The following are updates from my son, who is acting as public works director for the City of South Lake Tahoe. Since the City of South Lake Tahoe and many surrounding communities have been evacuated, law enforcement agencies from all over the state of California and military police have been patrolling the streets trying to prevent looting. He reports a liquor store was broken into and public works was called upon to board up the building. During the evacuation he was busy getting buses lined up to help transport handicap people and others without cars from the city. The city public works shop is being utilized to repair flat tires and heavy equipment used in support of the fire fighting effort. Presently, the fire has been kept to the slopes south of the city and there has been very little damage to structures within the city. He did get word from a patrolling city policeman that his house in Meyers did not suffer any damage, but he says that food in the freezers will have to be thrown out since the power has been out for a few days. Bears must have free range throughout the city smelling all that rotting food. Maybe it was a bear that broke in into the liquor store for a cold beer?
Thanks for the update, and for giving us a morning chuckle; that would be one tipsy bear!
ReplyDeleteBack in 1980, the Santini-Burton Act was passed to facilitate environmental protection around Lake Tahoe. Down in Las Vegas, we (the BLM) were selling scattered tracts of land to generate funds for purchase of lands for the Forest Service to manage within the Lake Tahoe Basin. It was a win-win that got BLM out of managing public lands within the rapidly growing urban area of Vegas, and it led to the public ownership of some very beautiful, lakeshore estates and other environmentally sensitive lands. I had the privilege of working as a seasonal interpretive naturalist and visitor information specialist for a couple summers for the USFS in South Lake Tahoe in the mid-70s. It convinced me to make a career of public service in land management, and one later assignment I had was overseeing the BLM's realty program in Las Vegas from 1984-88. To date, over 3,500 parcels (mostly urban lots) totaling about 13K acres (valued about $105M) have been acquired under the Santini-Burton Act. It's really disheartening and makes me sad to hear of what they're currently experiencing in that beautiful Sierra Nevada country.
ReplyDeleteAnd speaking of bears at Lake Tahoe, they're quite prevalent. When I was there, one large controversy erupted when a state game warden killed a "nuisance" mother bear who had a cub with her. The public was quite incensed, and many letters to the newspaper and Calif Fish & Game were generated. That game warden took a lot of heat for that decision.
Where my son and his family live in Meyers, they have seen many bears roaming through their neighborhood. A couple of months ago, during the heat of the day they opened a door leaving the screen door closed that leads into the kitchen. His wife was in the back of the house and heard their dog barking. As she went to the kitchen to see what was going on she noticed a bear exiting through the broken screen door with a bag of almonds.
ReplyDeleteA large costco bag of almonds! The bears were going into the Kings Beach Safeway thru the automatic doors for chips & fruit last year. Maybe humans can get free food dressed up in bear suits!?!
ReplyDeleteRemember Hamms beer commercials with the bears & The Land of Sky Blue Waters. Boy, we are getting old! The bear probably wanted a Hamm's beer!
ReplyDelete