Building Momentum the Focus for Nature-Based Solutions Forests and Mountain Meadows Summit

In its efforts to combat the impacts of climate change and help protect communities and landscapes from extreme weather events, such as wildfires, the state is harnessing one of its greatest powers: Nature.

Since 2020, California has invested billions in funding to advance nature-based solutions – projects that restore health and resilience to the land to protect natural resources and communities while also durably storing carbon. These projects come in many forms, such as removing overly dense fuels from forests, using beneficial fire to prevent more damaging wildfires, restoring mountain meadows, and replanting forests after a high-severity wildfire. By working with nature, these efforts strengthen ecosystems while also helping landscapes adapt to a changing climate.

To build momentum around efforts to advance these critical solutions and celebrate initial progress, the California Natural Resources Agency is organizing a series of NBS summits across the state. The California Natural Resources Agency, Sierra Nevada Conservancy, California Tahoe Conservancy, and The Nature Conservancy hosted one of these summits focused on forests and mountain meadows in Tahoe City on Thursday, Sept. 10.

“I think we can be very proud as Californians since the last 20 to 25 years California has been a world leader in setting a really strong climate ambition,” California Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot said welcoming attendees. “In 2007, we were the first government to set a legal requirement to reduce carbon pollution. Then over the next 20 years we focused on how to do that. But not so much on our landscapes, not so much nature. And so, in 2022 we had an ‘a-ha’ moment. We recognized our lands are a critical part of achieving carbon neutrality.”

California’s 2022 Scoping Plan found that the state’s lands are currently a net source of carbon emissions due to the accelerating impacts of climate change, a legacy of fire exclusion, and disconnection from traditional land-management practices. This means that California’s lands, in aggregate, emit more carbon than they remove and store through natural processes. However, there is opportunity to not only slow or reverse this trend, but also improve ecosystems and protect communities.

Forest and Mountain Meadow Restoration Support Carbon Storage and Other Benefits

Some of California’s most powerful climate solutions are found in the state’s forests, oak woodlands, and mountain meadows. When these landscapes are restored, they durably store carbon and so much more. They also reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire, improve air and water quality, provide opportunities for tribal stewardship, protect wildlife habitat and water supply, create economic and recreation opportunities, and strengthen the resilience of communities across the state.

Covering more than a quarter of the state’s landscape, most of California’s forests are found across the Sierra Nevada, Cascade, and North Coast regions. When healthy, conifer forests and oak woodlands absorb and store carbon and help regulate our climate.

Equally important are California’s mountain meadows. They are a small part of the landscape, but these high-elevation wetlands quietly store remarkable amounts of carbon. They also filter, store, and slowly release water into the state’s water supply systems, making cold, clean water available for people and nature in the warm, dry months when it’s needed most.

“Sometimes the concept of nature-based solutions can feel a little abstract – almost like a policy framework or a set of targets that exists separately from the work happening on the ground,” Angie Avery, executive officer at the Sierra Nevada Conservancy, said. “But when you look at what people are actually doing in our forests, oak woodlands, and mountain meadows, the connection becomes much clearer.”

Power in Nature discussion elevates value of forests & meadows for all Californians

Across California, partners have been putting nature-based solutions into action. The summit gathered many of these state leaders and NBS project partners, including nonprofits, public agencies, and tribes, to collaboratively discuss ways to enhance efforts that restore health to forests and mountain meadows.

Amanda Hansen, Deputy Secretary for Climate Change at the California Natural Resources Agency moderated the first panel called “Power in Nature,” which included: Cody Reed, senior meadow ecologist, Point Blue Conservation Science; Marshall Burke, professor, Global Environmental Policy Doerr School of Sustainability, Stanford University; and John Wentworth, CEO, Mammoth Lakes Trails and Public Access Association. Panelists discussed the importance of forests and mountain meadows, the additional benefits that restored landscapes create, and how to scale these solutions.

One theme that emerged was the need to communicate and connect the broad benefits of restoring the health of these landscapes to people’s everyday lives.

“We have radiocarbon data showing that meadows have been sequestering carbon at constant rates since they formed some 4,000 to 10,000 years ago. So, I think we have to be good about telling the story about the benefits they provide,” Reed said. “All meadows are rock stars, and all are unique. Some are really good at sequestering carbon and then forming these mineral associations that keep it in the soil for thousands of years. Others are great habitat for birds and endangered species. They are kind of these last bastions of multiple benefit ecosystem service-rich areas.”

