CALIFORNIA—Scorched trees dot the Sierra National Forest’s severely burned Lower Grouse Meadow. Three years ago, the Creek Fire raged through almost 380,000 acres of this 1.3-million-acre area, considered one of the most iconic national forests in California.

Gazing at the charred remains of once healthy trees, we fasten our hard hats and follow Pacific Southwest Research Station ecologist Dr. Karen Pope along a dirt path to a lost meadow. It’s one of several that she, her colleagues and partners are restoring in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

The weight of the air feels heavy on this mild August morning as we slosh through pools of water. Within half a mile, the terrain opens to a grassy meadow where signs of nature emerge. A blue dragonfly buzzes by, a red-tailed hawk screeches overhead, and water trickles in a rhythmic cadence under a cobalt sky.

We gather by a clump of lavender wildflowers to listen to Forest Supervisor Dean Gould. “When I look around, I see hope amidst devastation. I see birds. I see insects. I hear water trickling.”

Gould refers to meadows as nature’s sponge. During unprecedented snow events, excessive flooding and extreme droughts, meadows hold water and slowly release it back into the watershed. They are key links in an interconnected ecosystem, providing habitat for wildlife, clean water for people and critical fuel breaks during wildfires.

Gould estimates out of the roughly 8,200 meadows in the Sierra National Forest, only 5% are healthy. The remaining 70% are in dire need of restoration, while 25% are not functioning properly. These sobering statistics make Pope’s and fellow researchers’ work even more significant.

Grabbing a handful of organic soil from a small stream, Pope reiterates Gould’s points that meadows are vital for healthy ecosystems. Plants in a meadow, she tells us, stay in a wet environment longer than trees and can sequester carbon at a rate six times higher than that of the surrounding forest. “Meadows make up 2% of the landscape but hold 50% of the biodiversity.”

When wildfires occur, animals flee toward meadows for refuge. Sadly, Pope and her colleagues found charred remains of animals who died in the Creek Fire in meadows too small to protect them.

“Because meadows are consistently wet, they are fire-resistant. By restoring this meadow and meadows like it, we can create a climate refugia for wildlife during wildfires, so they have a safe place to go where there’s water, food and habitat,” Pope states.

Pope stands in a pool of water, and anticipation builds as she dips her hand in and scoops out an aquatic insect the size of a coffee bean. The critter wriggles in her palm as she tells us that these diminutive insects are building blocks of a healthy ecosystem and an important source of food for fish, amphibians and birds.

Contractor Kevin Swift, owner of Swift Water Design, who’s working with Pope and partners on restoring meadows, admires the insect and adds, “We’re just starting now at the level of pollinators and little bugs that float around in the mud and that builds towards big life.”

Meadows support biodiversity, and restoring them gives wildlife a helping hand. In turn, wildlife, specifically beavers, are giving Pope and Swift a primer on how to effectively restore lost meadows. Mimicking these industrious animals, the researchers are building interconnected structures with natural materials that hold and spread water across the landscape and capture sediment, raising the groundwater level.

“Using nature-based solutions, we can do this type of restoration with minimal impact and with maximal gains,” Pope notes.

She and Swift are building a network of Forest Service staff, partners and volunteers who can work together to restore lost meadows across an expansive landscape.

Gould is excited about this collaboration, emphasizing that meadow restoration work requires everyone get involved for the health of our forests and our communities.

“My dream is that 100 years from now, families are visiting the forest in every way, shape or form, including meadows and forested areas and have no idea the Creek Fire even happened because it’s such a beautiful, lush forest.”