Grantee Research Project Results
Final Report: Multi-faceted Sustainability on Ithaca College Natural Lands
EPA Grant Number: SU831867Title: Multi-faceted Sustainability on Ithaca College Natural Lands
Investigators: Confer, John L. , Krasnow, Allison , Perez-Chameco, Andre , Peim, Andrew , Parisi, Anthony , Clark-Joseph, Beth , Jennings, Carol , Wheatley, Christopher , Raileanu, Ciprian , Coleman, David , Silvia, Elizabeth , Webb, Gordon , Wallack, Jacob , Hamilton, Jason , Cramer, Jen , Plath, Kristina , Block, Kyle , Friedlund, Paula , Melcher, Peter , Mauk, Ryan , Hylen, Stephanie , Swensen, Susan , Ward, Titania , Eusden, Tyler , Frary, Vince
Institution: Ithaca College
EPA Project Officer: Page, Angela
Phase: I
Project Period: September 30, 2004 through May 29, 2005 (Extended to October 27, 2005)
Project Amount: $10,000
RFA: P3 Awards: A National Student Design Competition for Sustainability Focusing on People, Prosperity and the Planet (2004) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: P3 Challenge Area - Safe and Sustainable Water Resources , Pollution Prevention/Sustainable Development , P3 Awards , Sustainable and Healthy Communities
Objective:
We are developing a Management Plan (MP) for 365 acres of natural lands contiguous to the built Ithaca College campus. The MP prioritizes the use of different areas according to the following criteria listed by rank; 1. Education and research, 2. Protection and enhancement for rare ecosystems and biodiversity, 3. Sustainable resource extraction, and 4. Recreation. We are preparing a protocol for creation of land management plans, including public relations and educational components on the web and radio, as a model for others. We have initiated all of the ecological management goals for the MP, as described in the Phase I proposal.
The goals are to have this student-generated MP adopted as the Ithaca College Management Plan for Natural Areas, to summarize this process as a protocol for others, and to establish a campus commitment to fulfillment of the component goals of the Phase I proposal leading to management for biodiversity and enhanced awareness about the role of the environment in sustainable development.
Summary/Accomplishments (Outputs/Outcomes):
Phase I described seven components for the MP. Of these, we have completed the Land Use Prioritization and initiated all of the multi-year component projects: Management for Enhanced Avian Diversity, Deer Exclosures for Forest Regeneration, Siting Wind Power, Sustained Hardwood Harvest, and production of Educational Modules. We initially proposed to restore Fire-adapted Ecosystems with controlled bums. The use of fire has proven impractical and alternative plans for mechanical removal are in progress. The EPA review of the Phase I proposal asked for greater generality, documentation of success, and permanent integration of activities with education. We have modified the original proposal accordingly and designed the Phase II proposal to emphasize solutions, wide application and educational features. Our proposal merges commercial support for biodiversity, educational uses of natural lands, conservation and enhancement of unique areas, and recreation with sustainable use of natural resources, providing a model for People, Prosperity and the Planet.
The student-originated, Management Plan. Optimal management of natural lands for multiple uses enhances education and recreation, provides for sustained resource extraction, and protects biodiversity and ecosystem processes. Occasionally, some uses of natural areas are incompatible and wise management requires a selection process that will provide for the long-term, optimal benefit of People, Prosperity and the Planet. The Capstone course for seniors in Environmental Studies compiled such a plan for 365 acres of natural lands adjacent to our developed campus. Other students with different majors and complimentary skills in computer programming, ecological analyses and radio programming made crucial contributions. The MP was presented at a regional conference on Sustainability on Campuses of New York and at two public meetings for the Ithaca College community, soliciting discussion and written responses (see Prioritizing Land Use for web link). A draft of the MP was supported on xx of yy written responses, indicating success for our proposal. The MP will be submitted in May to the Natural Areas Stewardship Committee (NASC), which has oversight for land management. Although our MP will be completed at class end and is not yet formally accepted, our prioritization component has already been used by NASC for conflict resolution. A proposed recreational trail has been moved from proximity to rare ecosystems to an area with a common ecosystem. An annotated log of class activities is being created as a Protocol for similar processes by others. The ecological component goals are long-term and open ended. Thus, this report describes the process of design, the start-up progress with the seven component goals and the developing MP. We assess the progress for these component goals as follows.
