Conservancy

With predictions for one of the biggest winters in over a decade, now is the time to buy a Lake Tahoe license plate so you can ski for free in Tahoe. The popular “Plates for Powder” program is back, and once again offers individuals who purchase a new Lake Tahoe license plate in either California or Nevada two free lift tickets to one of 12 Tahoe resorts participating in the program.

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Governing Board on Wednesday approved a $7,500 settlement agreement with the Tahoe Keys Marina and Yacht Club, LLC.

The settlement is for the Tahoe Keys Marina and Yacht Club’s unauthorized grading and creation of coverage at a California Tahoe Conservancy property located near the end of Venice Drive in South Lake Tahoe. The property impacted by this violation is not classified by TRPA as a stream environment zone or wetland.

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.

Successful conservation actions from a collaborative Lake Tahoe partnership spanning the past 15 years have helped the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decide today that Tahoe yellow cress (Rorippa subumbellata), a flowering perennial plant in the mustard family found only along the lake’s sandy shoreline, does not warrant federal protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

This annual beach cleanup is in conjunction with California Coastal Cleanup day. Be a part of the largest single-day cleanup effort in the Sierra, now in its 7th year! Join hundreds of volunteers this day in cleaning up the Lake Tahoe region in partnership with Clean Tahoe, Sierra Nevada Alliance, California Conservation Corps, Americorp, South Tahoe Refuse, and California Tahoe Conservancy.

More info at https://tahoecleanup.wordpress.com/

Location

In what many locals was hoping wouldn't be the case, the Barton Ranch in South Lake Tahoe is set for demolition.

Family members who own the land and the buildings have spent years trying to get to this point in order to remove what they say is a dangerous set of buildings that have caused problems with vandals and vagrants.

On Tuesday, employees of Allied Environmental, Inc of Shingle springs were on site to remove asbestos in preparation for demolition.

More than 10,000 acres of scenic meadows, forests and trout streams in the Sierra Nevada 10 miles west of Lake Tahoe have been preserved in a deal in which environmentalists hope to prove that thinning out overgrown forests can increase California's water supply.

The Northern Sierra Partnership, an environmental group based in Palo Alto and founded by longtime Silicon Valley leaders Jim and Becky Morgan, joined with the Nature Conservancy and the American River Conservancy to buy the land for $10.1 million from Simorg West Forests, a timber company based in Atlanta.

It's been almost a year since the 5,400 square foot Alta Mira Building was torn down in South Lake Tahoe in order to provide open space, improve water quality and remove blight.

After years of planing and months of public input, the new Airport Master Plan for South Lake Tahoe was presented to the community on Tuesday. About a dozen people attended to see and hear what the final plan might look like.

Since buying the Tahoe Valley Airport from El Dorado County in 1983 for $1, the City of South Lake Tahoe has been supporting its operation which at one time saw almost 300,000 people a year pass through.

The aftermath of the thousands of people who flocked to South Lake Tahoe's beaches last Fourth of July was a ghastly sight. South Lake Tahoe made headlines around the world for the embarrassing amount of trash left on the beaches. It took hundreds of volunteers days to pick up the thousands of pounds of garbage left on the beautiful beaches.

A one-half acre parcel of land that once held two South Lake Tahoe businesses will soon be restored to open space after a land purchase by the California Tahoe Conservancy (CTC). The two buildings, located at 2122 Lake Tahoe Blvd, will be razed in the next few weeks according to Joe Pepi, Program Coordinator/Associate Environmental Planner with CTC.

Tahoe Psychic and Heads Up Smoke Shop have both been cleared out and a fence has been placed around the property. The smoke shop has relocated a block away.

Heavenly Mountain Resort has received the final approval needed for its major expansion of on-mountain summer activities. After Vail Resorts gained approval from the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) on March 27, they needed the blessing of the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Board, which they received today.

If the long line at the entrance to the cafeteria at Lake Tahoe Environmental Magnet School on Wednesday evening was any indication, the Meyers Area Plan (MAP) meeting was going to be another contentious event.

The meeting was one of several that has been hosted by El Dorado County concerning the future plan for the community of Meyers. As one can imagine, there is not a single plan that all who live there can agree upon.

