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USGS DDS-43, Lake Tahoe Case Study

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USGS DDS-43, Lake Tahoe Case Study DEBORAH L. ELLIOTT-FISK ROBERT HARRIS ROWAN A. ROWNTREE Department of Wildlife, Fish and Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit U.S.D.A., Forest Service, Conservation Biology U.S.D.A. Forest Service, Northeastern Forest Experiment University of California, Davis, CA South Lake Tahoe, CA Station and Pacific Southwest Research Station, Albany, CA THOMAS C. CAHILL RICK KATTELMANN Air Quality Group, Crocker Nuclear Sierra Nevada Aquatic PENNY RUCKS Laboratory Research Laboratory Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit 7 University of California, Davis, CA University of California, U.S.D.A. Forest Service, Santa Barbara, CA South Lake Tahoe, CA OWEN K. DAVIS Department of Geosciences, RAY LACEY DEBRA A. SHARKEY University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ California Tahoe Conservancy Sierra Nevada Ecosystem Project Center South Lake Tahoe, CA University of California, Davis LIAN DUAN Sierra Nevada Ecosystem Project Center DOUG LEISZ SCOTT L. STEPHENS University of California, Davis, CA Retired U.S.D.A. Forest Service, Department of Environmental Consulting Forester Science, Policy & Management CHARLES R. GOLDMAN Placerville, CA University of California, Berkeley, CA, and Division of Environmental Studies U.S.D.A., Forest Service, Pacific Southwest University of California, Davis, CA SUSAN LINDSTROM Research Station, Albany, CA Consulting Archaeologist GEORGE E. GRUELL Truckee, CA DAVID S. ZIEGLER Retired U.S.D.A. Forest Service, Ziegler Technical Consulting Wildlife Ecologist DENNIS MACHIDA Carson City, NV Carson City, NV California Tahoe Conservancy South Lake Tahoe, CA Lake Tahoe Case Study INTRODUCTION tem, especially for the last 150 years, than anywhere else in the Sierra Nevada. During the past thirty-five years, research The Sierra Nevada Ecosystem Project (SNEP) selected the Lake has greatly enhanced our understanding of the relationships Tahoe Basin as one of several areas deserving special study, between the dynamics of watershed and atmospheric pro- as it believes that we have much to learn from the long-his- cesses and water quality. Based on this research, science-based tory of human use and scientific study of the Basin’s resources. management has played a greater role in the Lake Tahoe Ba- In addition, there is much policy and management insight to sin than in any other Sierra Nevada locale. gain from studying the continuing evolution of its institutions. We also review some of the major legal and policy deci- Appropriately, our study is written along a chronological sions that led to the current regulatory and resource situation backbone, from the past to the present and looking to the fu- at the Lake Tahoe Basin, and discuss what will be the “cost” ture of Lake Tahoe. It is important to realize that the SNEP to continue to restore damage to this ecosystem. Conserving study includes humans as a full-fledged element within the a resource such as the Lake Tahoe Basin is very expensive, ecosystem, and as such we are interested in various human time-consuming, and complex because it is a highly disturbed uses of the ecosystem, changing cultural attitudes and val- and fragmented watershed due to a history of early ues, and the evolution of human institutions. clearcutting and recent rapid urbanization, and because of Our understanding of the Lake Tahoe Basin ecosystem is the pattern of mixed ownership of land. It has required pub- still evolving, and this report is only a partial description of lic support, legislative, judicial, and/or regulatory agency ac- what we have learned. There is a need to complete a more tion, the cooperation of all levels of government, the thorough analysis of the ecosystem’s historical record, which involvement of public and private landowners, the involve- is “locked” in the sediments of Lake Tahoe, its tributaries, ment of interest groups, an evolving set of regulatory mecha- and its forest trees, in archives in written and graphic form, nisms and actions, acquisition and restoration programs, and and in the beliefs and information handed down by our an- a high level of collaboration between all players to conserve cestors. Nevertheless, if all extant information were to be this ecosystem. As the environment and our societal needs brought together we would have a better, science-based un- and values change, this process must be dynamic, flexible and derstanding of the history of the Lake Tahoe Basin ecosys- sustainable. Thus, the history of the Lake Tahoe Basin serves Sierra Nevada Ecosystem Project: Final report to Congress, Addendum. Davis: University of California, Centers for Water and Wildland Resources, 1996. 