Restoring meadows and securing sustainability

In Meserve Meadow, after two years of restoration work, native grasses and plants are now lush and growing 3 to 4 feet tall. This area of Madera County is home, once again, to the thousands of ladybugs, butterflies and birds that have lately populated the area.

The Honorable Ron Goode, tribal chairman of the North Fork Mono tribe since 1983, presented a summary of recent meadow/oak restoration projects near North Fork, at the summer meeting of Yosemite Gateway Partners.

Goode has been active in various collaborative projects with multiple agencies, including watershed, forest, fire, landscape and meadow/oak restoration.

His ethnography (systematic study of his people and culture) research stretches across five decades. He has worked with Stanford University on fire regimes and cross-cultural collaborations with the Martu of Australia. His findings are written in articles, books and a K-12 curriculum, and he often speaks on topics most relevant to his people and their land.

“We should view the forest as a garden in constant need of clearing out, weeding, nurturing ... and reopening access to water sources,” Goode says. “To have an annual abundant harvest, we need to restore a sense of clean as it once was. Living off the land is called sustainability.”

The tribe has a “traditional ecological knowledge” that is passed down from one generation to the next. In previous centuries prior to westward expansion, California’s Native Americans cared for the land, to ensure the land would care for them.

John Muir wrote, “Even the fires of the Indians and the fierce shattering lightning seemed to work together only for the good in clearing spots here and there for smooth garden prairies, and openings for sunflowers seeking the light.”

For the early Native Americans, acorns and pine nuts were food staples. Members of this modern western Mono tribe continue to gather wild foods and grasses (for basket weaving) as part of their livelihood.

Nearly 100 species of animals and birds rely on acorns for their diet. In a good year, one oak tree can produce a couple thousand pounds of acorns. Goode says they’re currently harvesting only 20 pounds per tree. The land is no longer providing as it should.

Cycles of rain, drought, heat and frost each play a role in the annual production of native vegetation, as do other natural elements, such as fire, soil erosion and neglect.

Meadow degradation has compromised the conditions needed for native oaks to thrive; this threatens the unique plant composition and diversity.

The Mono tribe is creating the means for reclaiming the health of nearby vegetation and trees – and looking forward to abundant harvests – through its meadow/oak restoration projects.

Restoring meadows will also improve local watersheds.

Within the Sierra Nevada region, where nonnative plants dominate the landscape, access to sufficient groundwater is limited or restricted altogether. This, too, degrades the natural habitat.

Mountain meadows are significant for their biological distinctiveness. These open spaces should be a haven for wildlife, supporting a vast number of birds, insects and small mammals. The vegetation, including oaks, growing in these areas must regain health in order to provide sustenance to those dependent on it.

In some restoration projects, native soil is brought in to restore natural topography and give vegetation room to thrive. Organic debris is removed from streams and watersheds.

Burning low-growing shrubs and trees (understory) allows sunlight to reach the forest floor.

“Cultural burning refers to burning specific species and types of resource,” Goode says, “(with) a specific style of burning, and burning for a positive result to affect the outcome of targeted cultural resource species.”

As a result, the landscape will be improved, new growth will flourish, trees will be stronger and healthier and wildlife will repopulate. The tribe’s gathering efforts will also be rewarded.

Goode was instrumental in planning and coordinating California’s first two tribal water summits. These meetings served to expand communication between the California Department of Water Resources and native tribes, and to strategize for future management and sustainability of local water resources.

Restoring the land to function as it should aids in restoring water – a subject Californians are increasingly concerned about with recent drought conditions.

Healthy meadows are vital to the water issue. Yet, among the thousands of meadows in the Sierra Nevada, Goode says most are unhealthy.

He and the Mono tribe are dedicated to finding long-term solutions not only for them, but for farmers and surrounding communities. To learn more, see North Fork Mono tribe on Facebook.

Sources: National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Southwest Climate Science Center, www.northforkrancheria-nsn.gov, www.water.ca.gov/waterplan, and the Central Sierra Historical Society.

This story was originally published September 2, 2016 at 10:55 AM with the headline "Restoring meadows and securing sustainability."