Keep Tahoe Blue to host 25th annual volunteer restoration day

Each year since 1997, the League to Save Lake Tahoe has rallied volunteers to revitalize forests, meadows, marshes, and streams damaged by natural disasters, development from decades past, and agriculture. Healing lands impacted by wildfire is the focus of this year’s event.

Now in its 25th year, Tahoe Forest Stewardship Days (TFSD) events have empowered thousands of volunteers to restore important but fragile ecosystems across the Lake Tahoe Basin. These efforts protect Lake Tahoe’s beauty, as well as its famed water quality and clarity by restoring the environment’s natural functions.

The 2022 edition of TFSD is an opportunity to celebrate what’s been accomplished and embrace the work that still needs to be done to Keep Tahoe Blue. National Public Lands Day sets the perfect stage – it’s an occasion to think about the joy we get from our public open spaces, and to commit ourselves to protect them for the future.

WHAT: Four volunteer stewardship projects will happen simultaneously, with a focus on seeding trees in dozer lines left over from the 2021 Caldor Fire. The firebreaks created last summer to fight the devastating wildfire helped protect the community. But they also damaged soils, vegetation, and wildlife habitat, and left the area prone to erosion that can damage the Lake’s water quality. Participants will collect and plant native seeds to restore the forests impacted by dozer lines.

Volunteer groups working at other sites will maintain popular multi-use trails to prevent habitat degradation; protect aspens and meadows from climate change impacts, and remove litter from a popular recreation site.

WHO: 100 or more volunteers, along with staff from the League to Save Lake Tahoe, USDA Forest Service – Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, and Great Basin Institute

WHEN: Saturday, September 24 - National Public Lands Day

Restoration projects: 8:30 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Volunteer celebration: 12 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.

WHY: Many of Tahoe’s natural pollution filters – its meadows, streams and marshes – were damaged by unchecked development in the 20th century, along with forests that were clear-cut in the 19th century. More recently, climate change has driven prolonged droughts and intensified wildfires. Ecosystem restoration is key to bringing back the Lake’s natural filtration system, creating a healthy and safe fire regime, and making Tahoe resilient to the many impacts of the climate crisis.

Timeline for Saturday, September 24:

8:30 am – 12 pm – Projects at various locations around South Lake Tahoe. Volunteers will choose a project at check-in.
8:30 am – check-in
Coffee donated by Starbucks at the Y
Bagels donated by Tahoe Bagel Company
9 am – projects begin

Easy:
Native seed dispersal in dozer lines in the Angora area
Gardening and removing pine needles at Tallac Historic Site

Medium:
Trail maintenance and white thorn removal on multi-use recreation trails in Gardner Mountain area

Hard:
Remove conifers encroaching meadow habitats off Hwy 89
Remove conifers encroaching Aspen trees in the Baldwin Beach area

12 – 2:30 pm – Lunch celebration for volunteers and partners. Everyone will come back together again to celebrate all the hard work that was completed!

The celebration will include:
Lunch
Beer from South of North Brewery
Live music from Bison Bluegrass
Environmental partners showcasing their great work and ways to get involved
An exclusive 25th-anniversary gift for volunteers
Raffle with awesome prizes

What to bring: Sturdy boots, long pants and long sleeves, sunglasses, work gloves (if you have them), a full reusable water bottle, a reusable cup for the celebration (you will get a raffle ticket), any special snacks you may want and follow current CDC Covid guidelines

They provide: Project equipment, gloves, training, wrapped snacks, and giveaways

VOLUNTEER SIGN-UPS & DETAILS: keeptahoeblue.org/25th-annual-tahoe-forest-stewardship-day/

WHERE: Check-in and kick-off: Tallac Historic Site | 1 Heritage Way, South Lake Tahoe, Calif.