Fate of the Tahoe Forest
The Tahoe area remained relatively uninhabited excerpt for a few settlers and Washoe Indians until 1859 and the discovery of silver in the nearby Comstock region. The peace of this high lake was quickly broken: weak rock in the Comstock mines required timbers for support, and steam powered mining equipment required tremendous amounts of fuel wood--Lake Tahoe's forests provided a ready supply.
Beginning at Glenbrook, 8 miles to the south, and spreading rapidly, the great pine forests fell. As east-shore forests were clearcut, loggers focused on other shorelines--they cut the trees, yarded the logs to the shore, and then floated them to sawmills across the lake. After processing, lumber was loaded onto railroads and hauled up hair-raising slopes to the top of the Tahoe watershed for transport downhill by water-filled flumes that stretched as far as Carson City.
Vast tracts of Lake Tahoe's shoreline were completely denuded of tree by 1900. The boom was over, but the hungry mines, along with the booming railroad and construction industry, had devoured over 50,000 (98%) of the surrounding forests.
Duane Bliss, An Unlikely Conservationist
For 30 years, Duane L. Bliss and his Carson & Tahoe Lumber & Fluming Co., was the major contributor to the deforestation of Lake Tahoe's shoreline. As the logging era waned, however, Bliss became concerned with conservation. He and his children protected a few remaining stands of old-growth forest, donated lands for public parks, and successfully fought against the wholesale tapping f Lake Tahoe for irrigation water.