Haskell Peak Meadows Restoration Project, South Yuba River Citizens League

Project type: Implementation
Watershed: Yuba
Description: The Haskell Peak Meadow Restoration Project will restore hydrologic and ecologic function in five degraded headwater meadows, totaling 229 acres, using low-impact, process-based restoration techniques such as beaver dam analogs (BDAs) and post assisted log structures (PALS). This project also includes training for members of the United Auburn Indian Community on how to build BDAs and PALS.

Restoration of Six Meadows to Pair Process-Based Restoration with Wildfire, USFS Pacific Southwest Research Station

Project type: Implementation and Technical Assistance
Watershed: San Joaquin, Kings, and Feather Rivers
Description: This project will implement restoration at four meadows and expand and maintain over 100 instream structures installed in fall 2022 at two additional meadows as part of a restoration experiment to document ecohydrological changes following process-based restoration (PBR) within recent wildfire footprints.

Mountain Meadows Creek Restoration, Plumas Corp

Project type: Implementation
Watershed: Feather River
Description: The Mountain Meadows Creek Restoration Project will restore 441 acres of meadow floodplain function and to create a more resilient forest landscape on 2,948 acres surrounding the meadow. Restoration will be accomplished through channel fill, pond-and-plug, riffle construction, and road decommissioning.

Euer Valley Meadow Restoration, Truckee River Watershed Council

Project type: Implementation
Watershed: Truckee River
Description: This project will address stream channelization and incision to improve floodplain connectivity, stream complexity, and aquatic habitat on 30 acres of high-quality meadow habitat. These benefits will be achieved through removal of a culvert system, constructing riffles, trail decommissioning and rerouting, and adding habitat structures.

Kern Plateau Meadow Restoration Project, Trout Unlimited

Project type: Implementation
Watershed: Kern River
Description: Trout Unlimited and the Inyo National Forest will restore 13 degraded meadows using low-tech process-based restoration techniques. The project is largely in the Golden Trout Wilderness area. The meadows targeted for restoration are hydrologically connected thus improving hydrologic function will increase hydrologic and habitat connectivity across the Kern Plateau.

Rock Creek Meadow Restoration, Plumas Corp

Project type: Implementation
Watershed: Feather River
Description: This project will restore an 83-acre subset of a larger 223-acre meadow restoration project. The majority of the treatments were completed in 2020-2021, but the project area was burned in the Dixie Fire, which made some areas inaccessible. This project will construct additional post-assisted log structures (PALS) and bolster those that were installed previously.

Sierra National Forest Bass Lake 8 Meadows Restoration Project, Trout Unlimited

Project Type: Implementation
Watershed: San Joaquin River
Description: Trout Unlimited, the Sierra National Forest, and the North Fork Mono Tribe will restore 53 acres of degraded wet meadow and treat an additional 38 acres of converted dry/upland legacy meadow, totaling 91 acres across eight distinct meadow sites. Restoration actions will include channel and low-tech, process-based restoration techniques such as beaver dam analogs (BDAs) and post assisted log structures (PALS).

Exchequer Meadow Restoration Phase 1 Handwork, Plumas Corp

Project type: Implementation
Watershed: Kings River
Description: Exchequer Meadow is in a degradational trend, with a large headcut moving up-valley and threatening wet meadow habitat that is used by Federally Threatened Yosemite toads for breeding. Plumas Corp will work with the North Fork Mono tribe to complete handwork on 1,872 feet of channel at the top of the meadow to protect against headcutting, channelization, and channel enlargement.

Modoc Plateau – Implement High Priority Meadows, Stewardship West

Project type: Implementation
Watershed: Pit River
Description: Stewardship West, Lomakatsi Restoration Project, and Forest Creek Restoration will restore hydologic and biologic processes in three degraded meadows (28 acres total) identified as high priority by the Modoc Meadows Working Group.

Leek Springs Meadow Restoration Project, American River Conservancy

Project type: Implementation
Watershed: Cosumnes River
At 92 acres, Leek Springs Meadow is the largest meadow in the Cosumnes River watershed and functions as the headwaters of the North Fork Cosumnes River. American River Conservancy will implement process-based restoration methods including beaver dam analogs (BDAs) and post assisted log structures (PALS) to restore hydrologic function of the meadow. 

