Passionate public input changes restoration plans at Rabe Meadow/Burke Creek

STATELINE, Nev. - After passionate public input, the Burke Creek Restoration Project on Rabe Meadow at Lake Tahoe is being amended, and much of the change is thanks to a little guy nicknamed Beaver Burke.

While sections of the creek restoration have already been completed upstream, across US50, the section closest to Lake Tahoe was gaining attention because of the home pond and dam of the beaver named Burke by its fan club.

On Thursday, the USDA Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit (LTBMU) in partnership with the Nevada Tahoe Conservation District (NTCD), issued the final decision for the proposed final segment of the Burke Creek restoration on Lake Tahoe’s southeastern shore.

The purpose of the Burke Creek Restoration Project is to improve water quality, meadow vegetation, and aquatic and terrestrial habitat for wildlife and plants and restore the natural function of the creek and adjacent Rabe Meadow.

“There is a lot of interest and passion around restoration efforts at Burke Creek,” said Forest Supervisor, Erick Walker. “With feedback from engaged members of the public, we’ve revised the project to strategically balance watershed restoration needs with what is best for area wildlife, their habitat, and the recreating public.”

In consideration of public and partner feedback received, several changes have been made to the final project:

- Jennings Pond will no longer be removed but will be partially filled and features installed to create a more natural pond environment that will improve existing habitat for beavers, birds, and native aquatic species.

- The Lam Watah Trail adjacent to the pond will be raised to prevent flooding impacts to nearby infrastructure. Work in the Jennings Pond area will not begin until August to avoid impacts to local beaver populations.

- The access road from private property adjacent to the sewer pump station along the Nevada Beach Campground road will not be removed but will instead be relocated upstream. The removal of the existing road, the construction of the new access road, and all channel restoration work downstream of the existing road will not be implemented in 2024.

Due to resource concerns, a segment of the informal trail through Rabe Meadow and across Burke Creek previously planned for adoption will now be decommissioned and restored to a natural condition. The trail network (both formal and informal) through Rabe Meadow will still allow access to all areas of this popular recreation site.

Additional work planned for the 2024 field season includes:

- Complete backfill of Kahle Ditch upstream of the existing pump station access road
- In-channel habitat structure installation and reconstruction of Burke Creek upstream of the existing pump station access road
- Backfill of remnant ditches in upper Rabe Meadow
- Replacement of an undersized culvert on an overflow channel under the Nevada Beach Campground road

“Eliminating Kahle Ditch and restoring the floodplain in Rabe Meadow has been a long-term goal of ours,” said NTCD District Manager, Meghan Kelly. “A decade of work with partners and stakeholders has gone into developing this riparian restoration plan and we are looking forward to completing this important restoration project.”

The adjacent Tahoe Beach Club had objected to plans to remove the existing paved pump station access road originating from its property. They were concerned about flooding in the area. The existing road will be removed but there will be construction of additional paved areas surrounding the station to facilitate emergency vehicle turnaround and additional parking. A new pump station access road will be constructed approximately 200 feet upstream with 3 open-bottom culverts. The road will be approximately 360 feet long, 10 feet wide, with two-foot shoulders with approximately 60 linear feet crossing the riparian area. They will issue a special use permit amendment to Douglas County Lake Tahoe Sewer Authority.

Tahoe Beach Club will be doing restoration on its side of the project area at the same time as that on the USFS property

Project work is expected to begin this summer. Visitors to the Kahle Drive Trailhead, Rabe Meadow, and Nevada Beach and Campground should expect to see project activity in the area including the staging of construction materials and equipment. Temporary disruptions to parking areas, trails, bike paths, and beach access may occur, but every effort will be made to alleviate impacts to recreational access.

The History

Burke Creek and Rabe Meadow have been impacted by historic uses such as logging, grazing, and development over the past 150 years that have resulted in significant modifications to the stream, its tributaries, and surrounding meadows. It was also once home to the Sky Harbor airport and casino. Changes to the watershed decreased the overall area of healthy wetlands and stream length, according to the project's scoping documents.

Increased recreational use of Rabe Meadow over the past two decades has resulted in an expansive network of user-created trails and an overall increase of bare soil within the meadow. As a result of these uses, the Burke Creek Watershed has degraded water quality and lower quality aquatic and terrestrial habitat. Restoration of the watershed is needed to expand the riparian areas, increase channel length, improve habitat, reduce soil erosion, and improve water quality. The 2014 Burke Creek-Rabe Meadow Complex Master Plan identified the Burke Creek Highway 50 Crossing, Kahle Basin Implementation Project, Kahle Drive Complete Street, and the Burke Creek Kahle Ditch Riparian Restoration as essential actions to improve water quality in the Burke Creek Watershed. The first two of these projects were completed in 2016 and 2018 respectively. The last project is encompassed in the actions proposed in this document and the Kahle Complete Street Project is being planned under a separate effort.

Tahoe Beach and Ski Club (TBC) was built at the end of Kahle Road, in the location of the former Tahoe Shores Mobile Home Park. Developers bought the park in 2001, and the mobile homes stayed for several years until the luxury condominium project was built after the economy improved. Over 11,000 pounds of sediment made its way into Lake Tahoe from the land when the 115 trailers occupied the space. Tahoe Beach Club's original plans stated two acres of stream environment was to be restored, resulting in only 632 pounds of sediment a year when completed.

No requests for comment on the new plans were received from TBC or the Beaver Burke Fan Club Facebook page.

The Decision Memo is available for viewing on the Burke Creek Restoration Project webpage.