Page 14 - Sierra Meadows Strategy

An altered meadow is one that once supported meadow vegetation as stated above but has been altered usually hydrologically or by other types of disturbance, so that the ecosystem no longer shares the six meadow characteristics listed above. While some of these alterations can be part of natural cycles (e.g. climate); most were induced by legacy land use. In this document, meadow degradation is de ned as a loss of some or all in meadow forming and stabilizing processes that leads to reduced hydrologic and ecologic functionality of a meadow and hinders recovery.
Extent and Current Status
The most recent estimate is that approximately 191,000 acres
of meadow are distributed across nearly 17,000 meadows
in the Sierra Nevada (Figure 2;14.16). Approximately 40-60% (77,000 – 115,000 acres) has been degraded and are in need of restoration56-59. Meadows are found on private and public land, including land owned by individuals, corporations, conservation organizations, and state and federal agencies. Approximately 28% of meadow acreage within the Strategy Area is under private ownership (see Table 1;14,16). With 46% of the meadow acreage on Forest Service lands, the USFS is by far the largest land manager of Sierra meadows, including the majority of small meadows
and fens. The National Park Service is the third largest meadow land manager, with 22% of the meadow acreage in the Strategy Area (Table 1). Most of the remaining 4% is owned by local public entities and other Federal lands (Table 1). Thus, the responsibility for managing meadows is spread across various agencies
and owners.
Osa Meadow with incised channel, one of the most common characteristics of a degraded meadow. Photo: L. Keszey
Jepson Regions
Total area (acres)
Number of meadows
Cumulative percent of total
Percent of area
High Sierra
147,028
15,227
77%
77%
High Cascade
21,181
1,024
88%
11%
Modoc Plateau
11,437
445
94%
6%
Eastern Sierra
8,571
216
99%
4%
Sierra Foothills
2,755
76
100%
1%
Cascade Foothills
44
9
100%
0%
Ownership
USFS
87,695
8,358
46%
46%
Private
53,935
2,123
74%
28%
National Parks and Monuments
41,738
6,380
96%
22%
Local Public Ownership
4,436
38
98%
2%
Other Federal Lands
2,516
32
100%
1%
State Ownership
696
66
100%
0%
Grand Total
191,017
16,997
100%
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