Bring It All Together - Project Planning and Management for Ecological Restoration - page 220

PROJECT REQUIREMENTS
The project team synthesized the SWOT-C analysis and the project objectives and translated
these items into specific project requirements. Additional project requirements resulted from dis-
cussions with County Park staff. Nonnative grasses between the creek and the ranch house road
were to be removed and replaced with native wildflowers. Access into and through the project site
was restricted to prevent damage to the historic structures.
Other project requirements included the following:
• Plant establishment for a three-year period to ensure self-sustaining vegetation
• The relocation of an owl nest from an eucalyptus tree within the construction zone into a
nearby sycamore tree outside the construction zone
• Removal of project-installed fencing following successful plant establishment
• Maintenance of service road access at all times during construction
The resulting requirements then became the key drivers behind the design development process.
Design Approach
The County's draft master plan identified the need to restore the riparian area to the condition as it
appeared between 1862 and 1872, when the ranch was just beginning operations. Therefore, the his-
torical reconstruction approach was determined to be the appropriate design approach for this proj-
ect. The development of the concept design relied on references from many sources, including his-
toric photographs of the ranch, drawings, and remnant patches of native vegetation (in and near the
creek), and journal notes recorded by the original ranch owner. Members of the FLPCP, a nonprofit
volunteer organization that supports the preserve, provided information and insight into the canyon's
ecosystems, which was extremely valuable. The FLPCP provided detailed information concerning
the hydrologic cycle as well as specific information about wildlife movements that the authors would
not have gathered without much longer periods of site analysis and monitoring. The combination of
these various data sets was used to develop the reference model that generated the design.
Concept Design
Major project features were identified on the concept plan, which was prepared based on the data
gathered from the site analysis. This concept drawing (fig. 14-5) became the basis from which the
project plans were prepared during the design development phase.
Design Development
Preliminary planting plans were generated from the concept design (fig. 14-6). Species compo-
sition, desired spacing, and plant container sizes and types were determined based on the resto-
ration planting model generated by the biologist. This model was originally developed for use on
a similar restoration project. The basis of the model was an extensive field analysis of vegetation