Grazing
Livestock grazing on public lands causes varying effects on wildlife habitat, depending on how much grazing takes place and the time of the year. Without intensive herding or other active management, cows often trample stream banks, causing erosion and sedimentation that affects amphibians, fish, and other aquatic species. Over-grazing of meadows can eliminate or degrade grass and wildflower habitat for many wildlife species. Of special concern is the loss of shelter - the loss of tall grasses - that small wildlife species depend on for protection from scorching summer sun or from aggressive predators.
Chemical Treatments
Both the U.S. Forest Service and private lumber companies continue to use intensive herbicide treatments to kill off ferns, wildflowers, bushes, and hardwood trees that might possibly compete with their crops of conifer trees. Such treatments often contaminate water and almost always denude broad areas -- eliminating important habitat values. Such chemical treatments are meant to boost the growth of conifers to increase wood production, but herbicide spraying results in a significant reduction in habitat value for wildlife. For thousands of years the forests survived and flourished without chemical treatments. CSERC strongly opposes widespread chemical applications in our local forests.
Logging
The cutting of large trees or the creation of large openings in the forest often eliminates important structural habitat for goshawks, fishers, martens, spotted owls, and other sensitive wildlife species. Clearcuts denude entire hillsides, removing plants that provide food and shelter. Bulldozed skid trails cause erosion that can lead to sediment washing into streams. Logging slash increases the risk of forest-damaging wildfires. Intensive logging disturbs wildlife species that need refuge from chainsaws, noise and traffic. Wildlife can co-exist with logging - but only if snags, down logs, large trees, hardwoods, and adequate canopy cover are retained when logging is done.
Dams and Diversions
For more than a century in the West, the demand for more and more water for agriculture and domestic use has led to dams and diversions that block fish, dry up streams, and disrupt the river ecosystem. New development threatens to take more and more water from local rivers and streams. Without CSERC's intensive involvement and years of experience in local water issues, fish, frogs, ducks, river otters, kingfishers, ospreys, and many other species would suffer from new dams, diversions, or water management policies that prioritize water use rather than water quality and keeping water in the river. Even with our vigilance on water issues, new demands on water resources will continue to stress local aquatic systems.
Development
Perhaps the single greatest challenge to the Sierra Nevada ecosystem at this time is the incredible wave of new development proposals that are sweeping across the foothills. Presently, there are plans for thousands of new lots across the foothills of Tuolumne and Calaveras Counties along with fancy golf courses, new commercial centers, and all the roads and paving that destroy wildlife resources. CSERC staff review more than 100 development or subdivision proposals each year as we attempt to slow the worst projects, improve marginal projects, and support appropriate, well-planned growth. The oak woodlands across the foothills are suffering the greatest degradation as booming prices and aggressive marketing create a significant threat to the foothill region.
