University of California Natural Reserve System

The University of California Natural Reserve System (UCNRS) is a system of protected areas throughout California.^[1] The reserves support UC's mission of teaching, research, and public service. Unlike national and state parks, they are not available for recreational uses, because they were specifically created to enable UC scientists to conduct research free from such distractions.

Bodega Marine Lab, Bodega Marine Reserve

The system began with UC Berkeley zoology professor Joseph Grinnell. In 1937, near the end of his career, Grinnell began to work on a proposal to establish UC's first wildland field station for zoology teaching and research. He had initially looked to the U.S. national parks for research sites, but became frustrated with the National Park Service and how its other priorities often got in the way of his priorities. Grinnell became convinced that only a natural reserve owned by the university itself "would provide the permanent protection necessary for long-term teaching, research, and monitoring of California's ecosystems."^[2]

Grinnell did not live long enough to see his proposal succeed. In May 1939, two weeks after Grinnell's sudden death from a heart attack, the Regents of the University of California voted to accept his proposal and created the oldest reserve in the system, Hastings Natural History Reservation.^[2]

On January 22, 1965, at the suggestion of Kenneth S. Norris, the UC Board of Regents voted to formally join together Hastings and six other reserves into the Natural Land and Water Reserves System.^[3] In 1970, it was renamed to the Natural Reserve System.

