Roxanne Arnot-Copenhaver

Steven Marx

Engl. 145

Swanton Pacific Ranch: Sustainable Hands on Approach

Not many campuses can boast of a philosophy that incorporates vital classroom experience accompanied by a hands on approach. Cal Poly’s learn-by-doing frame of mind extends beyond its main campus; Swanton Pacific Ranch located in Santa Cruz, provides students with a hands on approach to sustainable and environmental practices. Swanton Pacific Ranch sets a standard for Cal Poly’s learn-by-doing philosophy within its sustainable forestry practices as well as within other ranching practices.

For the past 14 years Swanton has been in Cal Poly’s possession, yet is widely unknown to the campus as a whole. The 3,200 acre property, accompanied by the 600-acre Valencia Creek property, was a donation to the Cal Poly Foundation by Al Smith. (Press Release, 2004) Smith, who was an alumnus of Cal Poly, went on to found Orchard Supply Hardware all the while acquiring the land that was to become Swanton Pacific Ranch. For the most part, Swanton is utilized by students of the Natural Resource Management, Forestry, and Agriculture departments. When it was donated to the Cal Poly Foundation, the ranch was intended as a “living lab” for students and faculty and to promote education and research all the while maintaining the integrity of the property. (spranch.org) Besides being used for forestry practices, the ranch is home to an organic farm and a cattle operation, both which are put to use by students and faculty of Cal Poly.

Given that the main objective of Swanton Pacific Ranch is “to demonstrate sustainable forestry and natural resource management practices,” the directors of the ranch decided to certification for their forestry practices. In order to achieve this, the forested lands of the Ranch underwent “a year-long certification evaluation by Scientific Certification Systems (SCS).” (Press Release, 2004) The SCS is commissioned by the Forest Stewardship Council to conduct certification surveys which are based on ten principles and 56 smaller criteria. In an interview, Walter Mark, the former director of SPR operations, stated that “for the most part Swanton operations were very close to the sustainable practices needed for certification. In order to meet the FSC regulations we only had to add the process of reporting our harvest and growth annually, setting up formal High Conservation Values, and publishing our management plans.” (Walter Mark, 2007)

The practices that are implemented at Swanton are certified sustainable meaning “economic, environmental and social factors that influence the management options are all at least in balance or ideally result in more growth than harvested material.” (Walter Mark, 2007) The ranch is comprised mostly of Redwood and Douglas-fir which are considered High Conservation Value crops, (HCV Report Summary, 2005) meaning that the work and management of these lands needs to meet the needs of the harvesting while not compromising the well-being of surrounding ecosystems. In order to properly manage these lands, the students and faculty must assess the areas immediately surrounding the HCV’s to determine animal habitat, soil conditions, watershed areas, and other areas susceptible to harm via harvesting and management efforts. After assessments are made, management plans are developed according to the needs of the tree stands and the surrounding communities. The management efforts are then put into effect. In this phase, the students are directly exposed to sustainable management methods and learn exactly how they are implemented. In this way, the participants are then able to participate but understand exactly what it takes to practice ‘green’ management methods. When it comes time to harvest, the plans are complex. The stands are assessed individually to see exactly how they will be harvested without harming surrounding ecosystems. (HCV Report, 2005) For the most part, small sectors of the stands are logged quite selectively. (spranch.org)

With deforestation around the world growing, the market for sustainable, green harvested and managed forests is growing, as are the benefits of being a supplier. Faculty who work with Swanton realize the importance of implementing methods and practices which promote the long term well being of our surroundings. Though Swanton is mainly used as a “classroom” in order to expose students to healthy management techniques, their lumber is harvested and sold to big name markets. Increasing awareness has reached this big name markets and they are making it known to their suppliers that they support environmentally friendly practices; even some large markets are only open to certified sustainable products. “In the mainstream lumber industry both Home Depot and Lowes, which are the two largest wood retailers in North America, only buy and sell certified wood. The media is becoming aware as well; Time magazine publishes on paper that was made from certified pulp. Even the exports of lumber are more often than not certified sustainable; for instance Japan only imports certified wood.” (Walter Mark, 2007)

The benefits of certified wood sales don’t only go one way; for being considered a somewhat small ranch, Swanton has seen the profit of going green. In a fairly new industry, the ability to be able to say that Cal Poly is associated with an FSC certified practice gives the university boasting rights in alone, “being able to say that we are associated with environmentally sound practices is good for public opinions, public hearings, and public relations.” (Walter Mark, 2007) Boasting rights aside, the environmental profits are nothing to overlook. “Impacts include better protection of aquatic and riparian areas, sensitive and high conservation value areas, and threatened and endangered species as well as improvements in worker safety, training, as well as communication and conflict resolution with stakeholders.” (Greenbiz.com, 2007) But in reality, the profit that many people look to as profit is the dollar amounts. In the high conservation value stands the profits seen by Swanton are significant. As a director of operations, Walter Mark was able to see such a profit first hand, “In 2001, we sold 2 million board feet of redwood at $700 per thousand board feet and the logging costs ran about $290 per thousand board feet. This means that the net sale profit, or money back to the ranch, was about $1 million dollars.” From all angles the benefits greatly exceed the any negative aspects that may be found with these practices. The only drawback of harvesting in a sustainable manner may be the extra costs of the process. For a ranch of Swanton’s size the additional costs are about $15,000 annually which is pretty insignificant considering the perks of the operation.

Along with sustainable forestry practices used at Swanton, directors have expanded their desire to go green by implementing their own organic garden and crops accompanied by natural livestock rearing. The crops and orchards that call Swanton home have received California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF) certification for organic farming procedures. Some of the land is leased out to a local company who grows small crops for harvest. There are also 100 percent certified organic orchards which are available to the public to visit and pick fruit. (spranch.org) Along with the organic farm, Swanton allows Animal Science students to practice natural livestock operations. Mainly the livestock consist of cattle which are all grain and grass-fed making them available for use in the natural beef markets. Natural Resource Management students assist the Animal Science students in learning proper and sustainable range management skills for the pastures where the cattle are permitted to graze on a limited basis. (spranch.org) The education of green environmental practices clearly extend past the forestry practices.

With a fully operating ranch which is primarily student run, Swanton Pacific provides not only an example for Cal Poly students, but surrounding communities. The initiative taken by both faculty and staff on the ranch makes it known that Cal Poly is aware of environmental issues and cares about the long term effects that humans can have on our surroundings. If every farm, ranch, or logging operation was to take a leaf out of Swanton’s book and put to use sustainable practices a significant amount of progress could be made in the fight against environmental deterioration. Our ‘learn-by-doing’ philosophy is easily transferable to those with an open mind and hard working hands.

References

“Cal Poly’s Swanton Pacific Ranch Receives International Sustainable Forestry Designation” http://www.calpolynews.calpoly.edu/news_releases/2004

HCV Report Summary. http://www.spranch.org/documents.html

“New Study Shows Benefits of Sustainable Forestry Certification”. http://www.greenbiz.com/news/printer.cfm?NewsID=28449

“Sustainable Forestry”. http://www.greenbiz.com/toolbox/printer.cfm?LinkAdvID=4161

Walter Mark Interview. May 21, 2007.

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