SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – In coordination with the City of South Lake Tahoe, the U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit will begin work on the Bijou Park Creek Stream Environment Zone Enhancement Project over the next few weeks. This project is linked to the City of South Lake Tahoe’s Bijou Park Creek Watershed Restoration Project and involves stream and meadow restoration along Bijou Creek. A joint National Environmental Policy Act/California Environmental Quality Act analysis for this project was completed in 2025.
This week, Forest Service crews are scheduled to begin removing hazard trees and vegetation in preparation for restoration work and will install Best Management Practices around the project area. Restoration work is expected to wrap up in early October.
For public safety, access to some areas may be temporarily disrupted when work is taking place. The public should be aware of tree removal activity and keep a safe distance from equipment. Hazards may be present even when operations have ceased for the day.
As part of this stream environment zone enhancement project, two areas will be restored. The Upper Bijou Park Creek restoration along Ski Run Boulevard south of Pioneer Trail includes installation of rock steps to stabilize the stream channel and raise the bottom of the stream bed to allow for improved water flow. This work is anticipated to take approximately three weeks to complete and is scheduled to begin after Labor Day.
The project also includes stream environment zone improvements to Bijou Creek in the meadow north of Pioneer Trail along Blackwood Road. In this area, man-made berms constructed in the 1980s are causing flooding issues downstream. These berms will be removed and replaced with new berms that will be installed along roads and buildings to reduce flooding issues. Improvements will also be made to the existing trail to protect the meadow and creek and prevent sediment from entering the stream. This work is expected to take approximately five weeks to complete and is planned to begin on August 31.
Additionally, the City of South Lake Tahoe’s contractor will be completing the Tamarack Culvert Replacement Project, also part of the Upper Bijou Park Creek Watershed Restoration Project, downstream of the Bijou Park Creek Stream Environment Zone Enhancement Project. This project will allow Bijou Creek to overflow its banks and continue to spread out and wet the stream environment zones north and south of Tamarack Avenue instead of being confined and disrupted by a single failing culvert. This project is targeted to start on or around Sep. 9 and is anticipated to be completed by Oct. 15.
For more information, email Theresa Cody at theresa.cody@usda.gov.
