During the Californian winter and spring, the Sierra Nevada’s mountain meadows are covered in snow and inaccessible, so when the season shifts and the snow melts, we jump into action alongside our partners, putting boots on the ground and shovels in the dirt. Mountain meadows are critical to the hydrology of the landscape and provide a unique home to native plant and animal species, anchoring soil and storing groundwater. While they may be comparatively small in area, covering 191,000 acres of the Sierra Nevada, mountain meadows are critical to the health of California’s headwaters, which provide clean drinking water to more than 75% of Californians. Beyond this, they provide essential habitat, recreational opportunities, and increase regional resilience to climate change. With around 50% of the Sierra Nevada’s mountain meadows significantly degraded, scaling mountain meadow restoration across the Sierra Nevada is more important than ever.
Our Headwaters team leads meadow restoration from concept to completion, including initial assessment to identify meadows in need of restoration, design and permitting, on-the-ground restoration, and monitoring to quantify project benefits. And this summer and fall, our team has been in the field ensuring the health of Sierra Nevada mountain meadows. Read about our projects to stay in the loop on our progress!
Ackerson Meadow
Ackerson Meadow is a low-elevation wet meadow straddling the boundary of Yosemite National Park (YNP) and Stanislaus National Forest (SNF), and provides critical breeding habitat for the CA Endangered Great Grey Owl and Willow Flycatcher. Over a century of land use including logging, ditching, and grazing led to the deep incision of the creek that flows through the meadow, which empties into the Tuolumne River, and the dewatering of the meadow. This summer, work began on the second and final phase of implementation, which will culminate in the restoration of the upper meadow (158 acres). A healthy Ackerson Meadow means more habitat for a wide range of native species, expanded wet meadow vegetation, enhanced groundwater storage (an estimated 217 acre-feet per year) and water filtration, as well as increased carbon sequestration.
This is a collaborative project the partnership of American Rivers, National Park Service Yosemite National Park, US Forest Service Stanislaus National Forest, and the Yosemite Conservancy (listed alphabetically).This project was funded in part by the donors of American Rivers, Bonneville Environmental Foundation, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, California Wildlife Conservation Board, Google (in association with their Water Stewardship pledge and strategy), National Park Foundation (provided by The Coca-Cola Company, The Coca-Cola Foundation, and Stericycle), National Park Service (provided by Bipartisan Infrastructure Law-Ecosystem Restoration, Concessions Franchise Fee, and NPS Operations), US Forest Service, and Yosemite Conservancy (listed alphabetically).
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Faith Valley
Faith Valley is a 200-acre wet meadow site in Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest (HTNF). American Rivers implemented Phase 2 of the Faith Valley Restoration Project in 2023 in partnership with the HTNF, which included installing 25 new Beaver Dam Analogues (BDAs), repairing 4 BDAs installed during phase 1 in 2022, and repairing the OHV road along the west side of the meadow. In 2024, the project team is conducting adaptive management to repair the BDAs installed in 2023, install additional new BDAs, and repair a rocked swale installed on the OHV road during Phase 2. These actions will ensure that the BDAs and road repairs continue to function effectively. Adaptive management work at Faith Valley is funded by the California Wildlife Conservation Board.
Log Meadow
Log Meadow is surrounded by Sequoia National Park’s Giant Forest, one of the world’s most important sequoia groves. Hand crews wrapped up the final season of implementation at Log Meadow in Sequoia National Park during summer 2024. After filling the main Crescent Creek gully during summer 2023, crews focused on filling two smaller ditches on the northwest side of the meadow this summer. Restoration at Log Meadow piloted a novel wilderness-friendly meadow restoration technique that involved harvesting meadow vegetation, mixing it with sediment sourced from the gully banks, and packing the resulting “haydobe” material into the gully. Work on Log Meadow this summer was funded by the California Wildlife Conservation Board.
Grouse Meadow
American Rivers and the Humboldt-Toiaybe National Forest implemented restoration at 40-acre Grouse Meadow in the West Walker River watershed during September 2024. Grouse meadow is located near the top of the Grouse Creek watershed, which is a tributary to the West Walker River. The meadow has numerous headcuts and gully features, including a large headcut near the bottom of the meadow that threatens to migrate upstream and “unzip” the relatively healthy meadow habitat upstream. Restoration work will include constructing a valley grade control structure at this large headcut, treating other headcuts in the meadow, filling the deepest gully reaches, and installing low-tech process-based restoration structures including Beaver Dam Analogues (BDAs) and Post Assisted Log Structures (PALs). Restoration at Grouse Meadow is funded by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and by Point Blue Conservation Science through the Sierra Meadows Partnership Block Grant Program.
What Does Meadow Restoration Have to do with Rivers?
Dr. Ann Willis took a moment on the American Rivers Tuolumne River trip with OARS to discuss why meadow restoration is critical to clean water and river health.
Wilson Ranch Meadow
Wilson Ranch Meadow (60 acres) was selected as a priority site for restoration during American Rivers’ 2017 assessment of meadows in the American River watershed, which overlaps significantly with Eldorado National Forest (ENF). The primary problem at Wilson Ranch was a road crossing at the top of the meadow. This crossing created a pinch point, channelizing flows entering the meadow, which resulted in a large gully cutting through the entire meadow. To address this, the project team replaced the crossing with a series of eight culverts and fully filled the gully with onsite soils to spread flows and improve groundwater storage! Now, after restoration concluded in October 2023, Wilson Ranch Meadow’s hydrology has improved significantly. In summer 2024, American Rivers and the Eldorado National Forest are conducting adaptive management at Wilson Ranch Meadow to finish filling the lower portion of the gully through the meadow to further improve site conditions. This work has also expanded the U.S. Forest Service’s capacity to conduct meadow restoration and enhanced the meadow restoration community of practice’s ability to implement this type of project across the Sierra Nevada. Funding for this project was provided by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the Wildlife Conservation Board.
Caldor Fire Meadows Assessment
American Rivers has been hard at work assessing meadow health within the Caldor Fire burn scar this summer. Following the catastrophic Caldor Fire in 2021, American Rivers collaborated with the Eldorado National Forest (ENF) to acquire funding for planning and prioritizing meadow restoration in the Caldor Fire footprint. Funding for this project was provided by the Inflation Reduction Act, Vegetation and Watershed Management Fund, and Sierra Meadows Partnership Block Grant through the Wildlife Conservation Board.
