national park

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Due to restrictions on gathering due to the pandemic, Veterans Day ceremonies in South Lake Tahoe area canceled for 2020. The American Legion Auxiliary and Vets in Counseling members placed approximately 600 flags at Happy Homestead Monday, after the snow fell.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Great American Outdoors Act today, a piece of bi-partisan legislation that will fully and permanently fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and provide much needed funding for the crippling $12 billion deferred maintenance backlog at national parks.

EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. - There will be some very big shoes to fill when finding a replacement for retiring El Dorado County Undersheriff Randy Peshon. On Tuesday, June 30, Peshon will be putting his badge on for the very last time. For 43 years he's been in some level of law enforcement, the last 33 years in El Dorado County.

During his career in El Dorado County, Peshon has been at the forefront of change from implementing a change in culture at the jail in South Lake Tahoe to getting the new Public Safety Facility built under budget and ahead of schedule.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Many nonprofits have had to cancel their fundraisers due to the coronavirus, but the ladies of the Soroptimist International of Tahoe Sierra (SITS) club in South Lake Tahoe weren't going to let the virus stop them.

Their 31t annual Elegant Evening was slated to be held at Harrah's Tahoe on April 18 with a sit-down dinner, live music, and dancing, raffle, and auction. The venue closed and restrictions on meeting in groups of over 10 people were created, so what do you do with an event that brings together 500 community members?

Move it online, of course.

PLACERVILLE, Calif. - Eldorado National Forest Supervisor Laurence Crabtree announced that he will retire on January 6, 2020, completing a career that spanned 50 years.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - A strong cold front will move through the region Saturday bringing a dramatic change to the weather with breezy winds, rain, snow, and much colder weather returning for the weekend. according to the National Weather Service in Reno. Now is the time to prepare for winter travel if you have plans to drive over the mountains, and to prepare your garden and irrigation for possible freezing temperatures.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - After illegally digging at prehistoric Native American archaeological sites on federal lands in Alpine and El Dorado counties, 50-year-old Timothy Brian Harrison of South Lake Tahoe was sentenced today to one year and one day in prison and ordered to pay $113,000 in restitution.

He was found guilty on two counts of excavation and removal of archaeological resources from public lands and one misdemeanor count of unlawful possession of methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.

There are still several fires burning in California but firefighters have gained the upper hand on many of them.

Ferguson Fire: The Ferguson Fire is now at 96,901 acres with 100 percent containment and 881 personnel currently engaged on the fire. During the most critical time in the fire, over 3,000 people were assigned to the incident from all over the world. There have been 2 fatalities and 19 injuries. 10 structures have been destroyed.

Due to increased Ferguson Fire activity in the areas adjacent to and on Yosemite National Park, park administrators and fire managers have made the decision to extend the current park closures indefinitely.

"The fire activity inside Yosemite National Park is dynamic," said park officials in a press release. "Over the past 48 hours, fire has impacted all of the roads used to access Yosemite Valley, burning dead and downed trees that can become very explosive and fall without warning."

The Perry Fire burning between Reno and Pyramid Lake has now burned 25,600 acres and is now 15 percent contained. It started Friday evening and the cause is unknown at this time.

Four firefighter/paramedics from South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue are part of the 3,000 firefighting personnel at the Ferguson Fire burning northeast of Mariposa in Western Yosemite. This is the fire responsible for sending smoke into the Lake Tahoe basin for a week.

One engine with Captain Tyler Jack, Engineers Kevin Van Kirk and Mike Taormina and Firefighter Danny Vallejo left the South Shore nine days ago for a 14-day assignment at the fire.

They are joined by crews from Fallen Leaf Fire Department, Northstar Fire and North Tahoe Fire Protection District.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — “Permanent Vacation II: Eighteen Writers on Work and Life in Our National Parks” will launch June 13 at 7:00 p.m. in the Aspen Room at Lake Tahoe Community College. The second volume of this popular collection features writers from national parks all over the country, including locales like Cape Cod and Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

The event is free and open to the public.

A weekend hike in Yosemite turned into a six-day long ordeal for a Bay Area man this week.

