The resource management team is engaged in the day-to-day land stewardship of the park. The team manages the park’s natural wealth in the public interest by maintaining park ecosystems, restoring degraded or damaged areas to ecological health, and providing for public access in a responsible, sustainable manner. The work done by resource management falls under several categories.

Ecological Restoration

Ecological restoration is the process of returning a piece of disturbed land to its original native form. Restoration is different from re vegetation, landscaping, or gardening, though some of the techniques and objectives are comparable. The primary benefit of restoration goes to the ecosystem and the native plants and animals that rely on it, while benefits to humans are secondary
Resource management works to restore Coastal Sage Scrub, the sagebrush-dominated community present on Southern California's coastal terrace and foothills. Due to various human land uses including agriculture, development, and cattle grazing, Coastal Sage Scrub now exists in approximately 10% of its historic range. It is important to protect the remaining Coastal Sage Scrub and return land that has been used for other purposes back to Coastal Sage Scrub. Much of the effort in restoration goes toward the planting of native species. Successfully restored land will create habitat for native animals, resist invasion by non-native weeds, and otherwise be a healthy, functioning ecosystem.

Weed Management

A healthy, mature, and undisturbed ecosystem will naturally resist invasion by weeds. However, disturbances such as brush clearing, cattle grazing, agriculture, alteration of the fire cycle, and trail building all have effects ont eh ecological balance that make it easier for non-native species, both plants and animals, to become established. Non-native species invade a niche within the Coastal Sage Scrub and other ecological communities at Crystal Cove. They often provide little ecological value and some species are actually harmful to native ecosystems. For example, Black Mustard (Brassica nigra) and Wild Artichoke Thistle (Cynara cardunculus), form dense, single-species stands in heavily disturbed areas, excluding native plants. Resource Management uses physical and chemical means to remove these and other invasive plants.

Monitoring

Resource management actively monitors the park's natural resources and recommends solutions to problems observed in the field. The team is in charge of conducting surveys of rare and endangered species throughout the park with the help of other agencies and volunteer groups. Species currently being monitored include the California gnatcatcher, the Western Snowy plover, and various tidepool species, as well as plants such as Turkish rugging (Chorizanthe staticoides) and multi-stemmed dudleyas (Dudleya multicaulis).

Visiting Scientists

The resource management team also cooperates with visiting scientists and groups on various projects and studies throughout the park. Students and professors form local universities conduct studies throughout the park in diverse fields such as geology, geography, ecology, wildlife, and archaeology. Specific topics range from bobcat movement and land erosion to grassland restoration techniques and intertidal ecology.

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