Land Use Prioritization. The class completed prioritization of potential uses for all of the 365 acres. The class assigned the first priority for our college lands to education and research for all areas within 30 mm. walk of the built campus. Secondary priority was assigned to protection of rare plants and ecosystems followed by resource extraction and recreation. The class developed a quantitative scoring system that has helped locate a recreational facility so that it did not endanger educational uses or rare ecosystems.
Increasing Avian Diversity. Phase I included experimental management on 2.5 km of rights-of-ways (ROW) on South Hill initiating a study to determine if removal of invasive, non-native shrubs increased avian diversity. In summer 2004, students mapped the pre-treatment distribution of bird territories and nests and the native and nonnative shrubs. New York State Electric and Gas, who funded the project, sprayed the invasive, non-native shrubs in late summer. Breeding bird density will be mapped in subsequent years to test if such management generally enhances avian diversity. Combined with earlier analyses of avian diversity on ROW by the PT, results may show a pattern for optimal management for avian diversity.
Deer exclosures for forest regeneration. Forest regeneration on South Hill is almost nonexistent due to browsing by numerous deer. Sites for five deer exclosures with adjacent control sites have been selected and the Ithaca College Director of Physical Plant has agreed to install fencing in summer 2005 using Phase I funding. The location and identity of all woody stems for one site can be seen at our web-based biodiversity map. After this strong start, successful management will be indicated by greater regeneration inside exclosures over succeeding years.
Sustained hardwood harvest. Remote sites with good hardwood growth were chosen for sustained hardwood harvest following site plans derived by a state forester as requested by the college. This will provide valuable timber products and also provide sunlight in small canopy openings that will encourage the growth of oaks, and, in turn, provide acorns for wildlife. One remote site with mature but locally rare tree species has valuable timber but received a high score on the questionnaire for educational value. Following our prioritized goals, part of this site will be reserved for its educational value.
Siting wind power. The technical and economic feasibility of wind power was assessed by our energy consultant firm; Renovus Energy, Inc. supported by Phase I funding. Construction and maintenance costs will be paid back with revenue from the generated electricity in about 13 years. Cost analysis assumes we will obtain support from New York State Energy Resource Development Authority (NYSERDA). Support from NYSERDA seems assured but awaits formal approval of our site, bid specifications, and the selected construction firm. NYSERDA will provide 70% of the costs for installation of renewable energy sources for educational institutions for programs with strong educational components. Ithaca College is delighted to use the power tower as a source for student research projects to develop web-based educational modules. Construction of the educational wind power tower has been approved by the college administration. Barton and Luguidice, Inc, with Phase I funding, is formulating bid specifications for both construction and for electronic features that will enable us to put educational features about wind power on the web. Majors in physical sciences will program web-accessed data so that students unfamiliar with programming can calculate the energy and pollution savings from wind power on our campus and globally.
Educational modules. Environmental education modules that can be used beyond our campus are being developed; radio features called BioScopes and a web-based program for mapping biodiversity. These modules will enhance awareness of sustainable management of natural resources. Writing BioScope features is now an option or requirement for six courses. These 60-90 s commentaries are written by majors in the sciences and environmental studies and produced by students in the School of Communications in the Audio Workshop course as radio features. In this start-up semester, we have succeeded in getting over a dozen quality features on the air.
The web-program enables us to map plant locations within squares that create a grid across the developed campus and natural areas. The programming was done by a computer science major while the web-programming was developed by college staff. We are developing metrics for calculating biodiversity for each grid or grid aggregates. The Capstone course has used this web-program to record pre-treatment distribution of woody stems in deer exclosures. The mapping program will be extended to include natural areas owned by Cornell University that are contiguous to our lands. Two core courses will use this process to record plant biodiversity and make comparisons among areas throughout the campus. For Phase I, we will be able to complete the web features necessary for class use. Future student programmers, whose work would be accelerated by Phase II funding, will develop a programming guide to extend the program to other areas.
