Background:

The Big Creek neighborhood is primarily unspoiled wilderness. As specified in the LHBCR mission statement, preservation of wilderness quality is the top long-term priority, allowing the reserve to serve as a baseline reference "benchmark" for measuring environmental change. In this context, roads and highways are of special concern. The coastal slope of the reserve is traversed by California Route 1, a major two-lane highway. The highway sweeps 100' above mouth of the Big Creek canyon on a 500' long bridge, providing a natural corridor for the riparian zone to reach the ocean. The coast highway compromises the reserve mission severely along the coastal slope. Noise, road kill, weed invasion, soil disturbance, dumping, unauthorized camping, unauthorized latrine areas, road construction, and reduction of scenic value are all factors. One mitigating factor is that the lower coastal slope is naturally extremely steep, in many cases terminating above the ocean in vertical cliffs. There, the highway accentuates natural barriers already in place. However, there are zones where the highway artificially divides areas of productive habitat and/or blocks wildlife access to the lower slopes. Highway maintenance and construction creates extreme disturbances to reserve habitats, including removal of large areas of vegetation and topsoil, translocation and dumping of large quantities of rock and fill, long-term disturbance of wildlife, etc. Table 1 list recent Caltrans projects in the reserve.

• 
  UC Natural Reserve System mission: ..."to contribute to the understanding and wise management of the Earth and its natural systems, by supporting University-level teaching, research, and public service at protected natural areas throughout California."
• Big Creek Reserve Mission and Vision Statement
  Mission: ..."is to contribute to the understanding and stewardship of natural lands and waters by 1) providing a natural "benchmark" for measuring long term environmental change, and 2) by supporting University -level research and training while simultaneously allowing natural processes to proceed with minimal human disturbance."
• Vision Statement: The "intact wilderness" quality of the habitats at Big Creek will be fully protected for future generations, and the site will serve as a "natural benchmark" for measuring environmental change locally, regionally, and globally. Human activities in the reserve will be carefully controlled and monitored so as to avoid disturbance to natural processes, and the reserve will be maintained as a "window on the wilderness." This "window" will be actively used by students and faculty of the University of California, who will conduct in-depth studies and publish results which illuminate the landscapes and marine habitats of the region. There will be a sufficient number of investigators on-site to foster exchange of ideas and enthusiasm, but not so many as to disturb natural processes.

Highway Maintenance Issues. The following policies and guidelines are designed to protect natural values while acknowledging the need for maintenance and construction of the public highway.

a. Natural occurring slides should be encouraged to flow unimpeded to the habitats below. If material from such a slide is caught by the highway it should be pushed over the edge (using appropriate equipment and techniques).

b. Material crumbling off road cuts which collapse usually involves a relatively small amount of material (less than 100 tons), and should in most cases be pushed over the edge near to where the collapse occurred. This prevents mixing of material up and down the coastline, and prevents spread of exotic plants. However, some spots should be avoided. A list of such spots would include (1) the harbor seal haul-out beach, (2) study plots below the highway or on the beach (none at the present time), or (3) places where there are known populations of sensitive organisms or habitats (patches of willow, rocky reefs right next to the shore line without a rock barrier).

c. Material from slides which are caused by previous highway construction and/or current maintenance should be treated on a case by case basis. In some cases the material can be added to a pre-existing slide, or placed where a natural slide seems imminent. As listed above, material should not be deposited in certain areas.

d. Debris and material generated by planned construction projects, including large scale highway stabilization projects, should be deposited in an appropriate, pre-planned receiver site. Small amounts should be accommodated along the highway, preferably adjacent to their place of origin. Large-volume receiver sites should not be located in the reserve.

e. It is desirable to know if any particularly valuable or rare natural resources are in the path of slide disposal sites. This information can be difficult to obtain in marine environments, but an attempt should be made if feasible. Ideally, a shoreline survey, looking for unusual species, should be conducted under all potential landslide sites. C.A. Hall's geological map could be used to determine the location of present and past landslide events.

f. Given the strong mandate for natural area protection within the Big Creek Reserve, it is not appropriate to bring outside material into the reserve for disposal.

g. Any earth moving involves the potential for dispersal and propagation of undesirable plants. In general, plants from other areas, native or not, should not be brought in to the reserve. Revegetation with on-site native plants is preferred. This can often be accomplished by carefully protecting topsoil and vegetative root masses and stems, and spreading them over disturbed areas. Follow-up weeding of undesirables may be necessary.

