousands of coast live oaks(Quercus agrifolia), black oaks (Q.kelloggii), and tanoaks (Lithocarpusdensiflorus)* in seven counties —Marin, Sonoma, Napa, Santa Clara,Santa Cruz, San Mateo, andMonterey — along 200 miles ofcoastline and as far as 35 milesinland.

SOD is caused by a brand-newstrain of Phytophthora fungus — es-sentially a water mold, less relatedto mushrooms than to brown algae.It is similar to the type of organismresponsible for the Irish potato fam-ine of the mid-nineteenth century.In some parts of Australia, other ex-otic Phytophthora species have killed70 percent of an area’s woody spe-cies. SOD destroys a tree’s living in-ner bark layer, girdling it and cut-ting off transport of water and nu-trients from roots to crown.

SOD’s first and most prominentsymptom is typically a viscous, red-dish brown to black seeping or“bleeding” from the trunk. Diagnos-ing SOD is tricky: other conditionscan cause similar bleeding. Once atree begins to decline, various op-portunistic elements — defoliatingand boring insects, root diseases, andcanker fungi — join in to hasten itsdemise.

Relatively little is known about SODand how it spreads. However, the

California oaks imperiled by new, exotic species of fungus

* The tanoak is actually a type of beechtree, not an oak.

Phytophthora responsible is provinghardy and adaptable. It is found in rain-water, soil, and infested plant material.It thrives in a cool (50° to 60°F), moistclimate, but can survive periods ofdrought, then revive when water is in-troduced. It has also been found onwild huckleberries in Marin Countyand on Shreve’s oaks (Q. parvula var.shrevei — a new oak host for SOD)and commercial rhododendrons inSanta Cruz County. This exoticPhytophthora was first isolated by UCDavis plant pathologist David Rizzoand UC Berkeley forest pathologist/UC Cooperative Extension specialistMatteo Garbelotto.

SOD impacts include the loss of aes-thetic values, property values, and habi-tat for flora and fauna supported by liv-ing oaks; the creation of hazard treesand increased fire hazards; the degra-dation of water quality; and significantcosts of dead tree removal. In the longrun, SOD could permanently changeCalifornia’s landscape.

Until recently, no cure or means of con-trolling the moisture-loving, quick-spreading new Phytophthora wasknown. However, this past winter, ex-perimentation on 90 potted live oaktrees in Sonoma County determinedthat a phosphonate compound, espe-cially when administered by injection,can all but eliminate thelesions that occur in SOD.Although this treatmentwould be impractical forCalifornia’s oak wildlands, itoffers a first real reason forhope for oaks in public parksand on private lands.

Things you can do to helpprevent SOD:

• Learn to recognize the symptomsof SOD. Report suspected cases.Obtain a professional evaluation todetermine whether SOD is present.

• Do not collect soil, wood, or otherplant material (acorns, leaves, etc.)from areas where SOD has occurred.

• Do not import host plants, fire-wood, or chips that originated inSOD-confirmed areas.

• Hikers, dog walkers, bikers, sportsenthusiasts, construction workers,and landscapers in SOD-infected ar-eas should clean soil material fromtheir shoes, pets’ feet, tires, andsports, construction, and gardeningequipment to prevent further spread.

If you think you have an oak af-flicted with SOD or just want moreinformation on the problem, checkthese two websites:

CA Oak Mortality Task Force —<http://suddenoakdeath.org>

Center for the Assessment andMonitoring of Forest and Environ-mental Resources (CAMFER) —<http://camfer.CNR.berkeley.edu/oaks/>.

Solitary oak. Photo by David J. Gubernick

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CA Coastal Conservancy boosts two NRS reserves

Quail Ridge Reserve. Photo by Frank Mauer

The Quail Ridge Reserve, located in Napa Countyon a southern peninsula of Lake Berryessa, got abig boost in February when the California Coastal

Conservancy authorized $268,392 in funding for the pur-chase of five inheld parcels totalling 339 acres.

This was the final phase of a two-phase project in whichthe conservancy provided a total of nearly $400,000 to NRSsites. Last year the conservancy enabled purchase of a 210-acre inholding that had previously bisected Quail RidgeReserve, thereby uniting its disparate sections and incorpo-rating into the site a valuable canyon and creek. The NapaCounty Land Trust will hold a conservation easement acrossthe property.

