As the summer heat faded and the cold morning crept in, SYRCL partnered with HUṠWEJ (formerly California Heritage Indigenous Research Project) and First Rain Land Stewardship Services (FRLSS) to complete adaptive management within two distinct restoration projects in the North Yuba: the Haskell Peak Meadows Restoration Project and the Yuba Aspen 49 Project.  

Restoration is not a one-and-done process. A good restoration project includes years of site visits and monitoring to inform adaptive management, the process of adjusting implementation actions in response to changes within the site. This sometimes means relatively simple actions like kick-starting re-vegetation efforts but, in the worst of cases, can mean going back to the drawing board.   

Crews from both HUṠWEJ and FRLSS worked in the Haskell Peak Meadows Restoration Project to restore habitat in relic log landings on the meadows edge and to remove encroaching conifers within the meadow footprint. These actions support the four years of process-based channel and floodplain restoration taking place across the six project meadows. Log landings were rehabilitated by hand, constructing a patchwork mosaic of low-lying water holding features. These constructed pockets are designed to catch water and will support woodchip decomposition, plant re-establishment, and groundwater recharge.   

In healthy, wet meadows, conifer seedlings cannot persist due to the presence of shallow groundwater. The meadows in this restoration project have experienced decades of degradation, which has lowered the water table and allowed young conifers to establish themselves within the meadow footprint. To ensure that our groundwater restoration is not outpaced by this conifer encroachment, crews from both HUṠWEJ and FRLSS removed young conifers throughout the 369 acres of meadow included in this project.  

SYRCL also led adaptive management actions with support from HUṠWEJ and FRLSS within the roadside Yuba Aspen 49 Project, originally completed by the Tahoe National Forest and Sierra County. Work in this area focused on aspen restoration and further fuel reduction. Crews removed all conifers less than 8″ diameter at breast height (DBH) found within 30 feet of any aspen stem. Because work was completed by hand, crews could remove conifers near creeks and established aspen, areas that were not accessible by machinery during these initial implementation activities. Adaptive management activities also included piling and tarping of burn piles to prepare them for ignition when favorable environmental conditions arise.  

Completing lasting restoration projects is not a one and done activity. These are living and dynamic systems that require maintenance and adaptive management to provide lasting environmental benefits. SYRCL would like to thank HUṠWEJ and First Rain Land Stewardship Services for making the trek out to the North Yuba to complete this work. Adaptive management activities were funded by a Construction Service Agreement between SYRCL and Trout Unlimited for restoration in the Deer Creek Priority Watershed, a headwater tributary to the North Yuba River.