There are over 3,000 meadows in Yosemite National Park. Meadows are the epicenter of life in spring. Bears and deer use them for food, frogs use them as a breeding ground, and dragonflies and butterflies live abundantly in them. Many plants and animals that rely upon meadows for important habitat, for shelter, for breeding grounds, and food sources.

The native Ahwahneechee people from the Yosemite Valley would traditionally burn the meadows for hunting purposes and to help produce straight shoots for baskets.

When European-American settlers first arrived in the Yosemite Valley in the 1850s, they displaced the native people and changed the way that meadows were managed. Over the past 150 years, two-thirds of meadow extent has been lost in the Yosemite Valley, due to fire suppression and hydrologic changes such as ditching and filling of meadows.

The Yosemite Conservancy is restoring these places. They are bringing back the hydrology and native plants. That, in turn, brings back butterflies, dragonflies, bear, and deer.

Visitors can help protect meadows by staying on established trails
and respecting the wildlife by keeping a safe distance.