Central Sierra Environmental Resource Center's photostream

One of the many impacts over-utilization of meadows can have on the local ecology is the loss of habitat for local wildlife. Can you imagine a small frog finding shelter from the sun in this overgrazed setting, or a deer bedding down here for the night without tall grasses for cover?

The wetter areas of meadows are used as watering holes and more by livestock, and are often trampled, pocked, and defecated in. This contaminates water quality as well as wetland habitat for local flora and fauna.

CSERC staff coordinates with the Forest Service and public land agencies to put together restoration projects to help protect sensitive mountain habitats.

This year CSERC has had at least 8 of these projects, with several more to come!

CSERC staff diligently has conducted wildlife camera stations for over 17 years, to locate rare carnivores in northern Yosemite region. This September staff was delighted to find that a previously undocumented Sierra Nevada red fox had visited one of their camera stations. This is one of the rarest mammals in our region, and documenting their existence is critical to ensuring their protection.