Work to preserve Independence Lake continues
The Nature Conservancy is a key player in the preservation of Independence Lake. Photo/Nature Conservancy
By Paul Nelson, KTVN-TV
About a half-hour north of Truckee, down a rough, dirt road, you will find Independence Lake. It has been described as a small version of what Lake Tahoe looked like 100 years ago, with very little development. The Nature Conservancy is trying to keep it that way. It paid $15 million for 2,300 acres around most of the lake, in 2010.
“By buying the land, we could protect the habitat, the watershed of the lake,” Chris Fichtel, Independence Lake Project Manager with the Nature Conservancy said.
Its goal is to conduct forest restoration, prevent aquatic invasive species, and maintain native fish populations.
“It has the full compliment of native fish that it always had, and in particular, it had one, the Lahontan Cutthroat Trout,” Fichtel said. “This is only one of two lake populations of that trout remaining. The other is Summit Lake, Nevada.”
