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CDFW photo by Krysten Kellum
CDFW Beaver Restoration Program scientists Kyle Pagel and Tanner Harris are joined by Ben Cunningham with the Maidu Summit Consortium as a beaver family translocated from Cameron Park Lake are released into Humbug Creek in Plumas County on July 25.
Cameron Park Lake
A
beaver colony that recently called Cameron Park Lake home has been relocated to a new home away from people and infrastructure. In early June Cameron Park Community Services District officials contacted the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Beaver Restoration Program about the possibility of relocating the beavers reportedly encroaching on the lake’s earthen dam. “CDFW staff were able to confirm the burrowing damage to Cameron Park Lake’s infrastructure,” information shared with the Mountain Democrat
Odin Rasco Senior staff writer
states. “Given that there are no feasible nonlethal measures to deter beaver burrowing and that CDFW’s Beaver Restoration Program was, at the time, actively seeking a source population for a July beaver restoration project, CDFW’s BRP resumed the discussion with CSD about translocating the beaver family.” The beavers consisted of a mating pair, a 2-yearold male, a 1-year-old female and a kit. “CDFW was able to safely conduct trapping operations to capture the family group,” CDFW’s statement continues. “Following quarantine, on July 25 the family group was translocated to
Placerville’s Town Hall was full of discussion Tuesday night as community members participated in the city’s special event workshop. The July 30 workshop was intended to serve as a jumping-off point for the city council and staff to develop an improved set of rules for how special events would be scheduled and organized. In recent years, council discussions related to public events have often been met with Main Street merchants and residents debating the necessity and duration of road closures, as well as the frequency of events that might impact the number of store visits and potential sales. Additionally, as the city enters a fiscal year with a tighter-than-usual budget, the costs incurred by the city to put on events have been identified as a potential place to tighten the pursestrings. “One of the things we discovered was that the city was bearing most of the costs to put on an event,” Councilmember Michael Saragosa said. Sheets
■ See BEAVERS, page A4
■ See EVENTS, page A4
BEAVERS REHOMED
Mountain Democrat staff
City officials mull fixes to special event policies
TRPA fighting invasive species through various means Eric Jaramishian Senior staff writer
PLACE ADDRESS LABEL HERE
The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency is initiating many efforts to combat aquatic invasive species. These efforts will help keep and improve Lake Tahoe clairty, including control method tests, invasive weed removal projects
and controlling the population of a recently discovered invasive mudsnail. The New Zealand mudsnail, which looks like a tiny, dark grain of rice when examined via microscope on a boat, was discovered by divers last September, the first time a new species was detected since the beginning of the Lake Tahoe Watercraft Inspection Program, which launched in 2008. It is important that aquatic invasive species are kept in check as they can harm the clarity of the lake, according to TRPA officials. UC Davis found in its 2023 Tahoe clarity report that the lake’s winter conditions were the clearest the lake has been since 1983, a trend TRPA officials want to maintain. “Aquatic invasive species have pretty devastating impacts, especially in a place like
Lake Tahoe, where it’s famed for water clarity and water quality, and a $5 billion recreationbased economy,” said Aquatic Invasive Species Program Manager Dennis Zabaglo. TRPA, in coordination with the Tahoe Resource Conservation District, is working to stop the spread of the snails, which have only been detected in the South Shore of the lake between Tahoe Keys and the Ski Run Marina. Information gathering and partnerships with scientists, biologists and resource managers for decision making on how to deal with the snails are currently under way. Though the mudsnails have been found near the Lower Truckee River near Reno and the Lower American River near Sacramento, it is undetermined how they made their way into the lake. It is possible
Mountain Democrat photo by Eric Jaramishian
Owen Kushlan inspects a jet ski at the Meyers watercraft inspection station near Lake Tahoe. they were carried to Tahoe on boats, fishing gear, paddlecraft or other water-sporting equipment not properly cleaned before hitting the lake’s water.
Outreach and education is a key task TRPA has taken on to ensure water-sporting equipment is properly cleaned, drained and dried.
“These can be spread through paddle craft, like kayaks and paddleboards and things like that, so we have new tools ■ See LAKE, page A10
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