Keeping Tahoe Green
March 16, 2008
Ten years in prison and a fine of up to $750,000—would you pay that price for a better view of Lake Tahoe from your house? Perhaps not, but many seriously consider it, and some actually do pay such a price. Patricia Vincent, a 58-year-old resident of Incline Village, is facing these steep fines after recently cutting down three trees on federal property—trees that were obstructing her view of the lake from her house.
But why are the consequences so drastic? Why would anyone choose to accept them? The answers to these questions might be as numerous as the trees around Lake Tahoe.
“The Tahoe forest is an environmental treasure,” Rex Norman, public affairs officer for the Forest Service at Lake Tahoe said. “We want to retain and save as many trees as we can, especially the mature ones.”
In the 19th century when the pioneers and miners descended into the Basin, they harvested thousands of hundred-year-old trees for timber. In doing so, much of the tree diversity that had developed over thousands of years simply disappeared, leaving a ubiquitous amount of one species of tree that is not well adapted to ward off insect infestations, and not tolerant of drought—the Douglas Fir. As a result of different forest management styles, there is not enough diversity of trees and there are an excessive number of dead or dying trees from beetle infestations, road salt and/or stress from drought.
“The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency has a restoration plan for the basin that aims to re-create the forest that existed about 120 years ago,” Jeff Cowen, community liaison for the TRPA said. “Recreating this forest requires active management on the part of individual land owners, but they need expert advice to do it.”
The TRPA has adopted numerous rules and regulations prohibiting actions that would threaten the pristine environment surrounding the Lake, most of them geared toward protecting the glass-like clarity of Tahoe. A focal point of many of TRPA’s rules is protection of trees.
Despite the great benefit TRPA’s rules could add to the basin, and despite the strict punishments for violation of the rules respecting the health of trees, these firm policies leave a lot of Lake Tahoe residents frustrated. Some homeowners complain about trees being in the way of their views of the lake and a few even take matters into their own hands.
“Often destruction occurs on federal property in which case it’s a federal crime,” Chris Wilson, Washoe County deputy district attorney said. Wilson said his office prosecuted people who were blatantly cutting down trees in a county park and selling the product for firewood. He emphasized that no matter the reasoning of the lawbreaker or the location of the tree, the killing of the tree by poison or by cutting, is a theft of timber. The reasoning is that the living tree has been stolen from the forest, and removed from performing its protective characteristics, and this is equivalent to a theft of the lumber from the forest.
Many homeowners resort to poisoning trees in their way because they do not think there will be any proof of them doing it, but they are wrong.
“Beetle infestation is actually pretty easy to determine,” Norman said. “An expert would be able to tell right away if it was a beetle or a person poisoning the tree.”
Then there are some people who want to cut down trees around their house just before they sell it to add to the value of it.
“The difference between a house with a perfect view of the lake and the same one with an obstructed view is hundreds of thousands of dollars,” David Duffie of Dickson Realty. “I completely understand why homeowners cut down trees for a better view.”
What’s the Big Deal?
“A healthy forest has a direct correlation with a healthy watershed,” Cowen said. “As the forest improves, we will see improvements in wildlife habitat, water quality, fisheries, air quality, scenery and recreation.”
To preserve the benefits of healthy trees, the TRPA has developed numerous, detailed rules regarding tree removal in the Tahoe Basin. For example, there are rules that prohibit cutting a limb above the lower third of any tree without a permit as well as rules that prohibit cutting down any tree with a trunk of over six inches in diameter at chest height without a permit.
Many homeowners are more worried about creating a defensible space around their houses to protect them from fire than about the view though. Most people believe that the rules protecting trees make it too difficult to protect their views or their defensible space.
The Angora Fire in the Summer of 2007, which destroyed 254 homes near South Lake Tahoe, exposed the anger of homeowners who felt TRPA’s rules prohibited them from protecting their homes from fire.
How Can We Fix This?
Geoffrey White, a resident of Tyrolian Village at Incline Village, noted that his property (a second home) had some tree-obstructed views, but that he knew better than to cut or poison them.
“One of my neighbors actually did some unauthorized tree cutting near his house and was turned in to the Tyrolian
Village Homeowner’s Association by another one of my neighbors,” White said. “They just fined him and warned him against any further such action, and that was all.”
When many of the homes in White’s neighborhood began to be dangerously crowded by trees, the Tyrolian Village Homeowner’s Association took the initiative for its residents in getting permits from TRPA in advance of removing trees or severely pruning them. Cooperative actions like this serve to educate area residents as to the rules against damaging trees.
“I support TRPA in its efforts to preserve the beauty of the Lake, and curb pollution, to protect what is really a national treasure,” White said. He also thinks that many residents share this view.
Most homeowners in Lake Tahoe are aware of at least some of the restrictions protecting area trees, aware enough to contact the authorities if they are considering taking some action as to a tree on their property.
“Homeowners have a responsibility to manage the forest on their property in a way that complements and benefits the entire forest,” Cowen said. “It’s what is happening all around the basin that will determine if we help or harm the forest.”
This story was written by Caitlin White, an undergraduate journalism student at the Reynolds School of Journalism at the University of Nevada, Reno
Related posts: [ South Lake neighborhood lives on, even without houses ] [ Defensible space advocate helps her community ] [ Incline Lake: Public may soon own “Duke of Nevada’s” summer retreat ] [ BMP compliance is low in Tahoe Basin ] [ Are slash mats worth the cost? ]
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I think there are some homeowners that just don’t know the rules. Tahoe is full of second homes, and they are in-tune with all the policies in regulation. Your article is good in that it tries to educate. We did the same with an article on our company blog, you can view it here: http://www.tahoesun.com/tree-cutting