Two recent different monitoring approaches have been implemented at Osgood Swamp. As part of the Region 5 Fen Assessment program, a total of 135 potential fens, including Osgood Swamp, have been assessed within the Lake Tahoe Region since 2006 (Sikes et al., 2011). Of these, a total of 47 locations have been confirmed as fens. In 2010, the U.S. Forest Service collaborated with the California Native Plant Society to develop a quantitative system for ranking the ecological integrity and quality of fens (Sikes et al., 2011). Using this ranking system, surveyors objectively score a fen on eight different criteria on a five-point scale. The criteria include factors such as rarity, biodiversity, impacts, accessibility, and uniqueness. The conservation significance rank is the sum of scores for each criterion and has a maximum value of 40 points. This protocol rates the condition of the fen, but does not provide enough detail to monitor status and trends over time. 

The second monitoring approach is part of the Region 5 Range Monitoring Program designed to quantify changes in the ecological condition of wetland plant communities (Weixelman et al., 2003). The protocol is designed to classify a meadow according to wetland index and plant functional types, which provides a quantitative ecological condition scorecard for that meadow type. The plots were re-visited in 2009/2010 and 2014/2015 but the data has not been analyzed (Engelhardt and Gross 2011b; Shana
Gross, pers. comm.). Distance to meadow edge, distance to stream channel, degree of channel incision, and evidence of Sierra lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. murrayana) encroachment data is collected at each transect.