Oakland resident Alan Chow, 36, had his backpacking gear and wilderness permit when he set out on a solo hike Saturday, February 17 on the loop trail in Yosemite's northern wilderness area above Hetch Hetchy, about a mile from O'Shaughnessy Dam.

He became disoriented and lost his way.

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.

Dmitri Pajitnov (Dima), a member of the Heavenly Mountain Resort Ski Patrol team, has been missing since July 3, 2017 when he fell through a snow bridge on Washington's Mt. Rainier near Pebble Creek as he skied down the mountain.

His body has not been found and friends are heading back to the area this weekend for what they are calling a recovery mission.

Dmitri's ski partner observed the fall and searched for two hours using an avalanche probe and transceiver before descending to Paradise and reporting the incident according to a report from the National Park Service.

Caltrans crews have been working on seasonally closed mountain highway to get them open for spring and summer travelers.

Monitor Pass/State Route 89 opened Monday afternoon, while District 10 maintenance crews continue to clear Sonora Pass/SR-108 and Ebbetts Pass/SR-4. Yosemite National Park handles the clearing of Tioga Pass/SR-120.

After the wettest winter in over 100 years there are still some areas of upper passes with 20 feet of snow.

Snow, rocks, boulders, trees and debris are being cleared from roads through the Sierra Nevada that have been closed all winter. Caltrans crews from Districts 9 and 10 are plowing through several feet of snow in some area. While some roads will be opening soon, many have a lot of work to be done before they can open to traffic.

Crews will inspect the road, bridges, culverts to make sure the road is safe for the public before reopening. They will also replace signs that tumbled during the winter.

Nicholas Martin Coberley, 45, of Pollock Pines, will be spending the next 27 months in prison for assault with a deadly weapon on a park ranger.

El Dorado County Undersheriff Randy Peshon has been re-appointed to the state's Judicial Council Collaborative Justice Court Advisory Committee after being nominated by Superior Court Judge Suzanne Kingsbury.

Peshon, who once ran the jail in South Lake Tahoe, has served in this capacity for the past three years and will begin a new three year term on November 1.

There are 59 national parks in the United States and they are all celebrating the 100th birthday of the National Park Service. On August 25, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed an act of Congress, the National Park Service Organic Act, which created the agency that now watches over 84.4 million acres of land, 4.5 million acres of oceans, reservoirs and lakes, 85,000 miles of rivers and streams, and 43,000 miles of shoreline.

Steve Hale will portray Stephen T. Mather, first director of the National Park Service, at the Dangberg Home Ranch Historic Park on Wednesday, August 10, at 6:30 pm.

Stephen Tying Mather distinguished himself as a consummate salesman, including the iconic 20 Mule Team Borax brand, which helped him amass a fortune by the early 20th century. After visiting the new western national parks and meeting John Muir, Mather went on to mold the vision of the new National Park Service and was honored by being appointed its first director in 1916.

Location

Chautauqua performers Dana Blane, Larry Lippmann and Mike Trute will portray local historical figures Donner Party survivor “Patty Reed”, Stagecoach driver “Hank Monk” and U.S. Marshall “Warren Wasson” at the Dangberg Home Ranch Historic Park on Wednesday, July 6, at 6:30 pm.

Patty Reed was 8 years old when her family joined the movement west to settle in California. As survivors of the ill-fated 1846 Donner Party, the tremendous hardships they endured left the family destitute. The little doll Patty hid in her clothing survives until this day.

Location

The Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics and its Subaru/Leave No Trace Traveling Trainers team are partnering with the Lake Tahoe Outreach Committee and other Lake Tahoe organizations to host community events and educational activities June 6-13. As visitors flock to the outdoor recreation wonderland that is Lake Tahoe the trails, beaches and forests are experiencing an increase in use and the associated impacts of trash, trail erosion and shoreline degradation.

It's been almost two-and-a-half years since South Lake Tahoe native Mitch Underhill died unexpectedly at the age of 34. The firefighter/paramedic with Lake Valley Fire Protection District was passionate not only about his family and career, but for the mountains and community he left behind.

In his memory, the Mitch Underhill Mountain Fund has been created at Lake Tahoe Community College.

"He was so loved in the community," said his widow Sarah. "He was an inspiration."