UC Merced: Politics and Planning

University planners and decisionmakers realize that they must be heavily involved in federal politics if planning for the the 2,000-acre campus and adjoining 8,300 acres planned for development six miles northeast of the city of Merced is to succeed. The land includes vernal pools that house federally protected fairy shrimp. The University has also developed an innovate land trust -- revenue from developing the land owned by the Virginia Smith and Cyril Smith trusts will endow a scholarship to pay for Central Valley students to attend UC Merced.