First Aspen Workday a Great Success – Join us for our Next!

On Saturday, 15 SYRCL volunteers and staff members helped to restore an aspen stand in Loney Meadow. SYRCL, and our enthusiastic team of volunteers, has been working to restore aspen habitat since 2011. We treated the ½ acre stand by removing small, encroaching conifers using hand saws and a lot of love for the Yuba watershed.

Aspen groves are in decline from conifer encroachment due to changes in natural fire and hydrologic regimes—this ecosystem needs our assistance to remain healthy. If you missed last Saturday, join us in July and August to learn about aspens and meadow habitats and help restore aspen tree habitat, one of the Sierra Nevada’s biodiversity hotspots.

SYRCL’s Aspen Restoration Days:

• When: Saturdays July 12^th & July 26^th, August 16^th & 30^{th –8 am to 4 pm} 
• Where: Loney Meadow, Rucker Lake, Butcher Ranch and Pierce Meadow
• RSVP: Please contact Adele Rife, SYRCL Restoration Coordinator at adele@syrcl.org or (530) 265-5961 ext. 218.

Restoration days include:

• Carpooling to the aspen stand
• Learning about the importance of aspen groves and meadows
• 2 to 3 hours of conifer removal
• Training and natural interpretation provided by Tahoe National Forest staff

  

To learn more, view a video about our past aspen regeneration work created by SYRCL volunteer, Tony Loro. More information about restoring mountain meadows can be found on our restoration page, and  listen to NPR’s report on “Fighting Fire with Fire,” which talks about a similar aspen regeneration project by conifer removal.

SYRCL’s aspen regeneration work is in partnership with the Tahoe National Forest and is funded by the Sierra Nevada Conservancy, The National Forest Foundation, and the California Department of Water Resources.

“I look forward to the aspen-meadow projects every year.   You get to hike a bit, hang out with–and meet–friendly folk. You get to do some good work in beautiful country. Why would I not want to be part of this? Maybe you should too.” states Jim Wofford, SYRCL volunteer. Meadows are fascinating and vital ecosystems – come learn about them and help take action to restore them!