The conservancy willalso provide an addi-tional $22,500 for de-velopment of a docentprogram at anotherNRS site, StebbinsCold Canyon Reserve.This 576-acre reserve islocated in Solano andNapa Counties, about20 miles west of UCDavis.

Stebbins has a long his-tory of public access,receiving 2,000 to4,000 visitors each year. It was therefore decided that en-hancing access there would do more to further theconservancy’s public access goals than enhancing access atthe more biologically vulnerable Quail Ridge Reserve, whereincreased public access would conflict with resource pro-tection goals. Conservancy funds will be matched by theNRS systemwide office for the development of trails andother amenities at Stebbins.

Quail Ridge Reserve holds outstanding remnants of ex-tremely rare native grassland, savanna, and oak woodlandhabitats that harbor a diverse mix of oak species. Conserva-tion of the Quail Ridge peninsula began in 1984 when FrankMaurer and Lenora Timm purchased 151 acres threatenedby development; in 1989, they created the Quail Ridge Wil-derness Conservancy, which is dedicated to preserving theQuail Ridge region as a wilderness area. Quail Ridge Re-serve was established as an NRS site in 1991 and currentlyencompasses 1,937 acres.

Protected sites in this area are also part of a regional-scaleconservation effort, the Blue Ridge-Berryessa Natural AreaConservation Partnership, a consortium that includes theUC Natural Reserve System, California Coastal Conser-vancy, Homestake Mining Company, Land Trust of NapaCounty, Quail Ridge Wilderness Conservancy, CaliforniaDepartment of Fish and Game, U.S. Bureau of Land Man-agement, and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

Stebbins Cold Canyon Reserve offers a variety of relativelyundisturbed habitats, including valley and foothill grass-land, blue oak woodland, chamise chaparral, lower mon-tane chaparral, mixed riparian woodland, and intermittent

foothill stream. The sitewas named in honor ofworld-renowned plant ge-neticist and long-timeprofessor at UC Davisand Berkeley, G. LedyardStebbins.

Although both QuailRidge and Stebbins areinland sites, administeredthrough UC Davis, theconservancy is able tobenefit them because newconservancy guidelinesfor the San Francisco BayArea cover all nine BayArea counties that sur-

round and drain into the bay — including Solano and NapaCounties, where these two NRS reserves are located.

The California Coastal Conservancy was established in 1976by the state legislature and is a unique state resource agencythat uses entrepreneurial techniques to purchase, protect,restore, and enhance coastal resources, and to provide ac-cess to the shore. The conservancy works in partnershipwith local governments, other public agencies, nonprofit or-ganizations, and private landowners. To date, the conservancyhas undertaken more than 700 projects along the 1,100-mileCalifornia coastline and around San Francisco Bay.

For more information, contact:Virginia (“Shorty”) Boucher, Reserve ManagerUCD NRS, DESP/Wickson HallUniversity of California, Davis, CA 95616Phone: 530-752-6949Email: vlboucher@ucdavis.edu

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A lthough Mathias award amounts are modest (themaximum for a single award is $2,500), the grant-

ing process is taken very seriously, with proposals reviewedfirst by the NRS campus committee, then by a system-wide committee. This is a real-life exercise in raising moneyfor research. Students receive firsthand experience in ap-plying for grants, meeting deadlines, managing budgets; eachawardee submits a progress report to the NRS director.

Mathias awards are designed to benefit UC graduate stu-dents by encouraging their research at NRS reserves. Inturn, such use recognizes the special values of NRS sitesas distinct from other locations and helps document thevalue of the reserve system. Proposals for research that

2000-01 Mathias winners shed light on NRS reserves

seems likely to shed light on management issues concern-ing natural reserves are therefore especially welcome. Con-versely, proposals for research that could readily be con-ducted at any number of locations throughout the stateor country will probably elicit a less-enthusiastic responsefrom the review committees — unless that research seemslikely to assist in the management of reserves or to in-crease scientific understanding of local ecosystems.

An annual call for proposals is issued in September; awardsare announced in December. Applications may be ob-tained directly through an NRS campus representative orfrom the NRS systemwide office (1111 Franklin Street, 6thFloor, Oakland, CA 94607-5200; phone: 510-987-0150).

Fourteen years ago, the NRS be-gan supporting student re-search through its Mildred E.

Mathias Student Research Grants pro-gram. Since 1988, $294,000+ has beendistributed to 185 UC students.

