CONSERVATIONCONSERVATION PLANPLAN BishopBishop PeakPeak NaturalNatural ReserveReserve Natural Resources Protection Program City of San Luis Obispo 990 Palm Street San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 Conservation Plan for the Bishop Peak Natural Reserve City of San Luis Obispo Natural Resources Protection Program www.slocity.org/naturalresources Neil Havlik, Ph.D. Natural Resources Manager 805.781.7211 Michael Clarke, Ph.D. Biologist 805.781.7511 Published July 2004 Conservation Plan for the Bishop Peak Natural Reserve 2 Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................4 List of Figures 1. INTRODUCTION................................5 FIGURE 1 Bishop Peak Natural Reserve 1.1 BACKGROUND..............................5 Regional Setting ..................... 6 1.2 HISTORY ........................................5 1.3 LEGAL BACKGROUND................8 FIGURE 2 BPNR Topography ................. 7 1.4 PLANTS & WILDLIFE...................9 FIGURE 3 BPNR Physical Features....... 11 1.5 ACCESS ........................................10 FIGURE 4 BPNR Soil Types.................. 12 2. INVENTORY ......................................10 Bishop 2.1 PHYSICAL FEATURES ................10 FIGURE 5 BPNR Habitat Types ............ 14 2.2 CULTURAL/HISTORIC FIGURE 6 BPNR Sensitive Species ....... 18 Peak FEATURES ..........................................13 2.3 BIOLOGICAL FEATURES ...........13 FIGURE 7 BPNR Land Use Natural 2.4 DOMINANT VEGETATIVE Designations ......................... 26 COMMUNITIES ..................................13 FIGURE 8 BPNR Wildfire Preparedness Reserve is Mixed Scrub-Chaparral Habitat ........... 15 Coast Live Oak Woodland Habitat ...... 15 Plan....................................... 35 a 352- Grassland Habitat................................. 16 FIGURE 9 BPNR Photo-points............... 38 2.5 WILDLIFE SURVEY.....................16 acre area Birds ....................................................17 Mammals.............................................17 located Reptiles................................................22 Amphibians..........................................22 List of Tables Invertebrates ........................................22 northwest TABLE 1 List of Birds Identified During 3. GOALS & Wildlife Surveys of BPNR.... 19 of the City RECOMMENDATIONS...................25 TABLE 2 List of Mammals Identified During of San 4. CONSERVATION PLAN .................28 Wildlife Surveys of BPNR.... 21 4.1 SYSTEM MAP ..............................28 Luis 4.2 NEEDS ANALYSIS ......................29 TABLE 3 List of Reptiles Identified During 4.3 IMPLEMENTATION Wildlife Surveys of BPNR.... 23 Obispo. STRATEGY ..................................32 TABLE 4 List of Invertebrates Identified Ongoing Tasks...............................32 During Wildlife Surveys of Specific Tasks................................32 BPNR.................................... 24 Years 1-2....................................32 Years 3-4....................................33 Years 5-7....................................33 As Funds Become Available..........33 4.4 GRAZING PLAN ..........................33 Appendix 4.5 WILDFIRE PREPAREDNESS PLAN.............................................34 APPENDIX 1 Soils 4.6 FISCAL STATEMENT .................36 APPENDIX 2 Trails 4.7 PHOTO-POINTS & MONITORING .............................37 APPENDIX 3 Wildlife Survey APPENDIX 4 Brochure APPENDIX 5 Resolution Conservation Plan for the Bishop Peak Natural Reserve 3 • The ultimate goal for many hikers Executive Summary on BPNR is to reach the summit to experience the magnificent vis- Bishop Peak Natural Reserve tas of the City and Morros af- (BPNR) is a 352-acre area located forded from the vantage point. northwest of the City of San Luis The trail system to the peak could Obispo. The Reserve crosses be isolated by wildfire originating City/County boundaries with 248 in the foothills, effectively trap- acres lying within the City limits and ping people at the peak with no 104 acres in the County. Manage- safe route for decent. ment of the Reserve is a joint City/County effort. The Reserve con- The Conservation Plan addresses Bishop Peak sists of three primary habitat types: live oak woodland, mixed scrub- these and other issues by calling for: Natural chaparral, and grassland. Bishop Peak is an important local landmark • Habitat and restoration efforts Reserve is readily identifiable with the San Luis Obispo area. concentrated in the region of the pond, and an evaluation of hard- the most Important natural features: scaping the trail system in this area. heavily used BPNR contains a number of sensitive • Development of a continuous of all the or otherwise important wildlife spe- cies, including: emergency access route through the Reserve