Watershed Stewardship Program
Meadow Restoration
Every Meadow Matters
Fire suppression has contributed to conifer encroachment, subsuming meadows into the surrounding forests. We have used satellite imagery to identify potential historic meadows, then sent crews to ground-truth the observations and select restoration sites.
When meadows are open and well-watered, they provide unique habitat to numerous local fauna. The boundary between forest and field provides protection for prey, long sightlines for predators, and unique growing conditions for local flora.
Many of our Trinity County meadows have experienced conifer encroachment, which can make it difficult to locate historic meadows, and channel incision, which funnels water off the landscape too quickly.
Historic logging and grazing activities have altered stream flows in numerous meadows. Healthy meadows are able to store vast amounts of water and carbon. Here’s what we’re doing to help:
Create beaver dam analogs (BDAs) to keep water on the landscape longer, soaking into the soil
Initiate a stage-zero restoration at Corral Gulch to lower the floodplain and allow the stream to meander
Teamwork makes the dream work! It takes many hands to move large woody debris. The Watershed Stewardship Program has learned BDA restoration techniques from our partners and now offers workshops to share knowledge and expand the impact of this work.
Restoring Unique Habitats
No one likes to see severe erosion, like this head cut to the right. By building beaver dam analogs (BDAs) with logs, sticks, and mud, restoration technicians can slow water down, allow it to soak into the soil and vegetation, and tap the brakes on erosion.
What is a Meadow?
It’s more complex than you’d think!
WRTC staff members Josh Smith and Bridger Cohan present their work on meadow identification and reclamation at the popular “Science on Tap” event in September 2024.