In the 2000-01 awards cycle, 20 stu-dents were chosen from six UC cam-puses to share $29,368 in conductingresearch at 16 (of 34) NRS reserves:

From UC Berkeley —Lisa Grubisha: gene flow in an

ectomycorrhizal fungus (Santa CruzIsland Reserve).

Maria M. Soares: social organiza-tion of voles (Hastings Natural HistoryReservation).

Kenwyn Blakeslee Suttle: effects ofchanging hydrologic regimes on grass-land communities (Angelo CoastRange Reserve).

From UC Davis —Collin A. Eagles-Smith: effects of

community structure and trophic dy-namics on contaminant movementthrough aquatic ecosystems (Eagle LakeBiological Field Station).

Amy L. Freestone: serpentine seepplant communities (McLaughlin Re-serve).

Michael A. Kennedy: causes of in-tensified marine subsistence amongHolocene hunter-gatherers (BodegaMarine Reserve).

Mary Brooke McEachern: matingsystem variations among dusky-footedwoodrats (Eagle Lake Biological FieldStation).

Evan Preisser: effects of soil mois-ture on a multi-predator trophic cas-cade (Bodega Marine Reserve).

From UC Los Angeles —Teresa Jolene Brennan: successional

pattern of, and fire’s influence on, chap-arral conifer-oak forest (James SanJacinto Mountains Reserve).

Aviva Liebert: reproductive flexibil-ity in paper wasps (Stunt Ranch SantaMonica Mountains Reserve).

Kristina D. Louie: population ge-netics of eelgrass, a threatened habitat(Santa Cruz Island and Kendall-FrostMission Bay Marsh Reserves).

From UC Riverside —Sharon J. Coe: effects of water avail-

ability on reproductive success in desertbirds (Sweeney Granite MountainsDesert Research Center).

Amy E. Lindahl: seasonal/spatialshifts in patterns of mycorrhizal fungiassociated with coast live oaks andgrasslands (Emerson Oaks Reserve).

Abby Glenn Sirulnik: effects of ni-trogen deposition on ecosystem pro-cesses in exotic annual grasslands andchaparral communities (Box Springs,Motte Rimrock, and Emerson Oaks Re-serves).

From UC Santa Barbara —John P. LaBonte: foraging strategies

of the Southern Pacific rattlesnake(Sedgwick Reserve).

Stephanie Romañach: effects ofbody size, food resource abundance,and social interactions on movementpatterns of pocket gophers (SedgwickReserve).

Sean Mark Watts: evolutionary re-sponses of plants to root herbivory(Santa Cruz Island Reserve).

From UC Santa Cruz —Lisa Ann DiGirolamo: effects of

invasive Argentine ants on grasslandcommunity structure (Fort Ord Natu-ral Reserve).

Joy Anna Hagen: the role of insectsin regulating invasive weeds (YoungerLagoon Reserve).

Brooke Weaver: demographic re-sponses of coast horned lizards to inva-sive Argentine ants (Fort Ord NaturalReserve).

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ing in 1989, Bill treasured his role as teacher. Of the 5,600+undergraduate students he taught over his long career, morethan a thousand were enthusiastic participants in field tripsover long weekends spent investigating the bounties of natu-ral areas throughout Southern California.

Bill always had an unassuming way of putting people atease, but his war experiences strengthened him for the tasksahead. Fortified by his convictions about the value of thenatural world, Bill had the confidence to pursue every op-portunity, no matter the obstacles, of championing habitatpreservation throughout California. Bill and a researcherfriend from UCLA — another NRS hero, Ken Norris —traveled around the state in the sixties and seventies, identi-fying parcels of land that represented California’s richly di-verse but shrinking habitats. Their goal was to garner andprotect these areas as reserves in the nascent NRS, thenknown as the “Natural Land and Water Reserves System.”Ever working to fulfill that goal, Bill remained campusdirector of the UC Riverside-administered NRS reservesuntil 1990.

With little funding, the NRS has a long history of acquir-ing lands through donation. Throughout his career, Bill

has demonstrated a phenomenal ability to talk people intogiving land to the University. Perhaps because he figures itnever hurts to ask. And also because he believes that “noonly means maybe, at least for the time being.” His quietperseverance and down-to-earth diplomacy are legendary.

Furthermore, over the years, Bill showed a remarkable knackfor getting all the powers at the table — developers, land-owners, bureaucrats, attorneys, private citizens — to com-municate and find resolutions to land-use and preservationdilemmas. He played a primary role in the establishmentof numerous NRS reserves, including two of the originalseven NRS sites: Boyd Deep Canyon Desert Research Cen-ter in 1959 and Box Springs Reserve in 1964. The NRSitself was established in 1965.

