Conservation

Both California and Nevada suffered destructive wildfires last year. Nevada saw 768 fires burn more than 1.3 million acres. California experienced the deadliest, largest, and most destructive wildfires in its history. Just a few hours-drive from Tahoe, more than 40 people died and thousands of homes were destroyed in the wine country and North Bay last October. In Southern California, the Thomas Fire ravaged communities and forest lands last December with damaging flooding and landslides piled on after the fire subsided.

The successful Lake Tahoe roadside boat inspection stations are reopening for the 2018 boating season. The fight against aquatic invasive species (AIS) has gone on for the last ten years, and officials say a large part of their success in keeping the lake clear are the stations located around the lake.

Since 2018, Tahoe Resource Conservation District (RCD) inspectors have performed over 70,000 vessel inspections, decontaminated 32,576 of them using hot water, and have found hundreds of vessels containing foreign species such as mussels, snails and plant material.

Meet the four candidates for the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors at the South Lake Tahoe Democratic Club's candidate forum on Thursday, April 26 at 6:00 p.m. at the California Conservation Corps, 1949 Apache Avenue in Meyers.

Sue Novasel, the incumbent is being challenged by former Supervisor Norma Santiago, local businessman Ken Curtzwiler and transportation specialist Jeffrey Spencer.

The primary will be held on June 5, 2018.

The South Lake Tahoe Earth Day celebration will be on Saturday, April 28, 2018 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at Bijou Community Park. The special day recognizes, celebrates, and promotes our region’s unique beauty while educating the public about local environmental issues.

Location

A wide variety of local businesses will fill Harveys Tahoe on Friday, March 30 for the 2018 GO Local: Business EXPO from 4:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. This annual event is a community favorite that aims to showcase the most cutting-edge businesses on the South Shore. This year 85 exhibitors will feature their latest and greatest products, services and promotions. All members of the community are encouraged to attend and can expect a fun night of food tasting, beer and wine sampling, live music and vendor giveaways.

Sierra Watch, Mountain Area Preservation, and the League to Save Lake Tahoe are celebrating a court decision handed down Monday that halts the controversial Martis Valley West Project, a massive North Tahoe development proposal.

The El Dorado County Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Don Ashton has been going from community to community, holding round table discussions about the upcoming budget for the county.

All residents from the South Shore are invited to a round table discussion about the budget Wednesday, March 21, 2018 at the California Conservation Corps Tahoe Center at 1949 Apache Avenue in Meyers from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

During this open discussion, find out:

Where the County Gets its money
How much is mandated to be spent & where
How much is discretionary & options about how to spend it

Six delegates visiting the United States from Russia stopped by Lake Tahoe last week as part of the cultural exchanges programs, Friendship Force and Open World.

The delegates first stopped in Washington, D.C. before heading to the Reno/Lake Tahoe area.

Even with the recent snowfall, the monthly measurement of the snowpack at Phillip Station west of Lake Tahoe was just 14 percent of the historical average. The Department of Water Resources (DWR) manual snow survey found little snowpack there, two months into what is typically California’s wettest three months.

Measurements at Phillips Station revealed a snow water equivalent (SWE) of 2.6 inches at Phillips as measured there since 1964. SWE is the depth of water that theoretically would result if the entire snowpack melted instantaneously.

The body of a Pollock Pines man was located just after 8:00 a.m. Tuesday after going missing in an El Dorado Irrigation District (EID) untreated raw water conduit on Monday at about 4:00 p.m.

Tory Robert Mayes, a 34-year-old from Pollock Pines, went into the EID’s Camino Conduit pipe that carries raw water from Jenkinson Lake to EID’s water treatment plant 1.5 miles away.

January is National Radon Action Month and the cold winter months are the best time to test for this radioactive gas. The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) is offering free test kits to households in California throughout the month of January, or until supplies run out.

Snow was hard to find Wednesday during the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) first measurement of the snowpack in the Sierra Nevada this winter.

Snowpack is off to a slow start, with just 3 percent of average found at Phillips Station, The measurement January 3 revealed a snow water equivalent (SWE) of 0.4 inches. The average is 11.3 inches in early January at Phillips, as measured there since 1964. It's elevation is 6,873 feet and located at the intersection of Highway 50 and Sierra-at-Tahoe Road.

