RETURN TO RESILIENCE
CalTrout's Sierra Meadows Program demonstrates that the restoration of degraded meadows improves water retention and replenishes summertime stream flows for inland trout. Healthy meadows also aide in reducing greenhouse gases.
Earlier this year, California Trout, with support from partners, National Fish & Wildlife Foundation and the CA Dept. of Fish & Wildlife, organized the third Sierra Meadows Workshop at Mayacamas Ranch in Calistoga, California. Over the three days, there were approximately 70 workshop attendees representing more than 20 different State and Federal, non-profit environmental, academic and private consulting agencies. The purpose of the workshop was to continue to build a broader meadows partnership with a focus on:
• how restoration affects greenhouse gas dynamics and the potential for
developing a payment for ecosystem services market through Climate,
Community, Biodiversity (CCB) credits and,
• implementation of the newly completed Sierra Meadow Strategy to increase
the pace, scale, and efficacy of meadow restoration in the greater Sierra.
Discussions and presentations focused on updates on the research being done to quantify the potential carbon sequestration of restored meadow systems as well as a proposed road map towards CCB accreditation. The focus then shifted to actuating the actions and goals of the Sierra Meadows Strategy, a document recently completed by the Sierra Meadows Partnership to serve as guidance for practitioners, land-managers, funders and policy-makers.
Outcomes of the workshop include (1) an understanding of the status and findings of GHG quantification in Sierra meadows projects, (2) a “Roadmap” to developing Climate, Community, Biodiversity standards for accreditation, (3) renewed and formalized support for the Sierra Meadows Strategy, and (4) working groups and action plans to implement the Approaches in the Strategy to move toward the goal of 30,000 acres of meadows restored in the Sierra by 2030.
Click to learn more about CalTrout’s Sierra Headwaters Keystone Initiative and the efforts to restore Sierra meadows. Click to view the workshop agenda and minutes. Click to view The Sierra Meadows Strategy V 1.0 report.
Protecting and restoring source waters including meadows, springs, and groundwater
will allow them to continue to provide refuges for salmonids during stressful times and
buffer the effects of climate change. Source headwaters are key to hydrologic connectivity
and are vital during periods of low streamflows and drought.