Fellow NRS founder Ken Norris once wrote of his colleagueand friend Bill Mayhew:

… Bill has repeatedly shown the way for people of all stripesand persuasions to take part in attempts to preserve and protectimportant parts of wild America, and he has often succeededin the face of seemingly insurmountable problems in the way.

What Bill does is so simple. He radiates a transparent honestythat draws everyone into his plans. He is such a simple guyhimself that there is no one he can’t talk to, one on one, with nosuspicion to sweep away.

Wartime challengesContinued from page 3

Throughout his career, Bill Mayhewcoordinated or was an essential partici-pant in the creation of these UC NRSand other reserves:

1955: Living Desert Reserve1959: Boyd Deep Canyon Desert

Research Center1964: Box Springs Reserve1966: James San Jacinto Mountains

Reserve1970: San Joaquin Freshwater Marsh

Reserve1972: Burns Piñon Ridge Reserve1973: Sacramento Mountains Reserve(satellite to Sweeney Granite Moun-tains Reserve); Santa Cruz Island Re-serve; Ryan Oak Glen (donated to SanDiego State University)1974: Chickering American River

Reserve1976: Motte Rimrock Reserve;

Eco-baron Bill Mayhew

“They were accusing me of being thegovernor of the 51st state. Theythought I was trying to establish Uni-versity land from the Mexican borderto the Oregon border…[but] I couldsee down the line that we were notgoing to have places for faculty andstudents… .”

Etiwanda Wash (property sold)1977: Carpinteria Salt Marsh

Reserve1978: Sweeney Granite Moun-tains Desert Research Center;Landels-Hill Big Creek Reserve1984: Santa Rosa Plateau Reserve1986: Coachella Valley Preserve(formerly, Coachella Valley Fringe-Toed Lizard Reserve); King Clone1987: Oasis de los Osos Reserve(satellite to James Reserve)1991: Emerson Oaks Reserve

Bill was also responsible, principallyor in part, for the addition of tensof thousands of acres to the NRS’sBoyd Deep Canyon, Motte Rim-rock, Sweeney Granite Mountains,Scripps Underwater Reserves, andSierra Nevada Aquatic ResearchLaboratory (SNARL).

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N a t u r a l R e s e r v e S y s t e m15

Bill is first and foremost a solid field biologist and teacher,rightly noted for his work on desert wildlife. This undergirds apassion for protecting wild things, starting with the land. Heknows where he is trying to go, when many don’t. Then hesweeps everyone along with him of whatever stripe: developers,businessmen, retired women in trailers, politicians, fellow sci-entists. He is superior to no one, on a level with everyone, andhe shows the way.

What has he done? A great deal. Priceless wildlife reserveshave been established because of him, including ones of thou-sands of acres of now totally unobtainable wildland adjacentto high-priced real estate… .

We used to kid him that his ulterior plan was to walk acrossCalifornia, all on lands he had managed to save.*

Two awards of which Bill is most proud are being the firstrecipient, in 1983, of the Aldo Starker Leopold Conserva-tion Award from The Nature Conservancy’s California chap-ter (that organization’s highest statewide honor) and, in1994, having an NRS facility named in his honor: theWilbur W. Mayhew Building, a dormitory for visiting sci-entists at the Boyd Deep Canyon Desert Research Center,in Riverside County.

However, even more important to Bill than these kudos arethe acknowledgements he has received from his studentsover the decades. One such student, Steve Hobbs, was stillan undergraduate when he had the flora and fauna of theMojave Desert revealed to him by Professor Mayhew. As agraduate student, Steve said, “Bill taught me what conser-vation means. From the pure physical labor … to the intri-cate negotiations, [he] showed me the real world of what it

Bill* at Boyd Deep Canyon Desert ResearchCenter, 1998. Photo by Alex Glazer

What I will always remember about Bill is he never gotdepressed. … He approached every day with anoptimism and an enthusiasm that I can only hope toemulate. I believe that to be successful in land conserva-tion work, you need to be a pathological optimist. That’sBill, and that’s his gift to all his students and colleagues.

— Steve HobbsFormerly Nevada’s first state director of

The Nature Conservancy;Currently director of land and water conservation

for Hennepin County, Minnesota,and working on statewide conservation issues

takes to save our natural heritage for future generations.”And later, as Nevada director for The Nature Conservancy,Steve said of Bill, “He is why I became involved in conser-vation. I often think of what Bill would do in a particularsituation and that mind-set has guided me to many notableconservation successes.”

