The purpose of this master’s project was to create a land use and conservation plan for stone circles that incorporated the organization’s many visions for the site, as well as recommend sources of funding to reduce current management costs and implement the plan. The questions that stone circles specifically asked were:
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- How can stone circles better create buffers between its property and those adjacent?
- How can stone circles best capitalize on its on-site natural resources (particularly, through the management of educational nature trails and its gardens/orchards)?
- How can runoff and drainage be managed most effectively to ameliorate flooding and soil erosion into adjacent creeks?
- What funding streams may be available to the organization as it implements this land use plan?
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To address these questions, we divided the project into three sections:
(1) Conservation Management Plan
(2) Stormwater Management Plan
(3) Alternative Land Use Scenarios
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The Conservation Management Plan addressed Questions 1 and 2, as well as provided a description of the natural conditions on site and recommend management strategies. The Stormwater Management section addressed Question 3. Costs and feasibility of recommendations included in Sections A and B were included in the Scenarios section, along with assessments of several other land use options that stone circles has asked us to consider. This section also identified potential funding sources that were feasible and consistent with stone circles’ mission.