Slippery Rock University
OP-10: Biodiversity

The location of SRU's Audubon Sanctuaries may be found at http://www.sru.edu/Documents/about/sustainability/sustainable_features_map.pdf Slippery Rock University has received a Conservation Award from the Bartramian Audubon Society for establishing four new Audubon wildlife sanctuaries since 2005. The sanctuaries, part of the University's green landscape and outdoor learning initiative, now preserve a total of 278 acres, including 163 acres on campus. The sanctuaries include 83 acres at the Robert A. Macoskey Center for Sustainable Systems Education and Research, 73 acres at the Old Stone House site (off campus), 42 acres of Miller forest on Wolf Creek (off campus), 16 acres of old growth forest off South Main Street, 10 acres at Wally Rose Ballpark, 23.7 acres at the Storm Harbor Equestrian Center, and 30.7 acres at the Branchton Road Sanctuary.

The Bartramian Audubon Society, a local chapter of the National Audubon Society that was started by three Slippery Rock students in 1983, has been active in identifying, assessing, and monitoring SRU's Audubon Wildlife sanctuaries. SRU's biology department regularly assesses and identifies endangered or vulnerable species and environmentally sensitive areas, and has tagged specimen trees throughout campus. The biology department heads up the university's Environmental Zoning Committee that reviews any proposed land use changes to SRU property. The SRU Office of Sustainability manages the Land Use Project Request process, in which appropriate groups such as the Environmental Zoning Committee are requested to review proposed temporary or permanent outdoor property use by campus organizations and make recommendations to the President regarding whether the use is appropriate or requires restrictions to protect the natural environment.

In addition to a broad variety of bird and butterfly species, the Audubon Wildlife Sanctuaries at SRU are home to many wild animals including the White-Tailed Deer, Wild Turkey, Striped Skunk, both Red and Gray Squirrels, Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake, Gray Catbird, the American Woodcock, as well as many other species. The Audubon Sanctuaries on campus (noted above) also include sensitive wetlands areas, most prominently in the Branchton Road sanctuary area.

The charter of the Environmental Zoning Committee is essentially to protect and/or positively affect identified species, habitats and environmentally-sensitive areas on campus. In addition, the EZC reviews proposed temporary and permanent land uses through the Land Use Project Request Form process managed by the Office of Sustainability. The Office of Sustainability funds wetlands delineation projects regularly, when proposed changes in land use are requested. In the vicinity of the Overlook Hiking Trail, a Green Fund Grant was obtained by the Campus Trails Committee to construct causeways (with student volunteer labor) to protect the wetlands while making the trail an educational "Leave No Trace Behind" outdoor classroom.