The National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service are considering options for rehabilitating Ackerson Meadow in Yosemite National Park/NPS, John Hirsch

Staff from Yosemite National Park and the U.S. Forest Service are beginning to look at how best to rehabilitate Ackerson Meadow.

The meadow, not far inside the park's Big Oak Flat Entrance, is the largest mid-elevation meadow complex in Yosemite. Currently, a large unnatural erosion gully, 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.

"The gully network is a result of over a century of landscape manipulation, including domestic water diversion, farming, ranching, and timber harvest," according to the Park Service.

Yosemite National Park and Stanislaus National Forest are jointly proposing actions to reduce erosion and restore wetland functionality at Ackerson and South Ackerson Meadows.

The two agencies are considering options for restoration methods to restore the meadow topography, hydrology, and vegetation ranging from completely filling the erosion gullies to using passive techniques to capture sediment.

Yosemite is hosting an online public webinar on Wednesday, August 5, from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. PDT to share more about the Ackerson Meadow Restoration Project and provide an opportunity for the public to ask questions. The link to register and watch the webinar is available at: https://parkplanning.nps.gov/ackerson.

Public participation is an important element of the planning process. You can submit comments through August 25 using the following link: https://parkplanning.nps.gov/ackerson.

All information related to the Ackerson Meadow Restoration Project, including a project fact sheet, is available at https://parkplanning.nps.gov/ackerson. The August 5 webinar will also be recorded and will be shared via this link as well.