June 2024 – One Tam is pleased to announce that the updated Peak Health report is now available online.
What is peak health? You may remember that in 2016, One Tam partners released the first-ever assessment of Mount Tamalpais' health to answer the question: Is Mount Tamalpais in peak health? This was the first time that over 60 One Tam partner staff and scientists from across the region came together to look at health indicators. We analyzed these indicators, such as special wildlife species and plant communities, at a landscape scale to paint a complete picture of the mountain's health.
We found that some species and communities are thriving while others need help. The overall health of the mountain is fair, but information is lacking for some key species and ecosystems. We aim to provide an overall update on the health of the mountain from 2022, with regular Peak Health updates providing the basis for One Tam's landscape-scale science and community programming.
What's new? We've now completed the first update of that initial effort, published as “Peak Health: An Update on the Status of the Mount Tamalpais Ecosystem.” The new report includes:
Current status, status and trends of wildlife and vegetation indicators of ecological health
New indicators for bats, bees, salamanders and more represent gaps in knowledge that have been filled since 2016.
New climate vulnerability information for each indicator
New data sources, including detailed vegetation maps of Marin County
So is Mount Tamalpais in top health? Overall, this update finds that the health of Mount Tamalpais remains good. But the story is more complicated than the headline. Some indicators improved, while others did not. For other indicators, the seven years between reports did not tell us anything different. And while this update provides more information, particularly about vegetation cover, and we made changes to some indicators to meet our goals, year-to-year comparisons were not possible.
How can you learn more? In addition to reading the report itself, we invite you to join us on June 20 at 6:30 pm for a virtual program that will include a presentation of the overall findings of this update. Register here.
As One Tam celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, we reflect on how fundamental our Peak Health process has been to our work — assessing mountain health at a landscape scale and identifying where we can collectively make a difference. We're grateful to the many contributors, staff, partners, volunteers, donors and supporters who make this work, and all of our work, possible.
