OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY

Sierra Nevada Snow Won't End California's Thirst

Monday, April 11, 2016

Contributing to the problem is the fact that there are many more trees here than there used to be. A century ago, Dr. Safeeq said, Yosemite had perhaps 80 trees an acre; now the number is closer to 250. That means more of the melting snowpack never gets off the mountain to the valley below, he said. The greater number of trees is due in part to years of forest agency policies under which small natural fires were quickly extinguished to protect homes and other property in the mountains.