Public engagement is key to decision-making when making changes in national parks.
National parks are public assets, so gathering public opinion on the management of the parks is an important function. As part of preparing an environmental assessment for an ecological restoration project at Ackerson Meadow in Yosemite National Park and the Stanislaus National Forest, we coordinated a civic engagement public webinar.
This included providing the webinar platform, assisting with preparation of meeting materials, hosting the webinar, and coordinating and hiring a captioner for the hearing impaired. Working with the National Park Service (NPS), we analyzed and coded public comments in the NPS internal database and developed a public comment summary for both the civic engagement period and comments received following the release of the environmental assessment. We also participated in a preferred alternative workshop and drafted a workshop report.
The environmental assessment analyzed the proposed actions to protect the remaining intact wetlands and restore wetland ecosystem function to Ackerson and South Ackerson Meadows in a sustainable manner, minimizing impacts to park resources. Proposed restoration actions would reconnect the meadow floodplains with seasonal groundwater regimes that support natural wetland plant communities and enhance habitats for local wildlife species, including the great grey owl and the little willow flycatcher. These actions would also enhance ecosystem resilience to climate change and support plant resources important to local indigenous peoples.
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