Written by Melissa Grim, Sierra Nevada AmeriCorps Partnership (SNAP) member at American Rivers, May 2024
As water travels from small tributaries into creeks, rivers, and through the braided delta of an ocean or lake, it carries the cumulative history of the land above it. Irrigation canals flowing across agricultural land might tell a story of pesticide and fertilizer application while a small brook flowing through a suburban neighborhood whispers about the soap and oil it picked up from car washes. In California, the American and Cosumnes River watersheds now tell a story of catastrophic fire each spring as snowmelt carries soil from the mountainsides into the headwater tributaries of these great rivers, choking out mayflies and frogs and decreasing water quality for the communities who rely on them.
In August 2021, the Caldor Fire ripped across the Sierra Nevada burning over 221,000 acres of forest. The high-severity fire left the landscape barren and vulnerable to sediment flow, threatening water quality in the creeks and rivers within and below the burn scar. American Rivers, the Eldorado National Forest, and a group of local tribes and partner organizations recognized the catastrophic fire as a critical opportunity to prioritize restoration efforts in degraded meadows across the burned landscape. Meadows are biodiversity hotspots that provide multiple benefits including natural water filtration, critical habitat for many threatened and endangered species, natural firebreaks, long-term carbon and groundwater storage, cultural resources, and recreational opportunities. Degraded meadows lose many of these functions and restoration in a post-fire landscape provides a critical opportunity to restore meadow benefits while capturing sediment flow from burned landscapes.
As the Sierra Nevada AmeriCorps Partnership (SNAP) member serving with American Rivers, I am leading the landscape-wide assessment of all meadows within the Caldor Fire burn scar as part of a project prioritization effort. This included launching the Meadows Collaborative Workgroup within the Healthy Eldorado Landscape Partnership in February 2024, which connects local watershed groups, tribes, the Eldorado National Forest, and private and public landowners to potential restoration sites or projects. My service has allowed me to connect with and serve the communities who lost everything in the catastrophic Caldor Fire in a way that will benefit many generations to come. I am grateful for the opportunity and look forward to continuing to serve these communities as I travel across the immense burn scar this summer.
Funding for SNAP is supported by Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation’s Nature Fund and Martis Fund – a collaborative project of Martis Camp landowners, DMB/Highlands Group (the developers of Martis Camp), Mountain Area Preservation Foundation (MAP), and Sierra Watch. Sierra Nevada Alliance is a proud grantee of AmeriCorps and California Volunteers, Office of the Governor.