Nevada County Environment Digest

Small fragments of fibers from clothing, packaging and other plastic residue have invaded freshwater lakes and watersheds globally and in alarming quantities, according to new research.

As nights warm and droughts intensify, past models predicting fire behavior have become unreliable. So California is working with analysts and tapping into new technology to figure out how to attack wildfires. Gleaned from military satellites, drones and infrared mapping, the information is spat out in real time and triaged by a fire behavior analyst.

Research by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s snake fungal disease project indicates that the pathogen is occurring in more locations and impacting more snakes in California than previously known.

Truck manufacturers won’t file legal challenges over California's controversial mandate, and in return, the state air board will relax some smog-fighting requirements.

California lawmakers passed the Western Joshua Tree Conservation Act, permanently protecting the iconic and imperiled species.

U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) announced $3.1 million in funding she secured for Lake Tahoe in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to prevent and combat the spread of aquatic invasive species in the lake through the Lake Tahoe Aquatic Invasive Species Program.

Estimated opening dates for several popular high-elevation recreation sites on the Plumas National Forest are still tentative and will depend on the amount of damage from winter storms and snow loads.

An unprecedented group of Lake Tahoe destination management, land management and nonprofits launched the Lake Tahoe Destination Stewardship Plan with the signing of an agreement to create the first stewardship council for the region.

The State of California will provide new protections for prescribed fire and cultural burning practitioners. The $20 million allocated for the Prescribed Fire Liability Claims Fund Pilot will cover losses in the rare instance that a prescribed or cultural burn escapes control.

The Tahoe Institute for Natural Science has introduced its newest board member, Brian Wright. The latest addition to the all-volunteer board serves as the general manager for the Truckee Donner Public Utility District.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Montana ruled the U.S. Forest Service can continue to use aerial fire retardant to fight wildfires while waiting on a Clean Water Act permit.

The inaugural Lake Tahoe Litter Summit, hosted by nonprofit Clean Up the Lake, brought together 50 of Lake Tahoe's agency leaders and citizens fighting litter in the basin.

California legislative committees in the Assembly and Senate blocked two big climate bills. One would have made the state’s greenhouse gas emission reduction targets more ambitious. Another would have allowed people to sue oil companies over health problems if they meet certain criteria.

Film submissions for the 2024 Wild & Scenic Film Festival are now being accepted in three categories: Environmental, Adventure and Student Film. The early-bird deadline is July 16.

Nevada Senator Catherine Cortez Masto passed legislation to protect Lake Tahoe and Nevada's Ruby Mountains through the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

The League to Save Lake Tahoe's plan to redevelop an aging office building into a new environment and education center, as well as the organization's headquarters, is building momentum.

As the two-day hearing regarding the proposed re-opening of the Idaho-Maryland gold mine wound down on May 11, Nevada County Planning Commissioner Terry McAteer cited the actions of Lorenzo Sawyer, who moved to Nevada City as a gold miner in 1850 and left the work to become a lawyer after witnessing first hand the detrimental impacts of mining.

A magnitude-5.2 quake was recorded in Northern California May 11 in Plumas County, about 6 miles east of Lake Almanor.

Photographs have been flowing into the Tahoe Tribune email featuring bobcats that have been spotted around the region, leading the newspaper to explore whether there are more of the felines in the area.

Nevada County Agriculture Commissioner Chris de Nijs has been appointed to the National Wildlife Services Advisory Committee, which advises the U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Thomas Vilsack on recommendations for the department’s wildlife services program.

The U.S. Federal District Court of Montana heard oral arguments April 17 for the Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics’ lawsuit against the U.S. Forest Service for the service’s discharging of fire retardant into national waters.

And neither was 1952. The top honor should really go to 1983, which clinched first at 231% of normal, an analysis by the Bay Area News Group found.

The mantra “Keep Tahoe Blue” has become synonymous with the region. But far fewer people know the history of the movement it represents. Here’s a glimpse of the story behind the sticker.

PG&E paused a project in Grass Valley after meeting with local residents and members of the California Native Plant Society who were concerned about the removal of rare plants unique to the area. The pause allowed remaining plants to be flagged and salvaged.

The North Tahoe Preservation Alliance invites locals to attend a meeting in response to Placer County and TRPA's proposed Tahoe Basin Area Plan code amendments.

For the last five months of 2022, Lake Tahoe was the clearest it has been since the 1980s. That is due in part to a resurgence of the lake's native zooplankton.

The UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center is sponsoring its third annual circumnavigation of Lake Tahoe, a kayaking journey that takes place June 19-25.

According to a new study, ponderosa pine forests in the Sierra Nevada that were wiped out by western pine beetles won’t recover to pre-drought densities. But there’s less risk of another huge die-off this century because the bark beetles will have fewer host trees.

The 275,000-acre North Yuba Landscape within California’s Tahoe National Forest is one of the largest contiguous unburned areas in the Sierra Nevada. The Forest Service and a group of eight partners are working to implement a Wildfire Crisis Strategy in the area.

“The Lake of the Sky” is grabbing attention this winter for more than one reason. Emerald Bay froze completely, including the inlet, for the first time in many years.

What does flipping mean? It means Lake Tahoe’s waters fully mixed vertically from top to bottom. While this is an annual event in shallower lakes, with Tahoe’s 1,640-foot depth, it’s a less common occurrence.

Lake Tahoe is in the midst of one of its snowiest seasons ever. A multi-day blizzard dropped more than 10 feet, and another storm has entered the region.