List of reserves

Reserve	Campus	Area (ha)	Area (Acre)	Coordinates	Web	Notes
Angelo Coast Range Reserve	Berkeley	3,166	7,915	39°43′45″N 123°38′40″W	[4]	On the South Fork of the Eel River. Protected by The Nature Conservancy (TNC).
Año Nuevo Island Reserve	Santa Cruz	10	25	37°6′30″N 122°20′10″W	[5]	On Año Nuevo Island. UC manages site within the larger Año Nuevo State Reserve, owned and operated by California State Parks.
Blue Oak Ranch Reserve	Berkeley	1,319	3,260	37°22′53″N 121°44′14″W	[6]	In the Diablo Range, northwest of Mount Hamilton.
Bodega Marine Reserve	Davis	176	436	38°18′25″N 123°3′54″W	[7]	On Bodega Bay.
Box Springs Reserve	Riverside	65	160	33°59′31″N 117°17′43″W	[8]	Adjacent to the Riverside campus.
Philip L. Boyd Deep Canyon Desert Research Center	Riverside	6,749	16,873	33°35′N 116°20′W	[9]	In the Santa Rosa Mountains, near Palm Desert.
Burns Piñon Ridge Reserve	Irvine	124	306	34°8′20″N 116°27′10″W	[10]	In the Mojave Desert, near Joshua Tree National Park.
Campus Point State Marine Conservation Area	Santa Barbara	68	170	34°25′N 119°52′W	[11]	Adjacent to the Santa Barbara campus. Coal Oil Point seep field is offshore.
Carpinteria Salt Marsh Reserve	Santa Barbara	93	230	34°24′N 119°31′W	[12]	In Carpinteria.
Chickering American River Reserve	Berkeley	695	1,720	39°14′48″N 120°19′31″W	[13]	In the headwaters basin of the North Fork of the American River, Sierra Nevada.
Dawson Los Monos Canyon Reserve	San Diego	93	230	33°8′30″N 117°15′20″W	[14]	In the northwestern Laguna Mountains.
Elliott Chaparral Reserve	San Diego	43	107	32°52′6″N 117°8′33″W	[15]	At former Camp Kearny, on the Kearny Mesa.
Emerson Oaks Reserve	Riverside	102	255	33°28′N 117°2′W	[16]	In the Temecula Valley, southern Riverside County. Protected by TNC.
Fort Ord Natural Reserve	Santa Cruz	242	606	36°40′N 121°46′W	[17]	At the former Fort Ord, near Monterey Bay.
Hans Jenny Pygmy Forest Reserve	Berkeley	28	70	39°17′N 123°45′W	[18]	Above the coast in Mendocino County. Protected by TNC.
Hastings Natural History Reservation	Berkeley	932	2,392	36°12′30″N 121°33′30″W	[19]	In the Santa Lucia Mountains, upper Carmel Valley.
James San Jacinto Mountains Reserve	Riverside	12	29	33°48′30″N 116°46′40″W	[20]	In the San Jacinto Mountains. Satellite site Oasis de los Osos (west end of the Coachella Valley) protected by TNC.
Jepson Prairie Reserve	Davis	634	1,566	38°16′N 121°49′W	[21]	In the Central Valley. Protected by TNC and the Solano Land Trust.
Kendall-Frost Mission Bay Marsh Reserve	San Diego	7	16	32°47′N 117°13′W	[22]	On Mission Bay.
Kenneth S. Norris Rancho Marino Reserve	Santa Barbara	200	500	35°31′41″N 121°4′35″W	[23]	In the Santa Lucia Mountains, near Cambria.
Landels-Hill Big Creek Reserve	Santa Cruz	1,584	3,911	36°4′N 121°35′W	[24]	In the Santa Lucia Mountains, along the Big Sur coast. TNC involved in the protection of this site.
McLaughlin Natural Reserve	Davis	2,800	7,050	38°52′N 122°24′W	[25]	Within the Blue Ridge Berryessa Natural Area.
Merced Vernal Pools and Grassland Reserve	Merced	2601	6,428	37.3753°N 120.413°W / 37.3753; -120.413 (Merced Vernal Pools and Grassland Reserve)	[26]	Next to the UC Merced campus
Motte Rimrock Reserve	Riverside	289	715	33°48′45″N 117°15′30″W	[27]	In western Perris Valley, Peninsular Ranges.
Quail Ridge Reserve	Davis	784	1,937	38°28′59″N 122°8′58″W	[28]	Near the Blue Ridge Berryessa Natural Area. QuRiNet deployed here.
Sagehen Creek Field Station	Berkeley	183	452	39°25′57″N 120°14′13″W	[29]	In the Northern Sierra Nevada, north of Lake Tahoe. Operated by the University of California under a long-term special-use permit from the U.S. Forest Service.
San Joaquin Marsh Reserve	Irvine	82	202	33°39′30″N 117°51′30″W	[30]	Upper Newport Bay.
Santa Cruz Island Reserve	Santa Barbara	18,624	46,020	34°0′N 119°44′W	[31]	Santa Cruz Island. Protected, owned, and managed by TNC.
Scripps Coastal Reserve	San Diego	342	844	32°52′30″N 117°15′15″W	[32]	Adjacent to the UC San Diego Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
Sedgwick Reserve	Santa Barbara	2,358	5,896	34°42′N 120°1′W	[33]	In the Santa Ynez Valley and the foothills of the San Rafael Mountains.
Sierra Nevada Research Station—Yosemite Field Station	Merced			37°32′23″N 119°39′29″W	[34]	Yosemite National Park, Sierra Nevada.
Stebbins Cold Canyon Reserve	Davis	233	583	38°30′32″N 122°5′50″W	[35]	Within the Blue Ridge Berryessa Natural Area.
Steele/Burnand Anza-Borrego Desert Research Center	Irvine	248,882	615,000	33°14′N 116°23′W	[36]	An agreement with Anza-Borrego Desert State Park and the Anza-Borrego Foundation makes the park, which is managed by California State Parks, available to field station users.
Stunt Ranch Santa Monica Mountains Reserve	Los Angeles	126	310	34°6′N 118°39′W	[37]	In Los Angeles County, within the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.
Sweeney Granite Mountains Desert Research Center	Riverside	3,600	9,000	34°48′20″N 115°39′50″W	[38]	In the Granite Mountains, within the Mojave National Preserve.
Valentine Eastern Sierra Reserve	Santa Barbara	87	205	37°37′30″N 118°59′30″W	[39]	In the high Sierra Nevada and the upper Owens Valley. Includes Valentine Camp and the Sierra Nevada Aquatic Research Laboratory (SNARL).
White Mountain Research Center	Los Angeles	18	45	37°21′41″N 118°19′36″W	[40]	Five research facilities ranging from the Owens Valley to the highest point of the White-Inyo Mountains east of the town of Bishop.
Younger Lagoon Reserve	Santa Cruz	10	26	36°57′3″N 122°3′57″W	[41]	The northwest edge of Monterey Bay on the west side of the city of Santa Cruz.