This is Tahoe’s largest environmental disaster

They are very effective and are often placed in front of Tahoe Basin homes. They stop bears from eating human food and garbage.

Tahoe Keys is the neighborhood that has been making national news due to Hank the Tank, and other resident bears, breaking into at most 28 homes since last year’s fall bear boxes were banned by the property owner association.

According to an article published in a Tahoe Keys architectural control board, homeowners don’t want to feel like they are surrounded by a wall of steel. March 2020 edition Keys Breeze newsletter.

The Tahoe Keys is South Lake Tahoe’s lakefront subdivision that offers more than 1,500 townhouses and luxury homes. The development is famous for its shallow lagoons as well as the canals that connect it to Lake Tahoe. It was constructed in the late 50s/60s. It destroyed the largest Sierra Nevada wetland and the largest tributary to Lake Tahoe.

The latest environmental disaster in the history of the Tahoe Keys is the bear invasion.

The Tahoe Keys are experiencing a growing problem with bears. ripping holes in garage doorsSliding glass doors can be opened and kitchens destroyed. A bear den was discovered under the pavilion, according to the property owners association. Tahoe Keys Property Owners Association advised residents not to use bear boxes and suggested that residents use trashcans with lock tops.

The bears remained strong. One year later, the April 2021 Keys BreezeNewsletter: New rules were printed: Bear boxes are allowed, but each must have a stamp of approval from the architectural control committee.

According to the Keys Breeze, the association has been looking into a new design for a bearproof garbage can. It’s called a “tote enclosure” and is made from steel with a 65-gallon storage capacity. It can be stored inside the garage away form public view.

Multiple requests for comment were not answered by the Tahoe Keys Property Owners Association.

The Tahoe Keys is a neighborhood that feels like an endless cul de sac. You won’t find it by chance, as it is well-located and has a good buffer from the main roads of South Lake Tahoe. It feels quite peaceful here most of the time. According to December2021 figures, homes sell for an average price of $1.7million.

Despite the quiet streets of Tahoe, historians point out that the Keys are among the most devastating environmental disasters in Tahoe.

Charles R. Goldman, founder of the Tahoe Environmental Research Center (UC Davis), wrote that the lake appeared still clear and blue from the shore in the 1960s. He wrote this 1989 essay titled Lake Tahoe, Preserving a Fragile Ecosystem.

Goldman said that the development of Incline Village at its north end and the destruction of 100 Upper Truckee marsh acreage by dredging for Tahoe Keys development were followed closely by an algal bloom on the south shore and huge plumes of sediment from various disturbed waterssheds. The conservation forces tightened their lines of battle with these visible signs of disturbance.

Michael J. Makley, author of Saving Lake Tahoe: An Environmental History of a National Treasure, says that the Tahoe Keys crisis could be avoided if the Forest Service had more foresight. The Forest Service was offered 750 acres of Upper Truckee River Marsh, the largest wetland in Sierra Nevada, and home to multiple Washoe ethnographic sites. It cost $75,000. The Forest Service declined to accept the offer. Makley explained that Forest Service representatives turned down the offer because there was no reason to acquire a swamp.

Tahoe Keys, Inc., a private company, purchased the marshland for $201,476 in December 1956. It immediately began excavating the land, digging 150-foot-wide canals, according Makley. The Keys subdivision was acquired by the Dillingham Corporation, which was at that time estimated to be worth $150million.

Makley wrote that the effects of the development were catastrophic.

The Upper Truckee River was once a meandering river with grasses to filter sediments before it reached Lake Tahoe. The Tahoe Keys built the Tahoe Keys, and the Upper Truckee was channeled into an artificial channel which led to huge amounts of debris reaching Lake Tahoe.

Invasive weeds started to grow in the water around the canals.

The Tahoe Keys water is dark due to all the weeds that swirl at the surface. The summer brings more weeds to the surface, as longer days and higher temperatures make it worse. The problem of weeds began in the 1970s when a boat called the Tahoe Keys dragon was sent to cut the underwater growth. It was almost like mowing an aquarium lawn.

The problem was not solved by reducing weeds; the growth is spread by the fragments of plants. In recent years, this problem has become increasingly difficult to control. The infestation of invasive aquatic plants has spread to Tahoe Keys marinas. Experts estimate that about 90% of the 172 acres are infested. The weeds are now spreading beyond the marina’s boundaries and into Lake Tahoe.

Lake Tahoe regulatory officials approved herbicide use in a controlled test last month to combat the problem of the Tahoe sandpipers. Aquatic weeds are a major problemThese are found in the Tahoe Keys. Tahoe Keys Lagoons Aquatic weed Control Methods TestingThis may be as early as the spring. We will evaluate the effectiveness of herbicides and other treatments to determine if we can get rid of the infestation before they worsen.

This will be the first time that herbicides have been used in Lake Tahoe.

The Tahoe Keys are home to many other exotic problems. Fish biologists from the U.S. Forest Service found huge goldfish in Lake Tahoe. They were 4-8 inches long and weighed several pounds. Makley and other historians believe the goldfish were released in the Tahoe Keys where they were incubated in warm, shallow waters until they could swim into Lake Tahoe.

According to Sarah Muskopf, a fish biologist with the Forest Service, invasive species will be more likely to breed in Lake Tahoe’s waters as the lake warms. 2013 article. We are most concerned about the Lake Tahoe-area marinas, canals, and wetlands.

The Tahoe Keys development eventually destroyed 11% of Tahoe’s wetlands. These wetlands play a crucial role in filtering sediment and protecting water clarity. David Antonucci, Tahoe historianIn a recently self-published electronic book, I wrote about the geologic history and social history of Lake Tahoe.

The Tahoe Keys were an environmental disaster of monumental proportions that emerged in the early resort development boom era Antonucci wrote. It continues to infected Lake Tahoe’s gut.

Fish and Wildlife officials stated last week that vandalism has prevented them from trapping the bears, which are severely food-habituated. Officials have no other options than to trap the bears if they do manage to capture them. Officials decided not to euthanize the bears after DNA evidence proved that multiple bears were robbing Tahoe Keys properties. Animals that pose a threat for human residents or property can be relocated or kept in captivity at an accredited facility.

According to the California Fish and Wildlife Department multiple bears have forced entry into at least 28 homes in Tahoe Keys. There has been extensive damage in 33 cases since August.

Local authorities have been overwhelmed by the outcry over news reports about the bears that Hank the Tank is leading.

Bears target homes and neighborhoods throughout the Lake Tahoe Basin. However, the number of cases in the Tahoe Keys is higher than what most neighborhoods experience.

Tahoe still pays the environmental costs of this lakefront neighborhood. It seems that nature is fighting back, whether it be from an aquatic weed invasion or an urbanized bear invasion.