Our first member meeting of the year will be held at the brand new Kernville Ranger District's Community Meeting Room and will feature Levi Keszey of CalTrout. Levi will be doing a presentation on Cal Trout's work on meadows in the Upper Kern. 

California Trout (CalTrout) is a statewide non-profit organization focused on protecting and enhancing native trout fisheries. The Sierra Headwaters Region of CalTrout works across the High Sierra to conserve and restore headwater habitats and water sources for native trout. CalTrout recognizes the importance of headwater meadows to the health and resilience of trout populations and since 2014, has been spearheading a group of agencies and non-profits called the Sierra Meadows Partnership to increase the pace, scale and efficacy of meadow restoration statewide. On the Kern Plateau, Caltrout has had 2 major projects towards this goal. This presentation will focus on these 2 projects of geographic and ecologic pertinence to the Kern Plateau and resident threatened native trout species.  

Levi Keszey works for the Sierra Headwaters office of California Trout in Mammoth Lakes. His background is in restoration ecology and he currently focuses on High Sierra Meadows. He holds a B.S. in Conservation Biology from St. Lawrence University and has worked with fisheries in New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Washington and California. A native of Northern Vermont, Levi came west for the mountains and the fish, both of which he seeks constantly (though with varying luck on the fish front). When not chasing fish or summits, he can be found playing folk music around the Eastern Sierra.