Yosemite National Park and Stanislaus National Forest Announce Release of the Ackerson Meadow Restoration Environmental Assessment for Public Review

Yosemite National Park and the Stanislaus National Forest announce the release of the inter-agency Ackerson Meadow Restoration Project Environmental Assessment for public review through July 8, 2021. The Ackerson Meadow complex spans from Yosemite into the Stanislaus National Forest and it is the largest mid-elevation meadow in Yosemite. The meadow is important to a suite of at-risk wildlife species. A large unnatural erosion gully network, up to 14 feet deep and 100 feet wide, is actively draining 90 acres of former wetlands in the meadow and threatening an additional 100 acres of wet meadow habitat. Yosemite and the Stanislaus National Forest jointly propose to reduce erosion and restore wetland functionality in the Ackerson Meadow complex.

After review of comments from the civic engagement period in 2020, the planning team developed three action alternatives to meet the purpose and need of the project. Alternative 1 (preferred) would completely fill the gully system with soil to the level of the meadow terrace. Alternative 2 would install over 350 small hand-built structures in the gully to capture sediment, create immediate pond habitat, and increase periodic inundation. This alternative would not require fill material and would not restore as many acres of wetland and meadow habitat as Alternative 1. Alternative 3 is a hybrid between Alternative 1 and 2.

Public participation is an important element of the planning process and the park and forest both welcome your review and comments. Please submit comments on the environmental assessment through July 8, 2021 at the following link https://parkplanning.nps.gov/ackerson. The environmental assessment and project fact sheet are also available at this link.

For further information on Yosemite National Park, please visit https://www.nps.gov/yose.