Efforts to help rebuild Cal Poly’s Swanton Pacific Ranch were recently bolstered with the help of one-time state funding from California’s 2022-23 state budget.
The budget includes $20.3 million in one-time general funds to rebuild Cal Poly’s Santa Cruz County ranch and $18.75 million of $75 million earmarked for California State University farms to make equipment and infrastructure improvements to the university’s agricultural production units.
The ranch suffered heavy losses in August 2020 during the CZU Lightning Complex fire that destroyed nearly all structures and forced evacuation.
The funding will be used to help offset remaining restoration costs at the ranch and help fund the college’s effort to build an Education Center at Swanton Pacific Ranch.
The ranch was also awarded a $4.7 million grant from Cal Fire’s Forest Health Program earlier this year to assist with post-fire recovery efforts and to increase fire resilience strategies. This financial award will provide increased training for the current and future workforce in fire mitigation, addressing the growing impact of fire in California.
Read more here (https://cafes.calpoly.edu/cal-poly%E2%80%99s-college-agriculture-food-and-environmental-sciences-awarded-over-39-million-state-funding)