Yosemite’s disappearing wetlands get massive restoration after 100 years

In the heart of Yosemite National Park, where granite cliffs rise above ancient forests and waterfalls cascade into deep valleys, lies a quieter kind of wonder: Ackerson Meadow. One of the largest mid-elevation meadows in the Sierra Nevada, and the largest in Yosemite, it is a place of stillness, wildlife and ecological importance. But for more than a century, this landscape was slowly being drained, eroded and diminished by human activity.In 2023, a landmark restoration project began. By June 2025, it had become the largest wetland restoration effort in Yosemite’s history; and the largest, by fill volume, ever undertaken in the Sierra Nevada. The results were transformative: 94 acres of lost wetlands restored, 84 additional acres protected and a 230-acre headwater meadow system returned to self-sustaining hydrologic function, according to a report on NPS.gov.A meadow in crisisAckerson Meadow is an ecologically critical wildlife corridor and habitat for several at-risk species, including the state-endangered great grey owl and little willow flycatcher. Yet for decades, a massive erosion gully network, up to two miles long, 14 feet deep and 100 feet wide, had been draining the meado...