Bring It All Together - Project Planning and Management for Ecological Restoration - page 214

site suitability analysis was conducted, and several candidate sites were investigated. Regulatory
agency staff helped the project team identify a suitable area within the Los Peñasquitos Canyon
Preserve (LPCP) where the mitigation project could be undertaken.
Working with the park owners, the County of San Diego Department of Parks and Recreation,
along with the City of San Diego, regulatory agencies, and local community planning groups, the
authors developed a comprehensive plan for the restoration of a three-acre plot in the heart of the
preserve. Los Peñasquitos Creek runs east to west from the interior of central San Diego through
LPCP, an open space park of approximately 3,400 acres located in the northern part of the city of
San Diego. The County of San Diego is the primary owner of the preserve and is responsible for
its operations and maintenance.
LPCP was once a thriving cattle ranch, which first came into being in the 1860s. An original
California Spanish land grant, the ranch soon grew from its original 4,230 acres to more than
14,000 acres. Primary agricultural activities included livestock (primarily cattle) and some grain
crops. Historically, Los Peñasquitos Creek supported a diverse and thriving riparian habitat. Dom-
inated by southern willow scrub vegetation, the creek bed meandered along the canyon bottom
as it ran beneath shady canopies of large sycamores ( Platanus racemosa ), coast live oaks ( Quercus
agrifolia ), and cottonwoods ( Populus fremontii ). The canyon slopes were covered with thick chap-
arral scrub on the north-facing slopes and with coastal sage scrub on the south-facing slopes. By the
time the cattle ranch operations got into full swing, much of the native canyon bottom vegetation
had been altered, through clearing to allow cattle more grazing and access to water, and through
the removal of the native vegetation along the banks of the creek and adjacent canyon bottom,
apparently for firewood.
In the 1960s, the County of San Diego acquired Los Peñasquitos Ranch (fig. 14-2); in the 1970s,
the Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve was established. The mission of the preserve is to protect and
enhance the natural resources in the canyon and to protect the historic core of the ranch as a mu-
seum of early California ranch life. Some goals of the preserve are to restore the natural vegetation
and to maintain recreational opportunities for hiking, cycling, jogging, and equestrian uses. The
preserve also provides an educational forum for elementary schoolchildren to learn more about
ranch life in early California.
In 1987, county planners developed a draft master plan for the preserve to provide the overall
framework for the County Parks Department to protect, manage, restore, and enhance the biodi-
versity of one of southern California's last undammed canyons. In addition to the goal of enhanc-
ing the natural resources, including native vegetation, wildlife, streams, and canyon walls, the
draft master plan specifically targeted the period of 1862-1872, the time the ranching operation was
just beginning. This goal applies to work within the historic core of the original ranch buildings
(all adobes) and the canyon vegetation itself.
Project Scope
Thus, our project scope was to restore three acres of southern willow scrub on Los Peñasquitos
Creek and establish riparian vegetation along the canyon bottom as it appeared during the peri-