The essential habitat of the Sierra Nevada is heavily impacted by climate change, recreation, and increasing visitor use. The ecosystem is rapidly warming; winter rains are more frequently replacing snowstorms and the crucial snowpack has become less reliable. This is disastrous for the species of the Sierra Nevada and urgently calls for the restoration of human-caused degradation in alpine regions. The JMT Wilderness Conservancy prioritizes alpine meadow restoration, an under-utilized conservation measure that helps species adapt to a warming climate, supports critical habitat, and provides Californians with water when they need it most.

The Conservancy also supports projects that specifically target threatened and endangered species. Our upcoming project with Sequoia & Kings Canyon terrestrial biologists focuses on one of the rarest mammals in North America, the Sierra Nevada red fox. The underlying project is designed to be part of a much larger, long-term planning effort. It generates the scientific data necessary to support recovery planning, species management, and conservation actions and will be incorporated into the conservation framework for the Sierra Nevada red fox and other alpine mesocarnivores.

Our efforts provide broad-based restoration to habitats for many species unique to the central Sierra Nevada, including the mountain yellow-legged frog and the Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep. As more people access these remote areas, the meadows and wetlands are under increased stress from the recreational impacts, lowering water tables, degrading or fouling wetlands, and compacting or denuding surface vegetation. Climate change adds more stress as tree lines move higher and seasonal droughts increase. In collaboration with the National Park Service and United States Forest Services, we are supporting both monitoring and recovery strategies for these species and the habitat they depend upon across the JMT region.