217 218 ADDENDUM as a valuable and expensive lesson in resource management The case study team recognized the following premises up- within a highly sensitive watershed of extraordinary beauty front in our assessment: and economic value. • The Lake Tahoe Basin is an important local, regional, state, Lake Tahoe has long been recognized as a special place by national and international resource; it is one of the largest, the Washoe and earlier Native American peoples, by early deepest, and clearest mountain lakes in the world and is settlers and explorers, by all levels of government, by conser- reknown for its scenic beauty; before the turn of the cen- vation agencies and organizations, by the millions of people tury, it was discussed as one of the first three potential na- who visit the Basin every year, and in the economic and fiscal tional parks (i.e., Yosemite, Lake Tahoe and Yellowstone); investments that both help draw people to the Basin and en- the major attraction is the large, deep and clear mountain able its management. Today, Lake Tahoe’s topographically basin lake and the scenic vistas it provides; bound, watershed ecosystem is regulated on a regional basis under a bi-state compact between California and Nevada • The deterioration of the Lake Tahoe Basin ecosystem is un- which created the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) derstood to have begun with the influx of large numbers and cooperatively involves various federal, state, and local of early settlers ca. 1870, with near stand-replacement log- agencies and non-profit organizations. As such, the Lake ging, alteration of stream courses and flows, resultant ero- Tahoe Basin serves as an historic, evolutionary model with sion, loss of native flora from grazing, elimination of native elements of ecosystem management for public and private fisheries, modification of near-shore habitats, and urban- lands, and affiliated land acquisition, institutional evolution, ization and recreational development; little is understood and consensus building processes. The “state” or what some about the extent or effects of at least 8,000 years of Native might term “health” of the ecosystem is monitored through American resource manipulation; the regular measurement and analysis of many ecosystem • The Lake Tahoe Basin has a long history of human conflict, components. No doubt, other ecosystem components could litigation, and policy response targeted at development ver- be monitored. Nevertheless, land management is evaluated sus environmental preservation; this history has forced dis- through regular monitoring and reviewed every five years. cussion between groups with dissimilar interests and goals, Restoration activities, resource preservation, land acquisition resulting in various efforts to better manage the environ- programs, other capital improvements, and regional land-use ment built on productive compromise and cooperation; planning are some of the means of achieving these thresh- olds1, and in the Lake Tahoe Basin this regional management • Since the early 1980s, the Lake Tahoe Basin ecosystem has is done through strict regional review of permits, ceilings on been managed using an integrated resource management the number of permits issued, land coverage regulations, care- philosophy, with key thresholds defined for a variety of ful resource management, restoration projects, and a cautious ecosystem parameters, with these parameters monitored, eye towards the future in terms of evolving energy, transpor- regulated and reviewed; various on-the-ground compo- tation, recreation, housing and other societal needs. nents of this management process still need to be imple- In conducting our evaluation of the Lake Tahoe Basin’s mented; ecosystem, we were guided by two questions that we hoped • The Lake Tahoe Basin ecosystem is still under threat (e.g., would both inform the other parts of SNEP and contribute to lake water continues to decrease in clarity, parts of the for- the long-term health of the Lake Tahoe Basin ecosystem: est cover are severely stressed by drought, infestation, and • What can SNEP learn from what has been done at Lake other factors, and air pollution continues to be a concern), Tahoe in the ecological assessment, monitoring, consensus the full range of human concerns for the biophysical and building, land-use management and regulation, land ac- human systems are present here (e.g., community well- quisition and restoration, and policy development arenas? being, recreation, economic redevelopment, invasion of exotic organisms, wildfire risk, water quality deterioration); • What can SNEP recommend as future needs and directions for the wise science-based assessment, policy formulation, • Continued analysis and discussion are needed to define and resource management of the Lake Tahoe Basin, to sus- additional key scientific data needs and monitoring and tain and improve its ecological health into the future? restoration opportunities;
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