Rare Flowers Planted At Lake Tahoe

Crews are planting a rare flower along the shores of Lake Tahoe in an effort to bolster its numbers.

The Tahoe yellow cress is found only in the Tahoe Basin and is eligible for a listing under the federal Endangered Species Act. Crews this week have planted 800 seedlings on south shore´s Baldwin Beach, and plan to plant 800 more through next week at Zephyr Cove, Sand Harbor and Emerald Bay.

The planting program is part of a three-year, $250,000 study designed to preserve the Tahoe yellow cress and prevent a listing as an endangered species.

Various agencies joined to develop a strategy to protect the plant after surveys in 2000 found it growing in only 14 locations and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced plans to consider listing it. The flowers are confined to a handful of sites around the lake because they won´t grow on beaches popular with people.