From Seed to Sprout – Earthjustice

Deep in eastern California lies a glacier-carved landscape so lofty and vast it creates its own weather.

Each year, the Sierra Nevada mountains draw millions of people to hike among pale granite peaks, swim in alpine lakes, and stand among towering trees of pine, cedar, and fir. A global biodiversity hotspot that attracts researchers and wildlife enthusiasts alike, visitors to the Sierra might see black bears, mule deer, or even bighorn sheep, as well as many birds and amphibians.

Yet decades of mismanagement and abuse have exacted a heavy toll on the Sierra’s precious natural resources.

Beginning with the arrival of Europeans in the 1800s and accelerating rapidly after World War II, unrestricted development largely ruled the Sierra landscape. Loggers practiced a “cut and get out” mentality that left miles of tree stumps littering the west like wooden headstones; angler…