Evergreen State College, The
OP-10: Biodiversity

Evergreen's unmanaged forestland (~700 acres) includes wetlands and Puget Sound shoreline property. The College deliberately limits the use of and impacts within those regions.

The forested areas of campus are vegetated with species representative of the Western Hemlock zones of Washington and Oregon. This land is mostly unmanaged by the College with the exception of the campus Core areas and the Organic Farm to the east. The entire campus was logged at one time along with much of the surrounding area. Today, there are regions of second growth Douglas Fir found in the eastern and southeastern Reserves between the campus Core and the Organic Farm, as well as in the northern ravine areas of the campus. The Reserve also contains a mix of other conifers such as Western Red Cedar and hardwood species such as Big Leaf Maple and Red Alder. Wetland areas are located in all quadrants of the Reserve with extensive areas in the southeastern parts of the campus, along streams on the property, north of the meadow area next to Driftwood Road and along Evergreen Parkway. The eastern half of the Reserve is considered by many to be the least disturbed and most pristine on campus. This consists of contiguous patches of Douglas Fir and other conifers. Beach areas in the northern half of the Reserve are dominated by tidal marine plants. Campus Core landscapes are managed and consist of lawn areas, gardens along pathways, recreational field areas and identified teaching garden.

The Evergreen State College Campus Master Plan VOLUME II - Goals and Policies for Land Use (pg. 39 - 40) Policy 6 To protect and efficiently manage campus environmental resources. The natural features of Evergreen’s campus are valuable as an academic resource in their own right. These features also contribute to the quality of life on campus in many ways and create a buffer between the college and the surrounding area. Procedures 1. Ecological environments necessary to fulfill the academic mission of the college shall be provided. 2. Sizable portions of the campus land area shall be preserved as undeveloped land areas with minimum habitat destruction for the purposes of academic study, minimization of resource expenditures, and the protection of ecological functions. (Also applies to Policy 7.) 3. Environmental impacts shall be evaluated when planning construction, modification and management of campus facilities and minimized to meet criteria at least as stringent as those provided by law. This same approach will be employed during the actual construction or management of campus facilities. (Also applies to Policy 7.) 4. Tree clearing shall be undertaken only when specific plans for the site to be cleared have been completed, and when that clearing is shown to be necessary. 5. Critical areas (including wetlands, critical wildlife habitat, steep slopes, geologically hazardous areas), the shoreline, and other environmentally sensitive areas shall be identified, designated and protected from the impacts of construction, modification, and management activities. The college shall adopt and utilize criteria for the protection of critical areas at least as stringent as that provided by local law. Ecological Preserves 6. Certain areas of prime growth, significant wildlife or environmentally sensitive habitat, or other unique sites on campus shall be identified and formally designated as Ecological Preserves, in which no significant alteration of the environment may take place. The primary concern in these areas shall be to completely maintain the native quality of the site. 7. Access to Ecological Preserves shall be limited for the purposes of environmental protection. 8. The college should administer protective maintenance in the Ecological Preserve areas only when necessary to maintain the integrity of the area and approved by the Campus Land Use Committee. 9. Proposals for ecological studies or other academic uses that involve manipulation or alteration of ecosystems shall be submitted to the Campus Land Use Committee for review and shall not occur in areas designated as Ecological Preserves. 10. Non-manipulative, minimally disruptive academic uses of the Reserve areas that do not conflict with other campus activities may be conducted anywhere on campus. Off-trail travel should be limited as much as possible. 11. Efforts to restore native plant populations in the Reserve areas shall be encouraged where invasive exotics currently dominate. 12. Any plantings occurring in Reserve areas, i.e. for erosion control or restoration, shall be species native to the site. Ideally, propagules should be collected from the site or at a minimum from the south Puget Sound to maintain genetic integrity. 13. The ecological environments on the campus shall be made available to the campus community for social and recreational purposes within the limits stated above. 14. The college shall establish and maintain a resource and land use inventory to guide land use decision making.