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| Alpine Watershed Group protects, conserves, and restores the watersheds of Alpine County by promoting sustainable community and science-based collaborative solutions.
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| The annual GivingTuesday celebration of generosity is Tuesday, December 2 (the Tuesday after Black Friday). If you love Alpine County’s watersheds, please help AWG continue our tremendous work into 2026 by making a donation. Donations support AWG in leading volunteer events like planting trees in burned areas and watering the seedlings through their first dry season. They also support our data collection and assessment—how are the planted seedlings surviving, what does the data our volunteer River Monitors collect mean, and what should we do differently because of these results?
Thank you for helping us do research, inform conservation, implement restoration, and inspire watershed stewardship.
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Our Future Forests Thank You!The Forest Health Community Working Group fall tree planting event drew 65 smiling volunteers on the morning of October 11 to the Indian Creek Campground Day Use Area. These volunteers were eager to help reforest a part of the Tamarack Fire burn scar that had not yet been re-planted. We are hopeful that the 345 Jeffrey pine seedlings, 72 sugar pine seedlings, 33 pinyon pine seedlings, and 150 germinated pinyon pine seeds that were planted during this workday will help to reforest the campground for future generations to enjoy. We are thrilled that three different species of trees were planted on the landscape during this event! Thank you to the Sugar Pine Foundation for providing the Jeffrey pine seedlings and to the Washoe Environmental Protection Department for providing the pinyon pine seedlings and germinated seeds. Thank you to the Bureau of Land Management for helping to coordinate this volunteer workday on Alpine County’s beautiful public lands. And a huge thank you to the volunteers for getting these seedlings and seeds in the ground!
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You may notice the light brown/golden color in the photo—the volunteers had to traverse through very thick stands of dried out tall tumblemustard (Sisymbrium altissimum) to plant trees. Planting seedlings in burned areas that are dominated by invasive species is important because the seedlings can eventually outcompete the low-growing invasive species by overtopping and shading them out.
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| Snapshot Day 2025 in Alpine County
By Headwaters Coordinator Bella Kurtz
River Wrangler’s Snapshot Day 2025 was held on Friday, October 10. This year’s Snapshot Day consisted of 11 different monitoring sites along the Carson River, with Alpine County having the two farthest upstream sampling sites: one on the West Fork Carson River in Hope Valley (near the Hope Valley Wildlife Area parking lot), and one on the East Fork Carson River at Hangman’s Bridge. The monitoring site farthest downstream is near the Carson Desert. Students of all ages from numerous schools learned about and tested the water quality of the river at a specific time, taking a “snapshot” of the river’s health.
AWG is grateful for our recurring River Monitors who volunteered to monitor the Hangman’s Bridge site while students from Diamond Valley Elementary School (DVES) joined AWG staff and volunteers in Hope Valley for a short and exciting field trip. There were 38 DVES students in attendance, grades 1-8. The students had a fantastic time as they cycled through four different stations—two of which AWG volunteers very kindly led! The first station allowed students to learn about water quality by recording measurements for pH, dissolved oxygen, electrical conductivity, water temperature, and air temperature. The other station fundamental to Snapshot Day was the stream walk assessment, where the students observed the river for streambank erosion, water appearance, and land uses, drawing a map of the stream section from a bird’s eye view. At the third station students explored nonpoint source pollution through a watershed model—a demonstration of various pollutants (such as salt applied to roads and candy sprinkles representing trash) entering a watershed that taught the students what can help reduce nonpoint source pollution. The students also participated in a nature journaling station where they were encouraged to observe their surroundings and draw and/or write about what caught their eye in Hope Valley. Thank you to the California Coastal Commission's WHALE TAIL® Grants Program for the funding that allowed AWG to provide these hands-on learning experiences for the students in their home watershed.