The great irony of Bill’s career pleases his sense of humor.Because he spent much of the war hating the harsh Indianand Saharan desert landscapes where he was stationed, Bill’scivilian intention was to stay as far away from deserts as hecould get! Yet he devoted much of his career to investigat-ing Southern California’s deserts. Fortunately for Califor-nia, numerous lands — including vast areas of desert —and their inhabitants across the state will be protected wellinto the future, in large measure, because of Bill Mayhew’scourage and convictions.

— Jana K. ShakerSenior Writer and Photographer

College of Engineering, UC Riverside— and currently working on an Australian travel book,

Kangaroos and Kookaburras:The Natural Delights of a Year Down Under

For more information about Bill’s life, his career at UCRiverside, and his land-preservation achievements through-out California, check out this oral history website:<http://ucrhistory.ucr.edu/mayhew.htm>.

*Thanks for everything, “Bugs”!*Kenneth S. Norris to Chevron Conservation Awards, letter ofsupport for Bill Mayhew, March 23, 1997.

0460Natural Reserve SystemUniversity of California1111 Franklin Street, 6th FloorOakland, CA 94607-5200

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Nonprofit Org.U.S. Postage

PAIDUniversity of

California

Continued from page 1A few words

Wilbur W. Mayhew Building dedication plaque atBoyd Deep Canyon Desert Research Center. Photoby Alex Glazer

by the Mayhew legacy. A newly added34th reserve on the central Californiacoast provides protected access tounique marine resources (page 4).Grants from the California CoastalConservancy have substantially en-hanced the Quail Ridge Reserve inNapa County (page 12). With a plan-ning grant to the NRS from the Davidand Lucile Packard Foundation,researchers from several UC campuseshave teamed up to launch a landscape-scale project to improve the under-standing and management ofCalifornia’s oak woodlands and grass-lands (page 9). The research will involvethe McLaughlin, Hastings, andSedgwick reserves.

The frequent assertionthat the scientific ad-vances of the twentiethcentury have far ex-ceeded those madeduring the total pasthistory of humankindis undoubtedly true.Even so, it is very clearthat what we know ofthe Earth — its organ-isms, their biology, and

the dynamics of their interaction witheach other and with their ever-chang-ing environment — is very modest.The projects of Mathias award-winningstudents (page 13) exemplify the richarray of questions being explored onthe reserves. The answers will certainlycontribute to our sense of wonder atthe natural world and may well con-tribute to the survival of humanity.

We are delighted to present BillMayhew with this report in evidenceof the ever-growing appreciation of thevalue of his pioneering contributions.

— Alexander N. GlazerDirector, Natural Reserve System

TransectSpring 2001 • 19:1

Transect is published biannually by the NaturalReserve System (NRS), part of the Division ofAgriculture and Natural Resources (DANR), inthe University of California Office of the Presi-dent (UCOP).

Subscriptions are free, available upon request.Contact: Transect Editor, UC Natural ReserveSystem, 1111 Franklin Street, 6th Floor, Oak-land, CA 94607-5200; phone: 510-987-0150;fax: 510-763-2971; e-mail: kara.gall@ucop.edu.

Recent past Transect issues are also available forviewing on the World Wide Web at:<http://nrs.ucop.edu>. Subscription requestscan be made via this NRS website.

Managing Editor:Susan Gee Rumsey

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The University of California prohibits discrimination against orharassment of any person employed by or seeking employmentwith the University on the basis of race, color, national origin,religion, sex, physical or mental disability, medical condition(cancer-related), ancestry, marital status, age, sexual orientation,citizenship, or status as a Vietnam-era or special disabled veteran.The University of California is an affirmative action/equalopportunity employer. The University undertakes affirmativeaction to assure equal employment opportunity for underutilizedminorities and women, for persons with disabilities, and forVietnam-era veterans and special disabled veterans. Universitypolicy is intended to be consistent with the provisions ofapplicable state and federal law. Inquiries regarding theUniversity’s equal employment opportunity policies may bedirected to: Office of Affirmative Action/Staff Personnel Ser-vices, University of California, Division of Agriculture andNatural Resources, 300 Lakeside Drive, 6th Floor, Oakland, CA94612-3560; phone: 510-987-0096.