It was a crisp Saturday morning on October 9th, seven SYRCL volunteers showed up to the high country of Loney Meadow, which sits at 6,000 feet in elevation, to help SYRCL scientists in protecting critical aspen stands. Loney Meadow is home to one of SYRCL’s meadow restoration projects that helps to restore habitat for many birds, shrubs, meadow vegetation, and wildlife in addition to the aspen stands themselves.
Join us for a tour of Van Norden Meadow (Yayalu Idteh in Washoe) to learn more about the restoration and recreation plans for the meadow.
The tour will be led by Rachel Hutchinson from Tahoe National Forest and Alecia Weisman from the South Yuba River Citizens League (SYRCL).
Seven years ago, SYRCL began the first project in the Lower Yuba River to restore salmon habitat.
In 2011 and 2012 SYRCL planted nearly 6,500 willow and cottonwood cuttings across 5 acres to improve the floodplain habitat that fish use during high flow periods as refuge from swift moving water in the main river channel.
One goal of this project was to increase riparian vegetation which would provide improved fish habitat through the increase in shading, cover, food availability, and creating geomorphic and hydraulic complexity on the floodplain.
In June 2021, SYRCL led our week-long Youth Outdoor Leadership Opportunity (YOLO) expedition with 6 local high school students with great success!