25 Jun The Yuba River: From Wild West to Wild and Scenic
The three forks of the Yuba River have been dammed, mined and plumbed, but their beauty still captivates conservationists and recreationists alike...
24 Jun Magnificent and Overlooked
What I remember most about that hike near Carson Pass is not the tinseled sparkle of snowmelt streams or the icy dip in a mountain lake. It is what I found growing on a swale of granite that appeared to hold a thimble of soil:...
24 Jun Sierra Stewards
In a nondescript clearing surrounded by a ring of lodgepole pines stands a monument to the humble origins of a conservation powerhouse. The tucked-away sign—often passed without notice by climbers, runners, mountain bikers and campers—memorializes the initial conservation victory of the nascent Truckee Donner Land Trust,...
24 Jun Tahoe’s Evolving Fauna
On June 9, 2015, the El Dorado County Animal Services received an unprecedented call. They were asked to remove a large rattlesnake from underneath the porch of a home in the Bijou neighborhood of South Lake Tahoe, in the core of the city’s population center....
24 Jun All Eyes on Big Blue
The effort to keep Lake Tahoe scenic, clear and ecologically sound has been taken up by an army of advocates who are determined to allow future generations to revel in Tahoe’s beauty. Tahoe champions like Jesse Patterson, chief strategy officer of the League to Save Lake...
01 May A New Approach to Tahoe Clarity
Replacing one tiny critter that doesn’t belong in Lake Tahoe’s waters with an even smaller one that does could offer promising possibilities when it comes to restoring the lake’s threatened clarity. At iconic Emerald Bay, scientists are studying ways to reduce the abundance of mysid shrimp,...
02 Dec Creating a Forest for the Future
Problems in Lake Tahoe’s forests have been growing for a long time. Now, those involved in solving them are thinking big. A project that’s the first of its kind for the Tahoe Basin is now being pursued by a broad-based coalition of scientists, land managers and...
02 Dec The Fight to Protect the Arctic Refuge
I almost made it to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge back in 2003. My friend and I had packed up her truck and left our Alpine Meadows home for a long road trip to the Land of the Midnight Sun. She was saying goodbye to...
01 Oct Clarity Loss Overshadowed by Climate Change
Last year was the worst year for Lake Tahoe’s clarity since anyone started paying attention. That said, it was a fluke. The bigger problem—and it may be bigger than anyone can know—lies ahead as the climate continues to warm, raising water temperatures and producing potentially widespread...
01 Oct The Scars of Skiing’s Past
Nature’s ability to reclaim the slopes of abandoned ski areas depends on the method used to clear them Two ski runs are sitting next to each other. One was cut by a chainsaw, the other a bulldozer. Which one is more sustainable? The method by which...