By Joel Brody, Clair Tappaan Lodge Committee (September 2008)

Clair Tappaan Lodge (CTL) is widely known as a winter ski lodge, but the Lodge hosts year round activities in the midst of the Tahoe Sierra. The Lodge owns 94 acres of forest land that fronts one mile of Donner Pass Road - historic Old Highway 40. The land north of Sierra Club property is largely Tahoe National Forest land, so the CTL property is an important buffer to unbridled development. The forest is there and visitors can use it to enjoy and to learn about nature. It is also the center of a debate on the history of the forest and what will be our stewardship strategies for the land in a time of developmental pressures and climate change.

There is quite a bit of variety in the small area that CTL owns and a lot of nature hiking throughout the area that begins from the north entrance of the Lodge. There are two main creeks going through our land including Lytton Creek, which has carved out scenic Lytton Gorge, just west of CTL, lying between the Lodge and Hutchinson Lodge. Lytton Creek was dammed for many years to help supply water to CTL. Sediment filled in above the dam creating a meadow and a fascinating, productive riparian area now that the dam has been removed. There are dry hillsides, cool, forested hollows, areas of glacial moraine and granite dominated hillsides. It's a nice selection of Sierra terrains for such a small area.

The current interest in the CTL forest began when Herb Holden, the previous CTL manager, started a project to rehabilitate CTL's forest lands. It was then thought that the area was essentially clear-cut during the construction of the railroad and the building of Truckee. There was also a need to be sure that CTL and Hutchinson Lodge were made safe from the danger of fire. The renewed interest and energy that has gone into the Lodge the last few years has focused more attention on the forest lands, since there are more year round visitors with more common interests in nature and forest preservation.

Recently Dr. Don Harkin, a retired forester, began studies on the CTL lands. He indeed found indications of extensive activity during the railroad period. There are many trees that had very slow growth until around 1870, when there was a sudden spurt of growth. This indicated that they were shaded by much larger trees. When the larger trees were removed, the smaller trees gained better access to sunlight and other resources for growth. However, there are also a number of trees that are fairly old. There are majestic Jeffery pines that are 400-500 years old that were spared the saw. Many of these were in areas where they could not be easily removed or have 'defects' that make them less than suitable for logging purposes.

Don has also engaged in debate as to what was the composition of the pre-Euro settlement forest. The current forest of lodgepole pine, red fir, white fir, Western white pine and some Jeffery pine may be quite representative of this ecosystem as opposed to some views of forest with a much larger percent of Jeffery pine.

The current prognostication envisions a somewhat drier future for the Sierras, with less snowfall and more rain as a consequence of climate change. The area has historically had a large snow pack at the end of the long winter that supplies most of the area's moisture as it slowly melts during the spring and early summer. The summers and fall are quite dry. Many feel that there will now be a longer dry period without the extended snowmelt. Fires have been a part of the evolution of the forest ecosystem over its development, but we have suppressed fires during the settlement period, which has produced changes in the forest structure and has made the area more prone to the catastrophic fires that we read about every year. Visitors can get a first hand introduction to these issues with a visit to CTL during the snow-free months.

We will be doing forest programs and work parties at CTL. If you are interested in helping with forest issues please contact Joel Brody