New Film! Sierra Meadow Restoration Impact in Action
February 24, 2026
We’re excited to announce the release of a new short film that showcases the impact of the Sierra Meadows Partnership (SMP) with the amazing partnership of the California Wildlife Conservation Board through the four-year block grant we received in 2023.
The impact we’ve made over the past three years includes the work of our Sierra Nevada Group, Students and Teachers Restoring A Watershed team, and 60+ project partners across the Sierra. You can explore more details in our Climate-Smart Meadow Restoration Program StoryMap at pointblue.org/healthymeadows which is also linked on the film’s landing page.
We feel proud of what we’ve accomplished thus far, but there is a lot more work to do to reach or exceed our goal of restoring and protecting 30,000 acres of Sierra meadows by 2030. The goal of the Climate-Smart Sierra Meadows Restoration Program was not only to implement meadow restoration projects at a larger scale throughout California but also to build a pipeline of shovel-ready projects. Through the partnership of the WCB, we have done the planning work to get 1,000’s of acres ready for restoration. These projects will be set for implementation within the next year.
At Point Blue, we believe that conservation works best when guided by the best available science. To that end, the block grant has invested in answering critical questions that will improve meadow restoration outcomes. Some examples include:
- Building a tool to help prioritize watersheds where meadow restoration would be most impactful
- Understanding meadow soil carbon dynamics
- Understanding the role meadows play in reducing fire severity in their watersheds
- Identifying important meadow plants for our imperiled bumble bee populations
Science leadership at Point Blue and across our Sierra Meadows Partnership network is leading to more effective meadow restoration and conservation actions.
One of the highlights of the SMP block grant is the collaboration with Indigenous groups. Over $2.5M across more than a dozen projects has been granted to Indigenous-led groups to advance their meadow related priorities and incorporate their priorities into other funded projects. Building new and strengthening existing ties with our Indigenous partners is core to the Block Grant and core to our long-term Sierra Meadows strategy.
Want to connect or learn more? Please contact Ryan Burnett, our Sierra Nevada Group Director and SMP Board Chair at rburnett@pointblue.org or Lisa Scobel, Sierra Meadow Project Manager at lscobel@pointblue.org.
We are so grateful to have had the opportunity to work with Kontent Films on this project. And a special shout out to Executive Producer Marc Heal for his amazing partnership, guidance, and expertise.