Traffic and Roadside Parking Issues. Several million visitors traverse the state highway each year, many of whom are seeking the recreational experience of viewing the Big Sur coast line. Others use the highway for commuting to and from work, or travelling to town for supplies. There are few turnouts or passing zones, and the highway is often congested with traffic is backed up behind slower drivers. The highway through Big Creek Reserve has one of the few straight stretches and passing zones, and drivers often speed in excess of 70 miles per hour. The reserve also contains many large turnouts where people park, enjoy the scenery, picnic, use the non-existent latrines (i.e. defecate or urinate behind a bush or rock), leave trash. Trespassers and poachers (hunting and fishing) park in the turnouts before entering the reserve. The Department of Transportation owns an approximately 70 foot wide corridor along which the highway runs, but does not assume responsibility for the wide turnouts which exceed the boundaries of the corridor, even though the turnouts are created and maintained as part of the highway.

Goals and Objectives:
We have several goals and objectives which will help resolve some of these problems. These can best be achieved by working closely with the Department of Transportation in developing a comprehensive, effective Coast Highway Management Plan.

a. Create a 35 mph "wildlife protection" traffic zone through part or all of the reserve, to reduce road kill and noise in reserve habitats.

b. Negotiate to transfer ownership of the turnouts to the Department of Transportation, or, alternatively, to have them restored to natural habitat.

c. Resolve some of the problems of roadside parking by providing for trash cleanup, erection of barriers, etc. These costs should not be borne by the reserve.

d. Allow natural geologic and hydrologic processes to occur (i.e. landslides, soil movement, runoff, etc. ) with minimal interference by the highway.

e. Prevent weed invasion via highway.

f. Survey below highway for natural values and make list of places where local material should not be pushed over the edge of the highway.

Table 1. Recent State Highway Projects within Big Creek Reserve Boundaries

• Scaling of "cow cliffs" road cut. This project involved driving equipment to the top of Block Point, drilling and blasting material out of the face of the road cut. 1990?
• Culvert renovation early 1990's
• Sand blasting and re-sealing of the Big creek Bridge 1993?
• Material dumping on the south end of the Dolan Point turnout. A small collapse of the road cut at Dolan Point was dumped toward the ocean. Material from further north may also have been deposited there, possibly including seeds of invasive French Broom.
• Stabilization of the Wing Gulch debris flow onto the Highway. This project involved re-opening an old access road to the top of the cliffs just south of Wing Gulch, removal of a couple of acres of unstable hillside, and trucking the material north to a receiver site off the reserve. 1998
• Earthquake retrofit of the Big Creek Bridge. This project involved renovating the bases and towers of the bridge, as well as the bridge deck and abutments. About an acre of habitat under the bridge was disrupted, and noise and disturbance to the Big Creek cove and the reserve entrance area was severe. Streamside trees were protected. 1998-2000
• Big Creek Slide of March 2000. A road cut collapsed and about 20,000 tons of material fell into the highway. Most of the material was deposited onto an old slide face just north of the slide itself. 2000.

Table 2. Big Sur State Highway road kill specimens in the "Road kill Museum" teaching collection:
Mountain Lion Great Horned Owl
Blacktail Deer Barn Owl
Red-tailed Hawk Coyote
Gopher Snake Gray Fox
King Snake Ringtail
Rattlesnake Raccoon
Rabbits Bobcat
Ground Squirrels Striped Skunk
Gray Squirrels Spotted Skunk
Opossum Pygmy Owl
Wild Boar Cooper's Hawk
Crow

Disposal site at the south end of the Dolan Point turnout, showing the contrast between undisturbed coastal scrub vegetation and the bright yellow disposal material (covered with fennel Foeniculum vulgare).	French broom (Cytisus monspessulanus) growing next to the highway. This one of the most invasive weeds in our area.

Panorama of the shore line at Big Creek, showing the bridge, road cuts, crib walls and other features of the highway.