Kenneth S. Norris Rancho Marino Reserve

Kenneth S. Norris Rancho Marino Reserve (NRM) is located in San Luis Obispo County near Cambria. It covers rocky shores, coastal cliffs, grasslands, and steep elevation rising over 700 feet. NRM is administered by UC Santa Barbara and operates by a use agreement with the private landowner of the site. The site has a long history of use for food production. It was a site for collecting red abalone and other marine life for indigenous people for as many as 10,000 years. In 1841, the site was part of a Mexican Land grant that introduced cattle ranching to the area. The region subsequently was used for dairying and seaweed farming. Seaweed farmers burned the coastal rocks to promote sea lettuce growth from about 1900 to 1960. The NRS reserve was established in 2001. Livestock continue to graze the site as a land management strategy.