Hope Valley Meadow Restoration: Benefits For Focal Bird Species

Julie Fair, River Restoration Outreach Coordinator

March 27, 2013 

American Rivers is leading an effort to restoreHope Valley Meadow, an iconic recreation destination and integral component of the Upper Carson River watershed. Hope Valley Meadow is a valuable ecological and recreational resource, but has been significantly degraded by historical land use impacts.

willow flycatcher

American Rivers is currently working with diverse project partners to develop restoration designs to improve Hope Valley’s range of ecosystem services, including habitat improvements for birds and other wildlife.

To ensure that habitat improvements for Sierra meadow bird species were adequately included in restoration designs, American Rivers partnered with the Institute for Bird Populations(IBP), a lead organization in monitoring bird populations in the Sierra.

Over the past three field seasons IBP conducted various bird monitoring activities in Hope Valley to provide pre-project bird population data. Through their monitoring activities they developed a set of meadow focal species, including the California-endangered Willow Flycatcher and the California Species of Special Interest Yellow Warbler, to monitor for and to use as the basis for restoration design recommendations.

http://www.americanrivers.org/newsroom/blog/jfair-20130327-hope-valley-meadow-restoration-benefits-for-focal-birds.html