wildlife

The Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority would like to thank all of our community members, visitors, businesses and agencies who have helped keep our Lake Tahoe beaches clean throughout a busy summer season. Debris on Lake Tahoe’s beaches affects everyone’s enjoyment of the lake, and trash and debris on the beaches and streets can easily find its way to the lake and adversely impact lake clarity, water quality and wildlife.

If aquatic invasive species ever found their way into Lake Tahoe, the effects could be devastating to both the environment and the economy. The management plan in place to combat the problem through boat inspections is now known as a national role model after performing more than 37,000 watercraft inspections and 18,000 decontaminations.

“Lake Tahoe has one of the best aquatic invasive species plans in the United States,” said Donald Maclean, a biologist at the headquarters office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “Tahoe’s plan will serve as a model nationwide moving forward.”

It's not very often that the public is invited behind the doors at Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care. This Sunday, August 3rd, you can wander through the grounds and see their current residents.

There are now nine bears housed at the agency. While you can't see them face to face (it would hinder their ability to live away from humans), you can see them on their exclusive closed circuit televisions. The cages with the other animals inside are all part of the tour.

Learn first hand what it takes to rehabilitate an injured or displaced animal.

When: August 3, 2014 from 10am until 4pm.

From May 1 through July 31 each year, dogs are kept out of the Upper Truckee Marsh in order to protect wildlife such as the Yellow Headed Blackbird during their critical breeding season.

Leashed dogs are allowed back into the marsh starting on Friday, August 1.

The California Tahoe Conservancy owns and manages the 600 acre marsh, one of the largest remaining in the Sierra Nevada, for the protection and enhancement of wildlife habitat and water quality.

Authorities are looking into why a second boat used by the Washoe County Sheriff's Department sank off the shore near Incline Village Thursday.

The 15 year old boat, Marine 10, was brought to Lake Tahoe from it's normal home in Pyramid Lake because it's predecessor, Marine 20, sank off shore in late May.

Normally, Marine 10 is hooked to a trailer at night but was tied to a buoy instead due to the trailer undergoing maintenance.

Both incidents are under investigation.

Due to the rise in human - bear conflicts at Lake Tahoe campgrounds, the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit of the Forest Service (LTBMU) has proposed an order to require visitors to properly store food and refuse in a container designed to prevent access by black bears and other wildlife.

Bears quickly learn to expect to find food at previously successful locations and have altered their behaviors in response to human sources of food. Bears habituated to human food will also forage preferentially on human food, even when wildland food is available.

It's not a record breaking year for bear cubs at Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care, yet. Two more cubs were brought to the care facility on July 9 from the Paradise, California area, bringing the total of cubs now at LTWC to eight.

The new cubs are named Paradise 1 and Paradise 2, as with all of the other cubs they take on the names from the area they were living. As of today they have these two, along with Bieber 1 and 2, Conway 1 and 2, Meyers and Tahoe who was named before knowing that she came from the Northern California coastal area.

It's getting to be quite the full house at Lake Tahoe Wildlife care, especially now with the addition of two cubs over the weekend.

The cubs came from the town of Bieber, CA, a community 55 miles northwest of Susanville. The brothers saw their mother hit and killed by a car and arrived at LTWC on Sunday. They are in good health, about 5 months old and weigh 22.3 lbs (Bieber 1) and 20 lbs (Bieber 2). They were named after the area they came from, just like the two cubs that arrived last week, Conway 1 and Conway 2 (they arrived from Conway Summit near Lee Vining, CA).

The chemical treatment of invasive plants by the U.S. Forest Service in Lake Tahoe will continue through the summer at about 70 different locations totaling 12.5 acres. In South Lake Tahoe the treatment will take place at the Angora wildfire area, Baldwin Beach meadow, Burke Creek trail, Luther Pass campground, Heavenly Creek Meadow, Heavenly Ski Area, Rabe Meadow and the Spooner Summit fire station as well as at several urban lots that the Forest Service controls.

Looking for an enjoyable way to contribute to the Lake Tahoe community, either as a local or as a visitor?

Adopt-a-Beach is one of the nicest and easiest ways to protect this valuable and beautiful treasure and they're looking for several volunteers to help this summer. This program is sponsored by the City of South Lake Tahoe, Lake Tahoe Visitor's Authority, U.S. Forest Service, League to Save Lake Tahoe, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and South Tahoe Refuse.

"Heavenly" the bear cub that recuperated at Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care after being found injured on the slopes of Heavenly has found a permanent home. He will be living on a 5 acre wildlife sanctuary in Scottsdale, Arizona with a couple of other cubs.

According to LTWC co-founder and Secretary/Treasurer Tom Milham, Heavenly left South Lake Tahoe early Tuesday to his new home, Southwest Wildlife Conservation Center. The bear had been with LTWC since March 3.

South Tahoe Now sent a questionnaire out to all of the candidates for Douglas County Sheriff. We will be posting them in the order received.

