Design with the wild: Accommodating tule elks at point Reyes National Seashore

On Point Reyes National Seashore, a National Park Service managed land, there are conflicts between local ranchers and signature native species, tule elks. To help mitigate the friction between tule elks and people, this thesis recommends a major shift in attitude concerning management strategies at Point Reyes National Seashore and delivers design interventions that frame the situation more holistically and support a more resilient approach. Agricultural land has been one type of land-use in Point Reyes for thousands of years. Since the mid-1800s, dairy ranching has become the major form of agricultural operations in Point Reyes and Marin County. Local ranchers are still stakeholders within the National Seashore, and the ranching activities are oppressing the survival of the native species. For instance, tule elk (Cervus elaphus nannodes), a local native subspecies of elk, was reintroduced into Point Reyes National Seashore in 1978. Tule elk used to range widely in central California, but now it is a protected species at state and federal levels. As the ranches within Point Reyes National Seashore inevitably overlap with the elk distribution area, tule elks are facing habitat loss and competition with ranch animals. The design proposal in this thesis is tule elk-oriented, but competing interests are taken into consideration. The solution should support elks’ survival while maintaining ranchers’ land. The deliverables include (1) a catalog of strategies in different scenarios and (2) three site plans demonstrating the application of the strategies. The proposed design interventions can help (a) restore the habitat of the tule elk, (b) address land-use conflicts, and (c) create better recreational experiences for park visitors. Framed as a prototype, the design proposal can also be applied to other national parks where natural and cultural systems are in conflict.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.L.A.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Landscape Architecture

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2022

Author dc:creator

• Zhang, Yuzhe

Contributors dc:contributor

• O'Shea, Conor E
• Hays, David Lyle
• Fang, Fang

• Tule elk
• Point Reyes National Seashore
• Rancher
• National Parks
• Human-Nature relationship

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2022 Yuzhe Zhang

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/116166

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F116166