Intentional Tree Poisoning at Burnt Cedar Beach; Environmental Review for Proposed Gateway Park; Partnership to Protect the Lake Tahoe Basin; More

INCLINE VILLAGE

The Washoe County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a series of intentional tree poisonings at Burnt Cedar Beach after multiple trees were recently found contaminated.

On July 24, deputies responded to Burnt Cedar Beach after a strong odor was discovered near the base of a large pine tree. Soil samples were collected from the area and had a strong odor consistent with previous tree-poisoning incidents at the property.

Deputies returned to Burnt Cedar Beach on Aug. 2 after additional trees were discovered with a substance around their bases. Investigators believe the most recent incident occurred sometime between approximately 11:30 a.m. on Aug. 1 and 5 a.m. on Aug. 2. A trail camera captured a brief light near the area at approximately 2 a.m. Deputies are continuing to investigate the incident and are canvassing the area for additional video evidence.

The recent cases follow similar incidents reported at Burnt Cedar Beach in previous years. Since 2022, investigators have documented multiple cases involving a substance being poured around the bases of trees or placed into holes drilled near their roots.

Moonshine Ink reported on previous tree poisonings in Poisoned Trees, Tree Trimming Raises Concerns in December 2023.

Detectives with the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office have been notified and are continuing to investigate.

~ Washoe County Sheriff’s Office press release

TAHOE CITY

Placer County is returning to its planning effort for the county-owned site at 3205 North Lake Blvd. near Tahoe City, formerly known as Dollar Creek Crossing. As the county prepares to release a Request for Proposal for a new housing development, staff are inviting the community to help shape the project by sharing ideas on the vision and priorities for the housing development. 

On June 30, the county’s Exclusive Right to Negotiate a Developer Agreement with Related Companies of California, LLC, expired. Related has been the development company behind the Dollar Creek Crossing proposal for approximately six years. 

Since entering into the agreement in 2019, the county and Related worked to evaluate development opportunities at the site. Those exclusive negotiating rights have now expired, and the county has decided to reopen the opportunity to the broader development community through a competitive proposal process. The county intends to release a new Request for Proposals in 2027 after seeking additional community feedback on the project’s scope. 

The county has launched a new Engage Placer project webpage where residents and community stakeholders can learn more about the project, receive updates, and participate in an online survey. Feedback gathered through the survey will help inform the county’s priorities. The survey will be open until Sept. 18.

Community members are also invited to attend an in-person public meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 2, at North Tahoe High School cafeteria starting at 6 p.m. County staff will provide an overview of the project, discuss the Request for Proposals process, and gather community input.

Residents can learn more about the project at placer.ca.gov/5955/3205-north-lake-blvd. 

Or share feedback about the project on Engage Placer at engage.placer.ca.gov/3205-north-lake-boulevard-housing. 

~ Placer County press release

LAKE TAHOE

On Aug. 3, Nevada Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Director Vinson Guthreau met with California Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot to reaffirm the longstanding partnership between the two states and advance shared priorities for the Lake Tahoe Basin.

Because the Lake Tahoe Basin straddles the Nevada/California border, protecting one of the nation’s most iconic alpine landscapes requires close coordination between the two states. During the meeting, the leaders focused on strengthening wildfire resilience, preserving Lake Tahoe’s famed clarity, advancing forest and watershed health, and expanding outdoor recreation opportunities throughout the Basin.

One bi-state effort between California and Nevada has shielded the lake from record amounts of runoff. Launched in 2011, the Lake Tahoe Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Program is an effort to restore and enhance the lake’s water clarity to historic levels by requiring local governments and highway departments on both sides of the lake to implement measures that help prevent clarity-harming pollutants from reaching the lake. The TMDL program incentivizes urban implementation partners to use customized strategies for holistic pollution reduction rather than having to take a one-size-fits-all approach, and it awards credits to urban implementers once pollutant control effectiveness is verified.

By restoring wetlands and streams, limiting dust from roads and construction sites, and improving stormwater systems and other anti-pollution actions, partners in the TMDL program kept an estimated 736,600 pounds of sediment known to harm clarity and water quality out of the lake.

Last year, highway departments and local governments on both sides of the lake exceeded their targeted pollutant load reductions.

In time, the TMDL program’s main goal is for people to once again be able to see to depths of 100 feet in Lake Tahoe. 

~ Nevada Department of Conservation and Natural Resources press releases

KINGS BEACH

California State Parks alerted the public on Aug. 5 that the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board identified temporarily elevated levels of E. coli bacteria within Kings Beach State Recreation Area (KBSRA). 

Follow-up water quality testing conducted on Aug. 4 showed levels of E. coli below the established recreational safety threshold. However, California State Parks encourages visitors to continue practicing healthy swimming habits and adhere to all posted advisories.

Samples collected the week of Aug. 3 had indicated higher levels of the bacteria present at near-shore locations. E. coli is a bacterium found in the intestines of warm-blooded animals and serves as an indicator of fecal pollution in the water. While most E. coli strains are harmless and present at low levels in most waterbodies, it is essential to be cautious when concentration levels are elevated.

Though testing determined the levels returned to a safe threshold, California State Parks reminded the public to follow the following safety tips: 

• Do not drink from any waterbody.
• Keep an eye on pets and wash them with clean water after lake or river play. Provide clean drinking water. 
• Avoid swimming with open wounds.
• Shower after going in lakes or rivers.

To reduce one’s risk of exposure, please refer to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Healthy Swimming Habits.

Additional E. Coli testing will continue throughout the summer to monitor the water quality. Test results are available on the Lake Tahoe E. coli monitoring map webpage.

~ California State Parks press release

PLACER COUNTY

After five and a half years of litigation and a five-day bench trial, the Placer County Superior Court has issued a comprehensive ruling resolving what became one of the most closely watched “pier war” disputes in the Tahoe Basin. The case addressed fundamental and largely unsettled questions about who owns a pier that extends more than 300 feet from private uplands into Lake Tahoe — over state-owned submerged lands regulated by the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA), the California State Lands Commission (SLC), and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The ruling has broad implications for lakefront property owners throughout the Tahoe region:

• Piers are real property. The court found that a pier permanently affixed to a lakebed by pilings is a fixture — and therefore part of the adjacent upland owner’s real property — applying California fixture doctrine in a context that has rarely been litigated at Lake Tahoe. 
• Use rights are not ownership rights. The court drew a clear line between the right to use a pier under an access easement and the right to own it — rejecting the argument that shared maintenance costs, “multiple-use” permit designations by TRPA, or joint listing on an SLC lease creates or implies joint ownership. This distinction matters because the overwhelming majority of Lake Tahoe’s approximately 700 existing piers are governed by similar shared-use arrangements.
• Regulatory permits do not determine private ownership. The court confirmed that neither TRPA, the SLC, nor the Army Corps takes any position on private pier ownership — and that “joint-use” or “multiple-use” language in agency permits reflects regulatory classifications, not ownership determinations. This is significant because property owners and their counsel have frequently pointed to agency designations as evidence of ownership interests.
• No oral agreement can override California’s title presumption. Despite evidence that the original owners may have discussed joint ownership over 45 years ago, the court held that verbal statements claiming ownership of real property are not conclusive.

~ Womble Bond Dickinson LLP press release