James,
You've got a precious resource that has to have both physical security as
well as public participation/enjoyment. Most farms have to have some
fencing, so if you've got the budget, get on it. But that shouldn't
preclude some type of public access. ? is what types? Share some details
of the Organic Research Farm, please. Is it strictly experimental plots or
is there a student farm/garden operation? Is it certified? Does the
certifier have an educational program that can benefit? Space for a
community garden? Not every type of access is appropriate or manageable,
but some will be and you have to leverage what fits best.
UC Santa Cruz' organic ag programs have an apprecntice-based production
operation which sells to an on-campus CSA for staff and faculty. Proceeds
help fund the program and the farm doesn't directly compete with local
growers. There are also academic research fields with faculty and graduate
experiments. Lots of public/educational programs associated with it,
although that may not help them keep the research fields from going into
faculty housing (could be imminent). It's open land on the campus but the
Agroecology program has been allowed to borrow them fhe last ten years.
Now the campus is filling up and must build housing, so it will soon become
a somewhat urbanized enclave.
I guess there are very few remaining field research sites in urban
settings. Lots of high-tech greenhouses and such, all with as much
security as they can afford. But it could be a powerful teaching tool for
the taxpaying public to realize that they are supporting public research
that helps agriculture coexist better with human residence and wildlife.
mark
At 06:45 AM 5/16/2000 , James Kotcon wrote:
>Hello All:
> As the Principle Investigator for the West Virginia University
>Organic Research Farm, I am interested in the experiences and practices of
>others in managing access by the public to the University Farm. We are
>located within City Limits and have several dozen neighboring residences
>along with a history of use by members of the public for walking dogs,
>hiking, biking, and other recreational uses. While the University policy
>has not allowed these uses by unauthorized persons, lack of enforcement has
>created a tradition of use by members of the public. As research activities
>ramp up, some of the faculty have observed problems from people disturbing
>research plots, dogs digging up plants, and other concerns. While we want
>to maintain good neighbor relations and encourage educational uses, we need
>to regulate access to prevent damage to research areas.
> I am looking for examples of what works in other similar situations.
>We are considering fencing the area to restrict access, and are discussing
>ideas such as a "neighborhod watch" group. Some folks want to keep access
>to the Farm as part of hiking trails and "greenspace" for the City, while
>others want absolutely no unauthorized access because of the loss of
>security for research plots, equipment, etc. We agree that a uniform policy
>is needed, and would apreciate any suggestions or ideas of how to accomplish
>this in the most neighbor-friendly way possible.
>
>*****
>Jim Kotcon
>304-293-3911 ext. 2230 (office)
>304-293-2872 (fax)
>304-594-3322 (home)
>West Virginia University
>Division of Plant and Soil Sciences
>401 Brooks Hall, P. O. Box 6057
>Morgantown, WV 26506
>
>
>To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@cals.ncsu.edu with the command
>"unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command
>"unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest".
>To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@cals.ncsu.edu with the command
>"subscribe sanet-mg-digest".
>
>All messages to sanet-mg are archived at:
>http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail
Organic Farming Research Foundation
Mark Lipson, Policy Program Director
ph: 831-426-4006 or -6606; fax: 831-426-6670
PO Box 440, Santa Cruz, CA 95061
<http://www.ofrf.org/policy/index.html>
To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@cals.ncsu.edu with the command
"unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command
"unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest".
To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@cals.ncsu.edu with the command
"subscribe sanet-mg-digest".
All messages to sanet-mg are archived at:
http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon Jul 03 2000 - 12:00:35 EDT