Uplift the Yosemite Museum’s centennial programming...
Project overview: Enable scientists and subject-matter experts to complete rare species monitoring, stewardship access, and adaptive management at the Ackerson Meadow restoration site — the largest single wetland-restoration project in the history of the Sierra Nevada.
How your support helps: Prior to the donation of Ackerson Meadow to Yosemite National Park in 2016, the area was privately owned for over a century and suffered impacts from road building, logging, ranching, and more. The restoration of more than 100 years of manipulation is not a small feat, but the National Park Service and partners successfully restored Ackerson Meadow’s robust hydrology and functioning expansive wetlands in 2024. This work was incredibly important for the benefit of threatened and endangered wildlife species, overall ecosystem diversity, water storage, and climate resiliency.
The Ackerson Meadow restoration site presents an enormous opportunity to learn about species’ response to restored landscapes. With your support, National Park Service biologists will continue to quantify responses of rare species — northwestern pond turtles, great gray owls, songbirds, bats, and vegetation communities — and analyze collected data against pre-restoration species’ behavioral data. This work finalizes the restoration and implementation of the Ackerson Meadow project and establishes a standard for similar projects throughout the Sierra Nevada.
This year: 2025 completes the third year of the Ackerson Meadow restoration, implementation, and monitoring project that began in 2023. This year, teams will continue the success of the landmark restoration through new monitoring initiatives, stewardship actions, volunteer opportunities, and adaptive management. Funds will directly support National Park Service staff in assessing wildlife and rare plant responses to restoration, completing ongoing fence maintenance, and implementing repairs to post-restoration erosion.
Project partners: Yosemite National Park, American Rivers, National Park Foundation, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and Stanislaus National Forest