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Background

Protected areas offer meaningful life experiences for the people who visit them and often allow access for the purpose of environmental education. However, protected areas also support numerous plant and wildlife species. This presents a challenge for managers of protected areas. The same lands that can be important for introducing students to the natural world also play a key role in conserving native biodiversity. 

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The Jack and Laura Dangermond Preserve — a 24,000-acre nature preserve located in near Lompoc, CA — represents a case study in balancing the tradeoffs of environmental education in protected areas. The preserve includes habitats such as oak woodland, chaparral, coastal sage scrub, and annual grassland and supports nearly 60 special-status species. The Nature Conservancy is currently developing an environmental education program to introduce students to this biologically diverse area. 

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The Dangermond Preserve in western Santa Barbara County, CA.

Objectives

We focused on three objectives:

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1

Identify vegetation and wildlife that are sensitive to human presence and map their suitable habitat on the Dangermond Preserve

2

Rank trails for environmental education on the Dangermond Preserve based on their ecological impact to sensitive vegetation and wildlife

3

Create a management tool to select trails on the Dangermond Preserve that offer suitable educational opportunities while minimizing ecological impacts

Approach

Our team performed a literature review to identify vegetation and wildlife on the Dangermond Preserve that could be negatively impacted by the presence of humans. We grouped these species into four Conservation Criteria:

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Sensitive

Vegetation

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Sensitive

Mammals

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Sensitive

Raptors

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Sensitive

Amphibians

Next, our team used a method known as a Multi-Criteria Analysis to rank trails on the preserve based on ecological impact. We conducted our analysis using ArcGIS and conservation planning tools such as Maximum Entropy Modeling (MaxEnt). We also developed a management tool using the Shiny package in RStudio that allows land managers to select trails based on school group needs, scenic landmarks, number of vegetation communities, and ecological impact. The four main steps to our approach are shown below:

Map Sensitive Species Habitat

Conduct

Multi-Criteria Analysis

Calculate Trail Ecological

Impacts

Develop

Management

Tool

An overview of the steps used to inform trail use decision-making on the Dangermond Preserve.

Photo credit: The Nature Conservancy

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