Conservation

With President Barack Obama visiting Lake Tahoe for a landmark 20th annual Lake Tahoe Summit this month, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency has published a special summit edition of Tahoe in Depth.

This special edition of the award-winning newspaper tells the story of 20 years of summits at Lake Tahoe—from the organization and importance of the first-ever summit and the successful work it sparked, to major issues such as climate change that will confront the Tahoe Region in the decades to come.

Lake Tahoe was at a crossroads in 1997. The lake’s famous water clarity, once measuring 100 feet, was declining year after year because of stormwater pollution from roads and developed areas and erosion from streams damaged by logging and cattle grazing.

On Sunday August 14th from 12:00 pm to 3:30 pm the Tahoe Resource Conservation District will hold the 9th annual Landscape Conservation Workshop at the Evans Family Garden located at 1383 Mount Olympia Circle in South Lake Tahoe. The workshop will provide a unique opportunity to see demonstrations of Tahoe Friendly Landscape practices and to interact with local conservation professionals.

Location

El Dorado County is holding a public meeting about the Meyers Corridor Plan on Thursday, July 21 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the California Conservation Corps Building at 1949 Apache Ave. in Meyers.

Staff will be presenting the three options on roadway and path improvements that are aimed at providing attractive and safe transportation options for the area for those that work, play and visit Meyers. The targeted 1.3 mile stretch along Highway 50 and Highway 89 will see lighting, signage, landscaping and a reduction of reliance on cars with increased improvements for walkers and bikers.

The City of South Lake Tahoe hosted its first annual 4th of July parade on Monday, July 4, 2016. There were a total of 78 vehicles and approximately 200 people on foot either walking, biking, or dancing. American Legion Post 795 served as the parade marshals.

The City of South Lake Tahoe would like to say "Thank You" to all the parade participants, businesses and volunteers for making the 4th of July parade a fantastic community event!

The following current and former US armed forces members participated in the 4th of July parade;

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Governing Board on Wednesday recognized the extraordinary, lifelong contributions of Coe Swobe. Swobe is considered the “father of TRPA” for his bipartisan work to create the agency and its mission to conserve and restore Lake Tahoe’s environment. Swobe died on May 26, 2016 at age 87.

As a Nevada State Senator, Swobe brokered the landmark 1969 agreement between then Nevada Gov. Paul Laxalt and then California Gov. Ronald Reagan and the two state legislatures to create TRPA and the nation’s first environmental bi-state compact.

The 3rd annual Wildfire Safety Expo will be held in South Lake Tahoe on Saturday, June 11 from noon to 3:00 p.m. at the TJ Maxx parking lot at the "Y" where Highways 50 and 89 meet.

In an effort to prevent the growth and spread of invasive weeds in the Tahoe Keys, residents are being proactive in the fight to keep their lagoons clean. The Tahoe Keys Property Owners Association (TKPOA) has submitted an updated Integrated Management Plan to the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board for approval.

TKPOA's plan is an adaptive, holistic one to greatly reduce aquatic invasive weeds in its lagoons.

How do aquatic invasive plants and animals threaten the ecology and water quality of Lake Tahoe? Learn about steps you can take to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species during the next Tahoe Talks in the Aspen Room at Lake Tahoe Community College on Wednesday, June 15 from noon to 1:30 p.m.

Local experts will talk about why it’s important to inspect your boat, clean your recreational equipment and keep an eye out for aquatic invasive plants.

Speakers:

Zack Bradford, Natural Resources Manager, League to Save Lake Tahoe

There’s talk of expansion in South Lake Tahoe, but this town must be mindful of its beloved nature. However, it has the capability of evolving into a prosperous city through tactful ways of expanding and changing. The awareness of the League to Save Lake Tahoe, the city's plans for airport reconstruction, and the growing tourism industry in California show that expansion for South Lake Tahoe is beneficial, or at least manageable, for everyone.

Location

In the next "Tahoe Talks" on Wednesday, May 18, learn about the number one threat to Lake Tahoe’s legendary clarity: stormwater pollution. Local experts will talk about projects around Lake Tahoe that are helping to keep pollution from entering the Lake and steps you can take every day to prevent things like trash, oil, fine sediment and nutrients from making their way to Lake Tahoe.

Speakers:

Moderator: Zack Bradford, Natural Resources Manager, League to Save Lake Tahoe
Russ Wigart, Stormwater Coordinator, El Dorado County

Over one hundred community members will gather on May 14 as the League to Save Lake Tahoe organizes the year’s largest single-day, hands-on citizens science effort to capture a snapshot of the water quality health of South Shore streams feeding into Lake Tahoe.