Logan Springs Meadow Restoration Project, Trout Unlimited

Project type: Implementation
Watershed: Pine Creek
Logan Springs Meadow is a 40-acre, low-gradient, depositional meadow located in the 230 square-mile Pine Creek Watershed, is the primary inflow to Eagle Lake and the natural spawning habitat for endemic Eagle Lake Rainbow Trout (ELRT). Trout Unlimited will employ in-stream structures, a grade control structure, and channel fill to restore hydrologic function to the meadow, thus increasing ecosystem resilience and services provided and improving aquatic and mesic habitats for meadow-associated species. 

Butte Creek House Ecological Reserve Meadow Restoration and Forest Health Project, Butte County RCD

Project type: Implementation
Watershed: Butte Creek
The 100-acre meadow at Butte Creek House Ecological Reserve (BCHER) has been degraded due to historic overgrazing and logging activities resulting in headcutting, stream channel incision, and lodgepole encroachment. Butte County RCD will address source problems and promote natural hydrologic processes in the meadow through instream structures, channel fill, conifer removal, and willow planting and revegetation. 

Murphy Ranch Meadow Fencing Implementation Project, Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians

Project type: Implementation
Watershed: Tuolumne River
This project will protect 27 acres of meadow located on Murphy Ranch, a 1,344-acre property in the Tuolumne River watershed re-acquired by the Tuolumne Band of Me Wuk in 2015. To exclude future grazing from the meadow, 3,300 feet of existing fenceline will be repaired and modified to be wildlife-friendly and an additional 4,850 feet of fencing will be constructed. This project was approved by the SMP Management Board in November and was being contracted at the end of 2023.

Advancing Meadow Restoration in the Caldor Fire Footprint, American Rivers

Project type: Planning
Watershed: South Fork American and Cosumnes Rivers
Description: The 2021 Caldor Fire burned approximately 255,000 acres of the Eldorado National Forest (ENF), of which approximately 40% burned at high severity. Through this project, American Rivers and ENF will assess post-fire meadow condition, prioritize sites and create a project pipeline for restoration, and complete restoration planning at the previously prioritized 75-acre Forni Meadow.

Dog Valley Meadow Restoration Planning and Washoe Capacity Building, American Rivers

Project type: Planning
Watershed: Truckee River
Description: American Rivers will work in partnership with the Humboldt Toiyabe National Forest and the Washoe Environmental Protection Department (WEPD) to advance a shovel-ready meadow restoration project for Dog Valley. The project will complete restoration planning for Dog Valley meadow to restore 485-acres of wet meadow habitat, build capacity and provide training for the WEPD to conduct meadow restoration planning and monitoring, and reconnect Washoe tribal members to their traditional territory in wá la ša (Dog Valley).

Cannell and Redwood Meadow Restoration Planning Project, Plumas Corp

Project type: Planning
Watershed: Kern River
Description: Plumas Corps will bring 120.5 acres of meadow to shovel-ready implementation status: Cannell Meadow (111 acres), at the headwaters of Cannell Creek, and Redwood Meadow (9.5 acres), situated in the headwaters of Long Meadow Creek, are both tributaries to the North Fork Kern River. This project will refine project designs and complete NEPA/CEQA environmental documents for both meadows.

Crane Valley Meadow Restoration Planning, Butte Valley RCD

Project type: Planning
Watershed: Feather River
Description: Crane Valley Meadow is a 100-acre degraded meadow suffering from stream channelization, head cuts, and conifer encroachment. This project will complete restoration design and environmental compliance to restore hydrologic function and improve wildlife habitat in the meadow.

McReynolds Valley Restoration Planning Project, Plumas Corp

Project type: Planning
Watershed: Feather River
Description: This project will complete a restoration design and environmental compliance for a shovel-ready project that addresses disconnected hydrology, vegetation conversion, loss of habitat, and poor soil health. Once implemented, the restoration would re-establish hydrologic function, improved forage and wet meadow habitat, and increase native plant diversity.

