Ackerson Meadow is a great addition to Yosemite Park

With so much calamity and bad news dominating our attention, sometimes truly impressive good news doesn’t receive enough praise.

After years of negotiations and fundraising efforts, one of the Sierra Nevada’s most impressive private meadow complexes was added to iconic Yosemite National Park.

The 400-acre Ackerson Meadow property lies on the western edge of the park. It contains attractive meadows (both wet and dry), conifer forest and lush riparian areas along winding streams. This unique parcel contains highly critical habitat for a number of rare, threatened and charismatic wildlife and plant species.

One study found an amazing 160 bird species can be seen at some point during the year on the property.

But it also is a readily accessible destination for recreational visitors, bird watchers, wildlife enthusiasts, wildflower fans and nature photographers. The panoramic meadow is visible to tens of thousands of forest visitors each year who travel to and from Camp Mather (north of Highway 120) and Hetch Hetchy. Having it now under Yosemite Park management will not only help rehabilitate some of the degraded resource conditions along the main meadow stream, but Ackerson Meadow will almost certainly become one of the best-known meadows in the entire park as it is restored to its full ecological health.

Fifteen years ago, our nonprofit center joined with state Fish and Game biologist Kevin O’Connor to attempt to protect this unique property by bringing it into public ownership. Kevin tragically died in a helicopter crash in 2010 while surveying deer populations, but I know he would have enthusiastically cheered last week’s transfer of Ackerson Meadow to Yosemite.

In all the years since those initial acquisition efforts, a variety of conservation interests and wildlife agencies have struggled to find the funding or to negotiate an agreement for acquiring this unique property.

The Trust For Public Land finally was successful in purchasing Ackerson Meadow from its private owners and donating it last week to the park. The trust’s stellar efforts were aided by funding from the Yosemite Conservancy, as well as the National Park Trust and American Rivers. All of those organizations deserve high praise from the public.

As Yosemite superintendent Don Neubacher said in describing the donation of land to the park, “This meadow is a remarkable gift to the American people.”

Years into the future, when hundreds of thousands of people will have enjoyed the scenery and wildlife viewing at Ackerson Meadow, the donation of the property to the park will be seen as one of the best possible ways to benefit tourism while simultaneously benefiting threatened wildlife species. This unique acquisition is truly good news.

This story was originally published September 19, 2016 at 11:09 AM with the headline "Ackerson Meadow is a great addition to Yosemite Park."