Mountain meadows and riparian areas across the western United States constitute a unique and critical natural resource. On California's national forest lands, mountain meadows and their broader forested landscape provide a multitude of ecosystem services, including flood water attenuation, diverse and productive forage for cattle and wildlife, and outdoor recreation for over 26 million people.

World-wide population declines have heightened concern for amphibian conservation on working landscapes. Across the Sierra Nevada's national forest lands, where almost half of native amphibian species are considered at risk, permitted livestock grazing is a notably controversial agricultural activity.

Grazing allotments on U.S. Forest Service (USFS) lands provide summer forage for cattle, surface water for public recreations and consumption, and critical aquatic habitat.  There is substantial concern that public lands cattle grazing degrades water quality, threatening human and ecological health. 

Aspen restoration in grazed landscapes is a priority for many resource managers. Stand protection practices such as exclusionary fencing are often recommended where browsing is suppressing aspen regeneration. However, wide-spread exclusionary fencing of stands may not be ecologically or economically practical.

Livestock grazing on public lands is a controversial issue across the western United States, and policy-makers and managers are progressively charged with balancing diverse societal goals on these national lands. Montane meadows represent less than 10 % of the Sierra Nevada, but are critical to both summer cattle grazing and a variety of eco-system functions.