Moonlight Road and Lower Goodrich Creek Restoration Planning Phase II, Plumas Corp

Project type: Planning
Watershed: Feather River
Description: Plumas Corp will complete planning to restore 384 acres of degraded mountain meadow habitat and several miles of intermittent and perennial stream channels to improve meadow function and simultaneously upgrade road culverts to improve hydrologic and habitat connectivity through a heavily trafficked road that transects the meadow project area.

Advancing Meadow Restoration in Sequoia National Forest at Horse Meadow and Double Bunk Meadow, CalTrout

Project type: Planning
Watershed: Kern River
Description: This project will complete planning and environmental compliance to develop a shovel ready project to restore 20-acre Horse Meadow and 37-acre Double Bunk Meadow. Both meadows were identified as high priority projects for Kern River Rainbow Trout recovery and their eventual restoration will aid in reducing high sediment loads downstream, contribute to a mosaic of natural fuel breaks, and help improve timing of flows in the North Fork Kern River.

Castle and Round Valley Meadows Restoration Planning Project, South Yuba River Citizens League

Project type: Planning
Watershed: Yuba River
The Castle and Round Valley Meadows Restoration Planning Project seeks to complete planning for the restoration of 93 acres of meadow and 30 acres of forest at the headwaters of Upper and Lower Castle Creeks that feed into the South Yuba River. Initial site assessments show channel incision, and conifer encroachment in both meadows, and significant road impacts to Castle Valley. The Castle Peak area, where both meadows sit, has high recreational value, and both Castle Valley and Round Valley have the potential to provide high quality meadow habitat. 

Murphy Ranch Meadow Restoration Planning and Design, Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians

Project type: Planning
Watershed: Tuolumne River
This project will complete restoration planning for 27 acres of meadow located on Murphy Ranch, a 1,344-acre property in the Tuolumne River watershed re-acquired by the Tuolumne Band of Me Wuk in 2015. The restoration design will aim to address multiple gullied channels in the meadow, improve habitat for wildlife, and allow the meadow to return to a healthier ecological condition.

Soil Carbon Persistence in Sierra Meadows

Project type: Technical Assistance
Understanding the age of carbon in meadow soils and the persistence of newly sequestered carbon will help establish the long-term benefits of meadow restoration for GHG reduction, and advance efforts to incorporate meadow restoration into carbon offset programs. This project aims to determine the persistence of organic carbon in meadows, and how carbon persistence is impacted by degradation and restoration in the Sierra Nevada region.

Quantifying Hydrologic Benefits of Meadow Restoration, Truckee River Watershed Council

Project type: Technical Assistance
Description: Improved late season base flow is a commonly stated benefit of meadow restoration, however quantifying or even detecting stream flow effects of restoration is extremely challenging for several reasons. Building off the modelling done for the Perazzo Meadows restoration project, this project will develop a tool that could be used to estimate existing hydrology in non-measured meadows and quantify the potential hydrologic benefits associated with restoring meadows across the Sierra Nevada.

WRAMP Avian Monitoring in the Decades After Meadow Restoration, Institute for Bird Populations

Project type: Technical Assistance
This project will use SMP WRAMP avian protocol to conduct 1 year of post-restoration avian and habitat monitoring at 20 restored and 15 control meadows to assess longer-term effects of restoration. Results of this monitoring will be used to determine which restoration projects or types of project best met focal species targets in the SMP Sierra Meadows Plan, determine if additional avian targets or metrics based on established focal species are warranted, and provide recommendations for improving future restoration efforts for birds.

Modelling Meadow Carbon Flux, Point Blue

Project type: Technical Assistance
Depending on their condition, meadows can have large soil carbon stocks and high rates of soil carbon sequestration or can be net sources of carbon to the atmosphere. Despite this, meadows are often excluded from regional carbon budgets. This project will model vegetative productivity and net ecosystem carbon fluxes for all meadows throughout the Sierra Nevada over the last 35 years. The data set will then be used to help assess the condition of meadows throughout the region and address questions about the impact of hydrologic restoration, disturbance, and climate change on ecosystem services in meadows. The results will be converted into a Google Earth Engine App that can be used by land managers and policy makers to inform restoration and conservation activities.