Sierra Nevada Alliance

SNAP 2019-20 Service Term Highlights During this fiscal year, the Alliance closed out the 13th year of the Sierra Nevada AmeriCorps Partnership program, and began the 14th year in October, 2019. This 14th cohort represents the second year of the fifth three-year AmeriCorps grant. During their service term, this team of SNAP members faced unique challenges while continuing to accomplish amazing things for Sierra communities and the environment. With 28 members serving across the range, they collectively contributed over 37,000 hours of service with 17 different organizations and agencies. Seven members are staying on for the 2020-21 SNAP term, to continue creating positive change across the Range of Light. The 2019-20 SNAP term began on October 16th, 2019, with orientation at Sagehen Creek Field Station in Truckee, where 21 new members joined four returning members for a week of training and service. Coming together from 15 states, members completed multiple restoration projects in collaboration with the Truckee River Watershed Council’s Truckee River Day, supporting projects that included building beaver dam analogues in Martis Valley, planting sugar pine saplings in several northern tributaries of the Truckee River, and building stream-friendly trail structures on a portion of the Emigrant Trail. All members also received environmental education training and certification through Project WET, and learned about California Fire Ecology with staff from the University of California’s Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources. The cohort reconvened in January 2020, to support SYRCL’s Wild and Scenic Film Festival in Nevada City, complete restoration work on Deer Creek with Sierra Streams Institute, and host a second alumni event with the many SNAP alumni who attend the Film Festival each year. In March 2020, the COVID pandemic forced cancellation of planned in-person training in Butte County and delayed the anticipated start of half-term members in early April. Members pivoted with their service plans, adapting education and community programming to virtual platforms, stepping up their dedication to field work to fill the void by cancelled volunteer events and creating innovative and impactful outreach strategies to maintain engagement and fulfill the needs of their host sites and communities. Through several iterations of modifications to half-term service plans, SNAP was able to bring on three quarter-term members at the beginning of June, serving 450 hours each, with three Sierra host sites. The quarter-term members quickly integrated into their host sites, providing much-needed capacity, creativity and enthusiasm during a difficult time for small organizations to stay afloat. The entire cohort came together virtually to close out their service term in August 2020, details of which will be shared in the next annual report! Throughout their 11 months of service, the 2019-20 SNAP cohort made an incredible impact on the watersheds and communities they serve in the Sierra. They faced unprecedented challenges and found innovative solutions in the challenging second half of their term. During this term, SNAP members: v Restored over 800 acres v Monitored nearly 2000 sites v Educated over 9,000 children and community members, many through newly created digital platforms v Engaged over 1000 new volunteers v Raised over $54,000 in cash resources and over $2,800 in in-kind resources for their service projects at host sites The 2020-21 term brings with it some changes in our partners, positions and projects as we all adapt to current restrictions and shifting priorities. We bid farewell to some of our host sites, but we hope to continue collaborating in other ways and look forward to adding more positions for half-term service in the spring of 2021. We continue to work on creative ways to support and engage our members and host sites through virtual settings, and are continuing to evaluate our program to improve capacity building and service opportunities. We welcome your feedback and inquiry into the program and look forward to a unique and impactful year #15 of SNAP! We are incredibly grateful to the generous funders who help to support the SNAP program: CaliforniaVolunteers, the Joseph and Vera Long Foundation, the Rose Foundation, and Patagonia. 11