An Open House for the Meyers Area Plan (MAP) will be held on Wednesday, May 6 at the Lake Tahoe Environmental Magnet School located at 1095 East Bernardino Avenue from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Upper Truckee Marsh will be closed to dogs from May 1 through July 31 because it is a critical breeding habitat for special, threatened and endangered species such as Yellow Headed Blackbirds.

The Tahoe Conservancy announced the annual seasonal closure today but wanted to remind dog owners that their Cove East property just west of the river remains open for year-round, leashed dog access.

South Lake Tahoe may soon be one less aging motel along the main stretch in town. On Tuesday, the Placer County supervisors gave staff the go ahead to purchase the A & A Lake Tahoe Inn for $1.425 million. The county wants to have the motel's 34 tourist accommodation units (TAUs) so they can add hotel rooms at the north end of Lake Tahoe.

The south shore motel rests in a stream sensitive zone. If the purchase goes through, Placer County would give the motel to the California Conservancy for demolition and restoration while keeping the TAUs.

The California Tahoe Conservancy Board unanimously voted today to award Sierra Business Council (SBC) $50,000 to expand and enhance the Lake Tahoe Water Trail.

The Lake Tahoe Water Trail is the 72-mile scenic paddling route around the shore of Lake Tahoe. SBC plans to improve trail maps; increase wayfinding, trailhead signage, and outreach and education; launch a Lodge-to-Lodge Network; and establish a new Oversight Committee to develop a business plan to create a more sustainable program.

El Dorado County Sheriff's Office responds to calls throughout the county.

The following are calls that only pertain to the South Shore. There may be some missing calls due to sheriff's logs not being completed at press time and the story will be updated when provided.

1/18
3:52 p.m. - Domestic Violence - Wasabe Way - DATING CO-HABITANTS ENGAGED IN VERBAL DISPUTE.

1/19
2:23 p.m. - Dogs off leash - Lily Ave - TWO 23-YEAR OLD MEN WERE CITED FOR HAVING DOGS OFF LEASH WHILE ON CONSERVANCY.

The South Lake Tahoe area of El Dorado County now has a new supervisor, officially. Sue Novasel won the election for Area 5 County Supervisor back in November and has jumped right into the job of representing her constituents which cover the area from Pollock Pines to Tahoma to South Lake Tahoe.

She was officially sworn in on Monday in Placerville, then again at their first Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday, then again in South Lake Tahoe on Thursday.

The New Year brings big changes both for me personally and for the Forest Service in Lake Tahoe. After 37 years with the agency, I’m looking forward to retirement and handing over the reins at the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit to a new Forest Supervisor.

I’m grateful for steady Basin leadership that has enhanced relationships making them stronger. Days of past tensions between conflicting interests have passed. Today, local agencies work closely together on solutions that protect our communities and our environment.

Tahoe In Depth, the environmental newspaper that the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency created two years ago to help improve awareness and understanding of lake issues, was recognized with a Silver Spike award at the Sierra Nevada Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America annual awards ceremony on Thursday.
Silver Spike awards recognize the northern Sierra region’s best public relations and communications campaigns, according to Anne McMillin, President of the Sierra Nevada Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America.

With empty lots in the South Lake Tahoe area owned by various agencies and private owners, the public doesn't know who to report incidents or situations to unless they are marked.

In order to help the public, the California Tahoe Conservancy began posting property tags today to help the public better identify its lands on the South Shore.

The gates to Van Sickle Bi-State Park closed today for the winter, but, as always, people are invited to take the easy walk into the park.

The California Tahoe Conservancy said today that the park will be closed from October 31 to May 1.

Paid parking is available nearby at the Parking Garage at Heavenly Village. The park provides opportunities for short day use outings, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, or just having fun in the snow, however sledding is not allowed.

Most of us moved to Meyers because it's a rural community, away from the City & tourist congestion. I am pro-growth, most locals are, as long as it's appropriately sized growth for our community. The proposed Meyer's Plan however, opens the door to a Mega Resort, with incentives for large development and in my mind, lacks long range planning.

I started going to planning meetings last summer, just to listen, but it wasn't until December that I got really concerned. Here's a timeline of events, from my perspective: