The meadow and stream behind the college is known as Mutushahoo Watah (whitefish waters) by the Washesu Itdeh - "The People From Here". The Washoe people have inhabited the site where the college now sits since time immemorial. They migrated seasonally, many living in the Carson Valley during the winter and moving up to Tahoe for the summer where they would hunt, fish, and gather food and medicinal plants that grew in the meadow behind the college. The Washoe would also use fire as a tool to maintain the meadow ecosystem and to support the growth of culturally significant species. The Washoe encampment at Lake Tahoe Community College (LTCC) was used up until the 1950’s.

Modern land management practices and the lack of regular fire within the watershed have allowed lodgepole pine to encroach into the Trout Creek Meadow. Trees outcompete native meadow plants for sunlight, water, and nutrients. As a result, the meadow behind the college has been slowly transitioning into a forest. Meadows support more than 85% of all the biodiversity in the Tahoe Basin and they also help to perform an important role in maintaining lake clarity. That is why LTCC is partnering with the Tahoe Resource Conservation District and the Washoe Tribe to restore meadow biodiversity on College property.

Ecosystem restoration will include the removal of approximately 20 acres of lodgepole pine from the meadow surface. This will help restore lost meadow habitat, improve biodiversity, reduce wildfire risk, sustain local groundwater and stream flow, and enhance the meadow’s resilience to drought, disease, and other environmental stressors. The use of prescribed fire and traditional ecologic knowledge held by the land’s first stewards, the Washoe Tribe, will help to increase the diversity of native plants, meadow habitat, & culturally significant species once found in the area.

Partners:

 

Why Should We Restore Mutushahoo Watah?

• • Over 75% of meadow and stream environments zones in the Lake Tahoe basin have been degraded over the last 150 years. These environments are important because they contain 85% of the basin’s species and function as natural filters for Lake Tahoe.
    
    
  • Historical land use management along Trout Creek has led to a degraded stream channel resulting in:
    • • A lowered water table and the premature drying of the meadow.
      • Loss of wildlife habitat complexity and biodiversity.

• • Loss of ecosystem resilience.The meadow is transitioning into a forest.
    • • ~30 acres of meadow habitat have been lost to lodgepole pine encroachment within the last 40 years.
      • Lodgepole outcompete other native plants for water and nutrients and serve as fuel for future wildfires.

Restoration Goals:

1. 1. Ecosystem restoration will include the removal of approximately 20 acres of lodgepole pine from the meadow surface.
      • This will help restore lost meadow habitat, improve biodiversity, reduce wildfire risk, sustain local groundwater and stream flow, and enhance the meadow’s resilience to drought, disease, and other environmental stressors.
        
        
   2. Restoration may include the installation of fish habitat structures.
      • Natural materials may be used in the stream channel as part of a collaborative study to enhance fish habitat and curtail stream erosion.
        
        
   3. Restoration may also include the use of traditional knowledge and cultural burning practices. Prior to 1900, the Washoe people would use fire as a tool to maintain the meadow ecosystem to support the growth of culturally significant species. A low intensity burn on the meadow surface of up to 2 acres per year as part of a collaborative study may be possible. The goals of the study would be to:
      • Study multiple restoration strategies (cultural, ecologic, hydrologic, socio-economic, etc.). 
      • Restore native plants, habitat, & culturally significant species.
      • Reconnect Indigenous Communities with the landscape.
        
        
   4. Through community partnerships and student-led work, the college hopes to monitor and analyze the effectiveness of strategies that can be used to inform future restoration practices in the Tahoe area.

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Da?aw?aga?a (Tahoe) is not a “thing” to be saved, but a relative to be in relationship with. Stewardship means listening to the land, to the water, and to those who have known it the longest.