1) What do you see as the biggest challenge facing the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department?

There is a proposed "Forest Order" that would require proper storage of food and refuse at developed National Forest System recreation sites in the Lake Tahoe Basin.

Bears are attracted to anything edible or scented. Improper storage of human food sources and refuse is a leading cause of human-bear conflict. Without a Forest Order in place, Forest Service law enforcement are unable to require visitors to employ proper food and refuse storage practices. The proposed Forest Order would require use of bear-resistant dumpsters and food lockers designed to prevent access by wildlife.

The recent standoff at the last remaining ranch in Clark County, NV has been widely attributed to environmental protection around the endangered desert tortoise; with the right wing trying to pin the blame on Nevada Senator Harry Reid for his support of the recent Ivanpah solar plant which, generates 392 MW which powers Google servers (See Dana Loesch Radio for an example of the kind of coverage it gets http://danaloeschradio.com/the-real-story-of-the-bundy-ranch/ and http://mediamatters.org/blog/2014/04/11/the-nevada-tortoise-war-is-a-right-wing-false-f/198860 for a Media Matters article deb

Lake of the Sky Outfitters is showing the movie “Alone Across Alaska, 1000 Miles of Wilderness” on April 25 at 7 p.m.

It is the story of one man’s traverse of Alaska’s Brooks Range. Stunning scenery and abundant wildlife highlight this film.

It is free to attend, but seating is limited. RSVP to 530-541-1027.

Lake of the Sky Outfitters is located at 1023 Emerald Bay Road, South Lake Tahoe.

A 5.4 pound bear cub is the newest guest at Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care. The female, about 10 weeks old, was dropped off at the front door of the Bear League without a note or any word on where the bear came from or where her mother may be.

The cub is just learning to walk, but according to LTWC, she doesn't quite have the hang of it. They say her overall condition is good and she is eating pretty well, even with being so young.

More information can be found on the group's website.

Photos provided by Dan Thrift.

It will cost boaters $10 more to have their boat inspected prior to being launched in Lake Tahoe this summer.

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) Governing Board approved the fee update for the watercraft inspection program to help sustain boater services after a reduction in their federal funding.

The changes the TRPA approved this week:

* The decontamination fee will increase from $25 to $35 dollars only charged to boaters who don’t arrive at the inspection station Clean, Drained and Dry. All other fees will remain the same.

A young cub was found injured near Gunbarrel at Heavenly Valley Ski Resort on Monday. This story and video is from KCRA-TV out of Sacramento. South Lake Tahoe's Bruce Rettig is shown carrying the bear. The cub is now resting at Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care.

Lake of the Sky Outfitters will be showing the film "Storm over Everest" on Friday February 28th at 7:00pm. This gripping story is about the 1996 tragedy on Mt. Everest which was originally chronicled in the book "Into Thin Air". Produced by American climber and film maker David Breashears who was on the mountain as the events unfolded on that fateful night and participated in the rescue attempts. He takes us back to the mountain and also interviews survivors of the event.

Location

Will Richardson from the Tahoe Institute of Natural Science will be speaking on Winter Wildlife Behavior at 7 pm on January 22 at the Unity at the Lake Church located at 1195 Rufus Allen Blvd in South Lake Tahoe.

Do Bears really hibernate in the Winter?

Where do the birds go?

Will's presentation will answer these questions and more. Join us for a fun and interesting evening. All are welcome.

Location

Twenty-eight area nonprofits were awarded $85,000 in donations from the 2013 American Century Championship. In a ceremony on Thursday, the Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority distributed the checks through funds raised during the annual celebrity golf tournament.

A day of food, family and fun benefiting local firefighters, veterans and LTWC. Live music all day featuring: Adient Zoo, Groovebox, Black Star Safari, 3-piece puzzle, Hot sticky mess, Deep Fryed Mojo and many more! Dog friendly, beer & wine garden, free bike valet, food vendors & BBQ, tons of free door prizes, games and contests for humans and dogs!

Free entry for local firefighters (+2 guests for half price). All profits donated to Father's House Ministries, dedicated to the rehabilitation of our veterans, LTWC and South Lake Tahoe Fire Department.

A compromise agreement reached by conservation groups, off-roaders and three rural counties settles litigation going back to the 1990’s by resolving the status of contentious trails in Northern California’s Eldorado National Forest, according to documents posted today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). Under the agreement, some trails and dirt roads would reopen, others would remain closed and still others would begin restoration of past damage.

From September 5 – 15th the Ruffwear pack will be on the road visiting fans and retailers in California and Nevada as well as stopping at the Surf Dog Surf-A-Thon in Del Mar Beach to benefit the Helen Woodward Animal Center.

If you see the Ruffwear van, swing by and say hi or better yet, snap a shot of you or your dog photo bombing the van, share and tag #DogGoneRoadTrip on Instagram and we’ll reward our favorites with some nice schwag.

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