State Gives $21 Million In Greenhouse Gas Grants

Yosemite, CA – Yosemite National Park was one of 12 chosen out of 27 applicants all vying for a piece of a $21 million pie.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) handed out the grants for Greenhouse Gas Reduction Projects.  The funding comes from California’s cap-and-trade program for combating climate change. Wildlife officials say the Wetlands Restoration for Greenhouse Gas Reduction Grant Program will restore or enhance approximately 2,500 acres of wetlands and mountain meadows.

Yosemite will receive $587,996 for restoration of the Carbon Storing Ecosystem in Tuolumne Meadows. Ranger Scott Gediman outlines the project, “It’s basically removing all the non-native plants out of the meadow and allowing the meadow to function properly…A huge amount of the wetlands and meadows in California are gone and this is due to development…We’re real pleased these grants are available.”

Wildlife officials report work on all the projects will begin in the current fiscal year.

Here is the CDFW’s list of the other funded projects:

• North Campus Open Space Wetlands Restoration, ($999,989 to Regents of the UC Santa Barbara)
• Blue Carbon at Elkhorn Slough: Increasing Regional Carbon Sequestration Through Salt Marsh Restoration, ($2,996,768 to Elkhorn Slough Foundation)
• Initiation of Thin-layered Sediment Augmentation on the Pacific Coast: An Action to Ensure the Long Term Availability of Coastal Salt Marsh for Carbon Sequestration/Storage, as well as to Support the Conservation of Habitat to Support Listed and Sensitive Wetland Species, ($1,055,827 to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
• Sherman Island Wetland Restoration Project, ($10,386,139 to Reclamation District 341)
• A Demonstration of the Carbon Sequestration and Biodiversity Benefits of Beaver and Beaver Dam Analogue Restoration Techniques, ($539,672 to Center for Watershed Sciences, UC Davis)
• Yuba Headwaters Meadow Restoration, ($567,480 to South Yuba River Citizens League)
• Developing a Protocol for Net Carbon Sequestration from Restoration of Eastern Sierra Meadows, ($921,766 to California Trout, Inc.)
• Mountain Meadows Restoration Project at Greenville Creek and Upper Goodrich and Effects on GHGs, ($679,566 to Plumas Corporation)
• Middle Martis Creek Wetlands Restoration, ($594,176 to Truckee River Watershed Council)
• Truckee Meadows Restoration Project, ($1,495,551 to Truckee River Watershed Council)
• Bean Meadow Restoration Project, ($493,542 to Sierra Foothill Conservancy)