SYRCL’s 2021 Top Wins

As we begin 2022, we find it useful to reflect back on the work we accomplished in 2021. We could not have done it without hundreds of volunteers and members, dozens of partners, our wide variety of funders, and an incredible staff of 20+ people.

Restoring the watershed

• SYRCL worked with project partners—Yuba Water Agency, cbec eco-engineering, Cramer Fish Sciences, Teichert Materials, and Western Aggregates—to plant close to 17,000 willows and remove 830,000 cubic yards of gravel from the Hallwood restoration site.
• SYRCL and the Tahoe National Forest, with support from cbec ecoengineering, completed 65% designs and a proposed action for the Van Norden meadow Restoration Project –keeping this 485-acre meadow restoration on track for implementation!
• The USFS released the Notice of Intent for the North Yuba Forest Partnership, a major step in SYRCL’s work with partners to restore 275,000 acres of forest in the North Yuba watershed.
• Our forest health team mapped and assessed 354 acres of aspen habitat within our first year of ground assessments. Team members also installed over 800 feet of cattle exclusion fencing in a week with the help of Nevada County high school students as part of the YOLO program.
• Our invasive species team removed 49 acres of scotchbroom from the watershed.

Educating our next generation of river stewards

• Our River Education program took more than 1,300 students, teachers, and community members from Yuba and Nevada Counties on Salmon Expeditions to learn about this important threatened species, the role it plays as a keystone species, its importance in Nisenan culture, and the restoration work SYRCL and partners are doing to increase spawning habitat (thank you, Yuba Water Agency).
• Watershed Science and Education teams worked together to engage 25 high school students in hands-on meadow and aspen restoration efforts and teach them about ecology and hydrology. 19 of the students came all the way from Los Angeles via our Earthwatch partnership and 6 local students joined us through our Youth Outdoor Leadership Opportunity program thanks to funding from NEEF and NFF MAP.

Uniting the community to protect the Yuba

• SYRCL’s Outreach team organized 400+ volunteers to remove over 12,500 pounds of trash from 19 different sites across the Yuba River watershed.
• The River Ambassador program hired bilingual River Captains and implemented bilingual signage for the 13,000+ visitors we talked to at river crossings thanks to a grant from the National Environmental Education Foundation and funding from Nevada County.

Inspiring activism

• The 2021 Virtual Wild & Scenic Film Festival reached upwards of 5,000 people from countries as far away as India, China, and the UK during the virtual flagship festival with 111 inspirational environmental movies.

Advocating for threatened species

• SYRCL’s watershed science and advocacy team successfully advocated for increased flows during the fall to reduce stream temperatures and improve spawning habitat for salmon.

While this is not an exhaustive list, it does showcase some of the work of which we are quite proud. We will release our 2021 Impact Report in April 2022.