With projects falling under the category of nature-based solutions, it’s easy to simply focus on the health and well-being of forests and meadows and the benefits to those living in the surrounding area. A critical point discussed, however, was the direct benefits to all Californians – even those living in cities hundreds of miles away.

“Thinking about California, specifically, we need to use science to help people understand that we are all invested in getting this right and that our enjoyment of living in this amazing state is linked to things that have to happen in forests and meadows pretty far from where we live,” said Burke. “We are all in this together. Our willingness to pay to do something is probably pretty high. That’s going to need to be reflected in government budgets and the scale of action that is going to be needed to really make a dent.”

Understanding all the benefits to those living in the Golden State and how to quantify and value them, is really important, he added. Just in wildfire smoke alone, the benefits of reducing wildfire risk far outweigh the costs of conducting large-scale ecosystem restoration. According to Burke, wildfire smoke kills an estimated 5,000 people a year in California in the worst years and, unfortunately, that number is going up.

“Even modest reductions in smoke quantities leads to large numbers of lives saved,” he concluded.

Funding Strategies Essential for Maintaining Momentum

While the summit highlighted the incredible nature-based solutions work taking place throughout the state’s forests and mountain meadows and the multitude of benefits it provides, one thing that constantly came up was the need for additional funding. In fact, in a live, cloud-based poll, Crowfoot asked the audience to name – in one word – the one thing project partners needed to continue to effectively plan and implement future nature-based solutions work.

Answers like “collaboration” and “partnerships” were mentioned, but “funding” was the overwhelming top response. The summit’s second panel titled “innovative financing” addressed this concern. It was moderated by Emily Blackmer, director of government and community affairs with the Sierra Business Council, and included: Zach Knight, CEO and co-founder of Blue Forest; Jen Nevills, program manager with Metropolitan Water District of Southern California; Dave Jones, director of the Climate Risk Initiative, Center for Law, Energy and the Environment at UC Berkeley; and Stacy Caldwell, CEO of Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation.

Each of the speakers represented an organization that is advancing nature-based solutions projects utilizing a unique funding strategy. Blue Forest has developed a Forest Resilience Bond, which is designed to add new revenue streams to fund forest restoration and to finance upfront project costs. The Metropolitan Water District has joined Blue Forest and is providing funding for forest restoration in their primary watershed – the Feather River – which sits hundreds of miles away but provides a significant amount of water to the district’s 19 million customers. Jones’ work at the Center for Law, Energy, and the Environment has focused on creative intersections between homeowner insurance products and wildfire risk reduction work, while the Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation focuses on making investments that support a range of services and projects that work together to improve community resilience.

While the state has historically stepped up as a leading funder of nature-based solutions, all speakers agreed that other finance options need to become a focus.

“Funding is a huge issue,” added Crowfoot. “We don’t have enough funding through existing sources. We had a massive budget surplus year and we were able to make a big quantum leap, but those are few and far between. To me, it’s all about diversifying our funding sources.”

Nature-Based Solutions in action

On day two of the event, attendees visited the nearby Máyala Wáta Restoration Project. Led by the Washoe Tribe, the tour highlighted the tribe’s efforts to restore the meadow by removing encroaching lodge pole pines and bring back culturally important plants.

“One thing that was very interesting, pretty much instantly whenever we started thinning, we started seeing ground water go up quite a bit,” said Cale Pete, environmental director for the Washoe Tribe’s Environmental Protection Department. “With the trees coming out we saw that groundwater recharge happen pretty rapidly. For us, it was pretty amazing because those lodgepoles serve as straws to suck out all of the water out of the meadow.”

The tribe began removing lodgepole pines in 2025 and completed the project in 2026. Later in 2027 the tribe hopes to complete a culture burn of the meadow.

Nature-Based Solutions Work to Continue

The nature-based solutions summit in Tahoe City focused on the many benefits associated with healthy and resilient forests and mountain meadows. The panelists highlighted not only the “power” these ecosystems have when it comes to combating climate change, but innovative financing options to ensure this critical work continues throughout the Sierra-Cascade and the state.

“What I hoped materialized is we all leave today (knowing) we are all a part of the nature-based solution movement and it won’t fundamentally change the work you do, but it will build connections and over time as we drive forward our climate agenda, I am hoping that we can increasingly identify and quantity the benefits of healthy landscapes,” Crowfoot concluded.

The California Natural Resources Agency and its partners are keeping the conversation going with addtional landscape-specific Nature Based Solutions (NBS) summits scheduled through 2026. All eight landscape-specific summits build on these conversations by diving into the details for increasing the pace and scale of NBS implementation.

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