Fire-adapted ecosystems. The Pitch Pine Heath Barrens ecosystem on South Hill is known from fewer that five sites in New York. This fire-adapted community is threatened by fire suppression and competition with fire-intolerant species. However, the use of controlled fires to enhance fire-adapted communities is too dangerous and controversial near developed property. Alternatively, two students have accepted research projects for fall 2005 that will initiate hand-cutting of invasive species and experimental and control plots to monitor success.
Conclusions:
Our MP, to be completed by semester's end, balances education, enhancement of biodiversity and ecosystem protection, sustained resource extraction, and recreation. Phase I funding has led to innovative educational features in nine Ithaca College courses plus many student research projects. We are developing programming that will adapt our biodiversity mapping to other sites and radio features that we will distribute to other colleges. We will develop web-based educational programs about the wind tower. The Capstone class will complete a protocol for designing other multiple land use plans. The college administration and several industries have supported this process, and we anticipate this curricular experience will become the real Ithaca College Master Plan for Natural Areas. In the process of developing the MP, we have completed or strongly initiated all of the Phase I components with specific measures of success.
Phase II objectives and strategies: With the support of Phase II, we will continue to monitor ecological sites for changes related to our long-term goals. We will further imbed Phase I activities in our curriculum, widely disseminate the products of Phase I, and greatly modify the products of Phase I so that they are applicable and attractive to a much wider audience.
We will advertise the availability of our management protocol for use by others who want to develop multiple use land management plans. We will develop the web- based biodiversity mapping so that it is applicable to other sites. Specifically, the PT has funding from the New York Biodiversity Research Institute for avian monitoring and habitat restoration in Sterling Forest State Park (SFSP). Phase TI funding will support student programmers so that they can extend the existing web-based programs to this research site in SFSP. Our biodiversity mapping process will be extended to Cornell University for use on their natural areas contiguous to our natural lands.
Perhaps most significantly, we will use Phase IT funding to initiate an intercollegiate, podcasting station on the web to provide a global perspective on sustainable development. This program will be administered within Park Productions, an award-winning, professional production unit based in the Park School of Communications at Ithaca College. Thus, programs will be prepared by students with professional supervision. These students will develop many topics; however they will be required to develop programming on sustainable development for Ithaca College and other universities throughout the globe. By soliciting international participation, the podcast station can provide a globally significant service that provides time for investigative reporting on sustainable development for People, Prosperity and the Planet.
Commercial and Governmental Partners Providing Services and Support: New York State Electric and Gas, providing vegetation management and financial support. Renovus Energy, Inc., providing cost analysis and guidance about installation of a wind power tower with Phase I funding. Barton and Loguidice, providing coordination with New York State Energy Resource Development Agency, compiling specifications for wind power tower construction and electronic features to broadcasting data to the college server with Phase I funding. New York State Energy Research and Development Agency, providing guidance about site selection and a probable source of subsidy for the wind power tower. Cornell University Plantations, providing botanical expertise and guidance about management for fire-adapted ecosystems using, mechanical, non-fire means. Publications by the Environmental Studies Capstone course. 2005. A Protocol for Designing Multiple Use Management of Natural Lands. in prep. The draft Management Plan for Ithaca College Natural Lands. in prep.
Supplemental Keywords:
multiple use protocol, biodiversity mapping,, RFA, Scientific Discipline, Sustainable Industry/Business, POLLUTION PREVENTION, Sustainable Environment, waste reduction, Technology for Sustainable Environment, Environmental Engineering, Urban and Regional Planning, biodiversity, green design, sustainable development, holistic design, waste minimization, ecological design, environmental conscious construction, green building design, alternative building technology, pollution prevention design, collaborative urban planning, wind power, environmentally conscious designRelevant Websites:
http://departments.ithaca.edu/biology/nasc/ Exit
http://www.ithaca.edu/biodiversity/ Exit
http://departments.ithaca.edu/biology/facstaff/confer/publications/ROW-manage-birds Exit
Progress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.