Restoring the Ecological and
Cultural
Integrity of Sierra Meadows
In 2008, YWI joined a partnership with American
Rivers,
The South Yuba River Citizens League,
The Tsi-Akim Maidu tribe and the Stockholm Environment Institute to
provide a model restoration assessment and plan for mountain meadows habitat
in the northern Sierra in the face of a changing climate.
This first phase restoration project was called Headwater Restoration in a Changing Climate: The Meadows of Bear Valley. The project:
- conducted an assessment of the Bear Valley Meadow to determine existing conditions and stressors;
- increased the capacity of Sierra watershed groups to monitor and assess mountain meadow health;
- developed a model plan for the restoration of Bear Valley;
- enhanced our understanding of potential climate change impacts on meadow health; and
- informed both public and private landowners and decisions makers in the Sierra about the ecological benefits and cultural values of Sierra meadows and the urgency, particularly in the face of climate change, for their restoration.
YWI played the lead role in developing education and outreach materials (Tree Rings Fall 2008 edition, Number 21) and conducted a field seminar in Bear Valley where an expert panel of scientists, archaeologists and Tsi-Akim Maidu tribal members led a conversation with more than one hundred community members about the ecological and cultural integrity of Sierra Meadows and the role that we all can play in their restoration.
Subsequent phases for Restoring the Ecological and Cultural Integrity of Sierra Meadows are planned to commence in 2009.
To become involved in meadow restoration projects locally:
- Join YWI at one of our ongoing meadow restoration workdays in the ‘Inimim Forest’s small meadow on the “Big Parcel”. Go to Calendar of Events.
- Contact the South Yuba River Citizens League (SYRCL) and inquire about how to become a volunteer monitor focusing on meadows sampling in the Yuba Watershed
graphic: designed by David Wellner