accessible from the City-owned Two species of raptor with sensitive public road system. open space status (White-tailed kite, and Coopers Hawk); • Implementation of a feasibility study to identify possible wildfire lands. San Diego Desert Woodrat; Loggerhead Shrike; refuge areas. Western Skink; and Ringneck Snake; and The thrust of this Conservation Plan Morro Shoulderband Snail*. is to strike an acceptable balance be- tween protecting the existing re- Management issues or concerns sources on BPNR while providing for associated with BPNR: recreational use and public safety. At the same time proposed actions are BPNR is the most heavily used of all respectful of the privacy of the resi- the City-owned open space lands; dents adjoining the Reserve. this presents a number of unique problems and challenges, including: • The area around the pond concen- trates foot traffic as trails from the Highland Drive and Patricia Drive trailheads converge at this point. The result of this concentration is a braided trail system and associ- ated erosion problems. (*As of May 2004 the form of Morro Shoulderband Snail found in the vicinity of the City of San Luis Obispo is no longer recog- nized as ‘Endangered’ by the USFWS) Conservation Plan for the Bishop Peak Natural Reserve 4 1. Introduction remained, leaving the prominent Mor- ros that we see today. This material, Bishop Peak Natural Reserve (BPNR) like most volcanic rock, is quite resis- is a 352-acre open space located in the tant to erosion and thus leaves very northwest of the City of San Luis steep sides and other features that con- Obispo (Figure 1). The three-pointed tribute to the striking quality of the City summit is the tallest and most distinc- of San Luis Obispo skyline. tive of the peaks that make up the string of Morros known locally as the Bishop Peak, tallest of the Morros, Nine Sisters. BPNR is jointly man- reaches an elevation of 1,546 feet aged by the City and County of San above sea level. Luis Obispo. The Reserve is an im- portant element of the local commu- 1.2 History* nity’s setting and character. It pro- vides opportunities for enjoyment of Bishop Peak was first given that title by the natural environment and is a favor- Spanish missionaries who perceived a ite spot for hiking, picnicking, and resemblance between the peak and the Bishop rock climbing by local residents and cap or miter worn by the bishops of the students from nearby Cal Poly Univer- time. The peak together with other Peak sity. Morros has always been an area land- mark. It has also been a source of some reaches an 1.1 Background* economic exploitation over the years, principally for stone. At least two and elevation The Morros are a series of igneous possibly three small quarry operations rock intrusions into the overlying rock have gone on at various locations of 1,546 that formed approximately 25 million around the base of the peak over the years ago as part of the Franciscan years. The mountain was quarried most feet above Formation. They occupy a 40-square- heavily during the late 1800’s and early mile area from Morro Rock (to the 1900’s, when rock was removed to sea level. northwest in Morro Bay) to Islay Hill build the breakwater at Port San Luis. on the southeast side of the City of To haul the rock from Bishop Peak to San Luis Obispo. These formations are the Port a narrow gauge railway was not true volcanoes in that they did not built from the Pacific Coast Line in San erupt and spew lava or ash over the Luis Obispo, through the Avila Valley countryside. Instead, magma deep to Port San Luis. within the earth found a weak spot in the earth’s crust, and pushed through the overlying rocks like toothpaste be- (*Information adapted from the book ‘Mountains of Fire’ by S. L. ing squeezed out of a tube. The rocks Dickerson) of the Morros, a type of basalt known as dacite, are between 24 and 26 mil- lion years old. Since that time the overlying rocks have eroded away and the hard erosion-resistant dacite has Conservation Plan for the Bishop Peak Natural Reserve 5 Bishop Peak Natural Reserve is a 352-acre open space located in the northwest of the City of San Luis Obispo. The three-pointed summit is the tallest and most distinctive of the peaks that make up the string of Morros known locally as The Nine Sisters. CONSERVATION PLAN FIGURE 1 BISHOP PEAK NATURAL RESERVE Bishop Peak Natural Reserve Regional Setting Conservation Plan for the Bishop Peak Natural Reserve 6 BPNR Boundary Parcel Boundary Trail System CONSERVATION PLAN FIGURE 2 BISHOP PEAK NATURAL RESERVE Bishop Peak Natural Reserve Topography Conservation Plan for the Bishop Peak Natural Reserve 7 All quarrying activities on the mountain were small or 1.3 Legal Background intermittent operations, and none succeeded in remov- BPNR was acquired