Are you a college student looking for an internship this winter? Are you a retired school teacher who misses your students or providing education? Or maybe you simply love the outdoors and want to be involved in your community?

The U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit is looking for volunteers to assist with their Winter Trek and Ski with a Ranger conservation education programs at Heavenly Mountain Resort from January through March 2018.

Conservation efforts are seeing the return of black bears into the Great Basin of Nevada, an area that hasn't seen the mammal for over 80 years according to a study released this week by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), the Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW), and the University of Nevada-Reno (UNR).

Prior to this study, most of the state's black bears could be found around Lake Tahoe and the Pine Nut Mountains after being forced from the Great Basin by unregulated hunting and conflicts with domestic livestock.

Nearly 200 conservation professionals from around the country gathered back east this November to have a strategic dialogue about the state of landscape-scale conservation. Lake Tahoe was featured at the forum for the region’s cooperative restoration initiatives, and it was an honor to share the stage with such high-caliber conservation thought leaders.

The national forum showcased how people of all backgrounds are collaborating and working to conserve some of America’s most iconic natural areas.

Meyers, the commercial, public services, and recreation hub of unincorporated El Dorado County at the South Shore may soon have a new area plan.

The Meyers Area Plan is the comprehensive long-term plan for the Meyers Community and, if approved, will replace the original Meyers Community Plan (MCP) adopted in 1993. The MCP currently serves as the comprehensive land use and zoning plan for the community of Meyers, consistent with the Lake Tahoe Regional Plan and the El Dorado County General Plan. It was originally meant to last a decade, not the almost 25 years its been in place.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The Lake Tahoe Unified School District Board of Trustees unanimously adopted a “Healthy and Environmentally Sound Schools” resolution at its October 10 meeting. This supports expanded energy efficiency programs, and alignment with the City of South Lake Tahoe’s recent commitment to get 100 percent of their electricity from renewable energy sources.

Lots to do in South Lake Tahoe this weekend. Now that South Tahoe and Whittell High Schools had their homecoming games Friday night, the rest of the weekend can be filled with everything from helping feed local youth, buying mattresses or playing golf for the high school, honoring one of the City's first leaders and enjoying the annual Fire Fest.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The California Tahoe Conservancy Board yesterday awarded up to $3,359,081 in Proposition 1 funds for eight projects to improve the Lake Tahoe Basin’s forests, lake clarity, and water quality.

LAKE TAHOE, Calif./Nev. - Helicopters, fire trucks, K-9s and demonstrations are just a few of the activities planned for 23rd annual Fire Fest on Saturday, September 30, 2017 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. outside the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Lake Tahoe.

Admission is free and the event is a great opportunity for families to have fun while learning about safety and conservation.

On May 17, 2017, South Tahoe Now was at the demolition of the McDonald's at the "Y," and the builder said he'd have the project done and ready to open in 120 days.

Wednesday, September 13, the new 4,305 square foot building with its environmental improvements opened to the public at 11:30 a.m. That was 117 days since we saw old, 40-year-old building come down.

Inside, diners will see a sleek new design with automated ordering stations and plenty of seating.

There is no need to rush into an ordinance regulating the sale of marijuana in South Lake Tahoe. That was the overwhelming opinion of the SLT City Council Tuesday night after a special, four-hour long Cannabis Workshop.

"We owe it to our community to make sure we take every measure to protect them," said SLT Mayor Austin Sass.

For 20 years, every August we’ve paused to reflect on our collective commitment to Lake Tahoe’s restoration at the Lake Tahoe Summit. This year, with U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein hosting the event, the issue of climate change will be front and center. Climate change poses incredible challenges for Tahoe, affecting not only the health of its famously cold, clear waters, but the health of its expansive forests and what is to become of our $5 billion outdoor recreation-based economy.

The final phase of the Burke Creek Highway 50 Crossing and Realignment Project near Kahle Drive in Stateline will begin on Monday, July 31.

Douglas County, Nevada Department of Transportation, Nevada Division of State Lands, Nevada Tahoe Conservation District and the U.S. Forest Service have partnered together to restore the Burke Creek channel and adjacent marsh. The project aims to decrease the amount of sediment that flows into nearby Lake Tahoe while also reducing the potential for flooding on U.S. Highway 50.