Lake Tahoe Earth Week – Healthy Forest Friday

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Happy Earth Week and Happy Friday, Lake Tahoe! We’re so excited about tomorrow’s South Tahoe Earth Day Festival! Earth Week Tahoe continues with Healthy Forest Friday. Living in beautiful Lake Tahoe has many advantages, but we all must do our part to promote healthy forests and prepare for fire. Learn how to get prepared, get informed, and get involved by visiting takecaretahoe.org. While you’re there, you can also learn how to grow your own garden and explore Washoe history.

Learn Washoe Names and Pronunciations – The Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California are the original inhabitants of Lake Tahoe and surrounding lands. They use a wide variety of plants for food, medicine, and building materials. Learn the Washoe names and pronunciations of some of the native plants and animals in the Tahoe Basin and celebrate the region’s unique cultural heritage!

Grow Your Own Garden – Need some tips on how to garden at high elevation? Register for free classes with Slow Food Lake Tahoe to learn how to grow your own gardens. Growing your own fruits and vegetables is a fun and exciting way to help the earth.

Prepare for Fire Season – With warm weather comes great responsibility. Learn how to prepare yourself, your family, and your home and neighborhoods for the upcoming fire year. Have evacuation plans and go bags in place in case of an emergency. It’s always a great idea to plan ahead and stay informed. Ready, Set, Go!

Rake Pine Needles and Clear Defensible Space – Clearing defensible space by managing the vegetation around your home and buildings is a great way to prepare for the upcoming fire year. Raking up pine needles and clearing off your roofs helps create defensible space around your home and reduces the threat of wildfire. Learn where to drop off your pine needles. Defense! Defense!

Learn about Prescribed Fires - Prescribed fire is an important tool in restoring forests and reducing hazardous fuels and the threat of catastrophic wildfires. Fire specialists and trained fire crews carefully plan prescribed burning efforts to ensure they are safe and under control. Learn more about prescribed fires in Tahoe and how these efforts help protect forests and communities.

Check the Latest Fire Restrictions - Planning on having a BBQ at the beach, or cutting wood? Before you do, check out Tahoe Living with Fire and U.S. Forest Service Fire Restrictions to stay up to date on Lake Tahoe fire restrictions. Fire restrictions are in place to ensure we are all fire safe. Remember what our friend Smokey Bear says, “Only you can prevent forest fires.” Let’s all stay safe, and responsible, and enjoy nature by thinking about fire safety!

Promote Healthy Forests- End your Tahoe Earth Week fun by joining us tomorrow, Saturday, April 22 at our Earth Day Festival from 10 am-3 pm at Lake Tahoe Community College to learn more about how we can all help promote healthy forests and protect the planet. Learn more at southtahoeearthday.org

The Tahoe Earth Day Foundation, a non-profit organization, formed to educate the public regarding the Lake Tahoe and Truckee region’s unique beauty and how to preserve and protect it. The means of providing such education include, but are not limited to, regional Earth Day festivals that include environmental and educational booths with focus areas on watershed health, forest health, water conservation, pollution prevention, alternative energy and waste management.