Ren Stone has been working as Sierra Streams’ water quality lab manager since Fall 2022 as a part of the Sierra Nevada AmeriCorps Partnership (SNAP). With their SNAP term coming to a close last month, we’d like to take the time to recognize them as a full-fledged staff member at […]
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This spring, with funding from the Sierra Nevada Conservancy (SNC), Sierra Streams Institute has kicked into high gear the process of developing a vegetation management plan for Bureau of Land Management (BLM) parcels in the Lower Steephollow region of the Sierra Nevada foothills. The plan will be shared with BLM […]
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As we move into spring with snow still on the ground, we wanted to revisit this topic and give a brief update on where we stand now. The atmospheric rivers have continued to provide us with rain and snow, filling creeks and reservoirs and contributing to a snowpack for the […]
Read More >Do you live in the Sierra Foothills? Do you love our beautiful watershed–the Yuba and Bear rivers and all of the wonderful tributaries that flow out of the mountains in Nevada County? Do you want to participate in conserving, restoring and educating people about our watershed? Sierra Streams Institute is […]
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This winter has certainly been one for the memory books, but what about the record books? With all of the rain we’ve received over the last few weeks, multiple questions have been coming up. Just how big is this storm compared to prior wet years? Is this a “drought buster”? What […]
Read More >This summer, Sierra Streams Institute board member Dave Herbst worked with SSI staff, volunteers and recent graduates from UC Santa Cruz to pilot a project characterizing aquatic invertebrate biodiversity of streams throughout the Sierra Nevada, including the Yuba River. This work builds on our long-term citizen monitoring program, our partnership […]
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This past school year, Sierra Streams Institute had the joy of venturing into our local forests with over 300 3rd-5th grade students in Nevada County. The mission? Promote students’ environmental science agency, spark curiosity and increase interest in land stewardship through placed-based investigations into forest health. The program, Our Forests, […]
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The signs are related to bacteria levels. Every summer in the creeks, as the temperature increases and water flow decreases, we see an increase in bacteria at many of our monitoring sites. Some amount of bacteria is always present in creek water, but less water in the creek concentrates any […]
Read More >Sierra Streams Institute is excited to undertake a new restoration project to supplement, improve and maintain salmonid habitat along a portion of Dry Creek within Beale Air Force Base located near Spenceville Wildlife Area. This is an exciting new project for SSI because all programs have an opportunity to work […]
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Over the last twenty years, Sierra Streams Institute’s water quality monitoring program has used citizen science to assess the health of the Deer Creek Watershed and engage community members in their local ecosystems. Historically, dedicated volunteers conducted monthly monitoring along eighteen sites spread strategically throughout the watershed. Volunteers measure pH, […]
Read More >The “snowmageddon” storm of December 2021 was one to remember. Just ask the trees. Some lost branches. Some were bent over—sometimes seemingly permanently—by the weight of the snow. Many many more were uprooted, leading to the power and transportation issues we lived with for days or weeks after the storm. […]
Read More >Life of the Bottom-Feeders in the Shallows and Deeps of Streams Are you interested in learning more about the insects who inhabit our waterways? Join Sierra Streams Institute with guest speaker Dave Herbst on Tuesday March 1st at 6 PM for our latest Virtual Science Speaker Talk. Dave has been […]
Read More >Saturday, October 23, 3-6PM More than one year after losing our office and laboratory to the Jones Bar Fire, Sierra Streams Institute (SSI) has a new place to call “home” again. We want to show you how we rose from those ashes. So, we invite you to come to celebrate […]
Read More >Youth-focused Community and Citizen Science in Nevada County What makes a forest healthy? Are our local forests healthy? Those are the questions that 3rd-5th graders from around the area are attempting to answer with the help of Sierra Stream’s Institute’s education team. Students will be working throughout the year to […]
Read More >As we reach the first anniversary of the Jones Fire, there is a lot to reflect on both the landscape and organization. Much like a forest is renewed by low severity while simultaneously being forever changed by high severity fire, by losing our office to the blaze, we were given […]
Read More >Our heart goes out to all in our community who were affected by the River Fire. This fast-moving fire took the community by surprise, and we are grateful to all the firefighters and community members who helped defend our communities. Unfortunately, there was still an immense loss. We want to […]
Read More >I was lucky enough to spend my youth exploring the Sierra Nevada along with all of the National Parks and natural areas of the West. Through these explorations, I learned, fairly early on, the unique and powerful beautify and ecological power of the Sierra Nevada. After years of hiking and […]
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Public health and safety have been at the forefront of many peoples’ minds this year as we are all dealing with a worldwide pandemic. There are a myriad of components that contribute to one’s health. One major factor is water. Water is one of the most critical elements to all […]
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We are so excited to welcome our new AmeriCorps member, Alex Carey! Alex will be helping coordinate restoration at Deer Creek Ranch, monitor water quality on Deer Creek and Bear River, create and share social media content, dive into our climate change study, and so much more! We’ll let Alex […]
Read More >This week was the last week of Wes and Dorothy’s AmeriCorps term. We can’t believe it’s already been 11 months since they started! Between PSPS’s, COVID-19, and our office burning down last month, Wes and Dorothy have truly had a unique AmeriCorps experience. But even with all of that disruption […]
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