New Resources for the Sierra

Through The Sierra Fund’s New Resources for the Sierra Program, we take what we have learned from nearly two decades of work in service to the Sierra Nevada region directly to government and business leaders to inform their decisions and support effective implementation of resulting programs and investments. State bonds, federal grant programs, partnerships with private businesses, and collaborative research with universities are some of the targets for our strategic involvement.

As an innovative place-based organization for the environment, The Sierra Fund partners with a broad network of leaders to think outside the box and increase and organize investment in the land, air, water and human resources of the Sierra Nevada.

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Background

The Sierra Funds identifies and pursues opportunities to expand investment in the region, to ensure that the Sierra Nevada secures the resources needed to effectively restore resiliency.

Our efforts have established the Sierra Nevada Conservancy, which since its inception in 2004 has awarded over $100 million in state funding to over 150 organizations working to support healthy watersheds and resilient communities throughout the twenty-two county Sierra Nevada region.

Our carefully calibrated approach has grown from the ground up, from local donors and community need, to a regional approach sustained by over $4.7 million in foundation funding that we have successfully leveraged to secure over $4.4 million in government grants directly supporting our work. Our Headwater Mercury Source Reduction (HMSR) Project, a watershed wide strategy to abate legacy mercury contamination, is one example of the success of our approach to bringing together investment from a variety of sources to achieve meaningful, landscape-scale change. The HMSR project builds on the lessons learned from our work at Combie Reservoir and at Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park (MDSHP), two projects which were launched through a combination of funding from state agencies and private foundations and were subsequently allocated a combined $14 million dollars in the Governor’s 2017/18 budget. In addition, we have administered $6.5 million in funding awarded through the Cosumnes American Bear Yuba Integrated Regional Water Management Group.

Our Vision for bringing new resources to the Sierra Nevada

Despite clear evidence of our impact, there is so much more to do. The current pace of restoration work in the Sierra needs to be accelerated to mitigate threats and disturbances to our ecosystems and communities such as wildfires and climate change. New resources, including grants, bonds, and cash-flow mechanisms, must continue to be directed to the region to the benefit of the state of California. Essential to our success is our active engagement of a broadly diverse set of partners in our project design and implementation including local, state, federal, and Tribal governmental agencies, universities, businesses, environmental and community organizations, all working together to protect and restore the natural resources and communities of the Sierra Nevada.