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Nature journal drawings by DVES students
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Map of stream reach by DVES student
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Northern rubber boa (Charina bottae)
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| Indigenous Peoples Month
By Forest Health Coordinator Neil Mortimer
November was designated as Native American Heritage Month on August 3, 1990, by Public Law 101-343. For more information on this see National Native American Heritage Month and Native American Heritage Month. Alpine Watershed Group works to protect as well as to restore the natural environment within Alpine County which is the aboriginal homeland of the Washoe people. European contact forever changed the Washoe’s subsistence way of life ultimately displacing them from the lands that they had thoughtfully, purposefully, and methodically cared for and managed as an extension of their beinghood for generations. This is the reality of what early European settlers came across as they entered the Tahoe Basin and the surrounding areas, including what is now known as Alpine County, which had been sculpted for countless generations by Washoe horticulture practices that resulted in what some would say was a land discovered in pristine conditions. Washoes received federal recognition as an executive order tribe which acknowledged the inherent sovereignty of the Washoe that predated the ratification of the Constitution of the United States of America. We are grateful to our ancestors and our elders for their contributions as knowledge keepers who bridge the past with the now.
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| Markleeville Creek Floodplain Restoration
By Executive Director Kimra McAfee
With the onset of wintry weather, construction of the Markleeville Creek Floodplain Restoration Project is done until next field season. We are so grateful for all that was accomplished this year! Thanks to Markleeville Public Utility District's sewer upgrade project, the manholes in the floodplain on the west side of Markleeville Creek have been decommissioned, and the sewer line that runs under the creek has a new sleeve. These actions are huge for helping protect water quality. Alpine County's contractor has removed the old bridge abutments, reducing the pinchpoint created by the bridge, which will help reduce the downstream flow velocity and therefore decrease erosion and sedimentation. Meyers Earthwork also completed the swale next to Highway 89, which helps treat highway runoff before it flows into the creek. This updated info sheet provides more details on the project, including the funding sources.
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| Bountiful Blooms and Views
By Headwaters Coordinator Bella KurtzAlthough there are many species of nonnative, invasive thistles present throughout California, did you know that one of our native thistles in Alpine County called Anderson’s thistle (Cirsium andersonii) is frequently mistaken for the common invasive species of bull thistle (Cirsium vulgare)? Bull thistle is native to most of Europe, western Asia, and northwestern Africa, and is the national flower of Scotland. The good news is that our native Anderson’s thistle has a thornless stem, making it much friendlier than bull thistle! Check out this awesome resource to get informed about our native versus nonnative, invasive thistles.
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Anderson's thistle (Cirsium andersonii)
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Anderson's thistle (Cirsium andersonii)
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 | Bull thistle (Cirsium vulgare)
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Bull thistle (Cirsium vulgare)
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| All Things Watersheds
Leviathan Mine CIP – The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently released the Leviathan Mine Superfund Site Community Involvement Plan (CIP). As a framework for building relationships with communities affected by Superfund sites, the CIP is meant to be a living document. EPA needs to continue to hear from our watershed community on how best to address your questions and concerns. Here is the link to the Leviathan Mine Superfund Site webpage, and here is the link to the CIP.
California Beaver Help – A California Beaver Help Desk is now live. Land managers experiencing human-beaver conflict can utilize this new resource to sign up for free technical and financial coexistence assistance—allowing beaver problems to become beaver solutions!
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| Upcoming AWG Events
Wednesday, December 17, 5:00 p.m. at Markleeville Library – AWG Board Meeting
Tuesday, January 20, 5:30 p.m. at Turtle Rock Park Community Center – West Fork Carson Prioritization Project Community Meeting
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| We are grateful for the financial support of all who love Alpine County. We are able to lead volunteer workdays and support community science data collection because of your generosity.
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AWG has earned a 2024 Gold Seal of Transparency with Candid! Check out our Nonprofit Profile here.
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Ways to Connect or HelpWe always love to hear from our watershed community! Below are email links to reach AWG's staff, or reach us at AWG's office at (530) 694-2327. Please follow us on Facebook and Instagram, and subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Contact Us!
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| A quick note for Gmail users:
To get our monthly bulletin email sent to your "Inbox" instead of "Promotions,"
click and drag the email over to your "Primary" tab.
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