“By participating in the 16th annual Snapshot Day, volunteers are building on years of data gathered in these streams to provide valuable data information we can use to help protect Lake Tahoe,” said Jesse Patterson, deputy director for the League to Save Lake Tahoe.

South Lake Tahoe will celebrate Earth Day with a full day of education, live music, arts and crafts and with local vendors and food at Bijou Community Park on Saturday, April 23, 2016 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Recognize and celebrate our region’s unique beauty while being educated about local environmental issues. The public is invited to the free event where they will learn about ways to counteract global climate change through recycling and composting, alternative energy, water conservation, sustainability, and reducing our ecological footprint.

The U.S. Forest Service seeks input on their draft environmental assessment for the restoration for the Burke Creek Highway 50 Crossing and Realignment Project.

The first two phases of the proposed project would restore the Burke Creek channel and adjacent marsh, reduce the amount of sediment that flows into nearby Lake Tahoe and reduce the potential for flooding on U.S. Highway 50.

Restoring and conserving our environment at Lake Tahoe means setting our aspirations at the right scale. That’s what TRPA and many partners are working to do through strategic initiatives to ensure the health of our basin’s forests, streams, and lake, and to improve our communities and transportation infrastructure.

“Mother Nature is not living up to predictions by some that a ‘Godzilla’ El Niño would produce much more precipitation than usual this winter,” said California Department of Water Resources (DWR) Director Mark Cowin. “We need conservation as much as ever.”

At Lake Tahoe, we know our natural resources are one of our most valuable assets, and that’s why we have worked for decades to conserve and restore them. The natural wonders of the Jewel of the Sierra and the opportunities they afford are why we live here, and why millions of visitors travel here to enjoy the Tahoe Basin each year.

Recent heavy rains and snow have added much needed water to the Sierra Nevada snowpack, bringing the snow water equivalent at Phillips Station to 25.4 inches, 130 percent of the February 1 average.

Frank Gehrke, chief of the California Cooperative Snow Surveys Program, led the monthly media-oriented manual snow survey near Sierra-at-Tahoe on Wednesday, leading the group to the measuring location which recorded a snow depth of 76.2 inches.

Recently, I had the chance to visit the much-hyped Tahoe: A visual History at the Nevada Museum of Art. Located in the hip, CalAve District wedged between downtown and midtown Reno, the museum offers locals to the region a taste of world-class art collections. During events like Art Town (a marathon of a hundred-or-so art related events in Reno during the month of July), the museum offers innumerable pieces from local and global artists alike.

Local fifth grade teachers may reserve a spot for the the 2016 Winter Trek Conservation Education program starting on Monday, December 14, 2015.

Led by Forest Service rangers and community volunteers, the Winter Trek program offers fifth-graders an outdoor winter ecology learning experience that takes place at 9,100 feet via the Gondola at Heavenly Mountain Resort. The program includes a snowshoe physical education adventure, while learning about fire and forest ecology of the Lake Tahoe Basin.

Joy Barney was recently honored for her dedication to the U.S. Forest Service's educational programs in the Lake Tahoe basin.

The U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit (LTBMU) Conservation Education Program Specialist was awarded the Gifford Pinchot Pacific Southwest Region Interpreter and Conservation Educator of the Year Award. Named in honor of the first Chief of the Forest Service, the annual award is a national honor given to Forest Service employees for achievement in environmental interpretation and conservation education.

Lake Tahoe has been recognized for another important conservation success. Our region’s proactive, collaborative strategy to protect Tahoe yellow cress, begun almost 15 years ago, is working so well that the plant does not need additional protections under the federal Endangered Species Act.

The California Transportation Commission announced this week that it will award nearly $9 million in Active Transportation Program (ATP) grant funding to help complete three major bike and pedestrian projects in the City of South Lake Tahoe and Tahoe City.

Members of the Lake Tahoe Bikeway Partnership applied for the grants. The partnership formed several years ago to secure funding for critical trail segments to improve bicyclist and pedestrian safety and complete the Lake Tahoe Bikeway, a comprehensive multi-use trail network for the Lake Tahoe Region.

On June 14, 2014, the South Lake Tahoe City Council voted to delay the implementation of the second phase of the plastic bag ban in the city. Originally slated to begin on October 15, 2014, the Council, by a vote of 3-2, moved the start date out one year to October 15, 2015.

Now that the second phase of the ban has started, Mayor Hal Cole wants to revisit that portion of the ban.

Cole said he wants to undo the ban on plastic bags for retail stores and asked for the topic to be on an upcoming agenda.