lake tahoe basin

The Tahoe Prosperity Center mission is uniting Tahoe’s communities to strengthen regional prosperity. Prosperity is defined as “the condition of being successful or thriving, especially economic well-being.” The Tahoe Prosperity Center is the basin-wide organization focused on that goal for all who live and work in Lake Tahoe.

Douglas County homeowners have an opportunity to compost their residential yard waste early this fire season when TDFPD hosts a kickoff event for Compost Your Combustibles with coffee and donuts on Saturday, May 23 at 9am. The free annual recycling program which historically has started on Memorial Day Weekend is now open at Heavenly Mountain Resort’s Boulder Lodge Parking Lot.

Jeff Marsolais, the new forest supervisor of the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, will be speaking at the next meeting of the Tahoe Area Sierra.

Formerly LTBMU’s deputy supervisor, Marsolais, who now oversees the 154,000 acres around the Lake Tahoe Basin, will be speaking on a variety of issues including Recreation Sustainability and Landscape Collaboration.

There will be an opportunity to ask questions and comment in an open forum after the talk. This meeting is free of charge and open to the public.

Location

The California Tahoe Conservancy will host an open house at the El Dorado County Public Library in South Lake Tahoe (1000 Rufus Allen Blvd.) to gather public input regarding reuse of the former Alta Mira building site. The primary purpose of the project is to enhance public lake front access within the El Dorado Beach corridor.

Members of the public are invited to stop by the library anytime between 4-6 pm to view concept drawings, ask questions and provide feedback.

Location

A project to remove invasive plants from the Lake Tahoe Basin will continue this summer. The U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit (LTBMU) will eradicate, control, and contain these plants using chemical treatment. Work will occur at approximately 70 infestation sites beginning May 15 and continuing through September, 2015.

Weather conditions in the Lake Tahoe basin have been conducive to prescribed burns since fall, and as conditions permit, the U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit plans on continuing prescribed fire operations starting Monday, April 20, 2015.

Expect smoke from planned operations at Blackwood Canyon between Tahoe City and Tahoma, at Ski Run Boulevard near Heavenly and on the East Shore near Logan Creek Drive. Burns may last through the next several weeks as conditions allow.

Several areas around the Lake Tahoe basin are slated to be burned starting Monday, April 13, as the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) continues prescribed burns.

Fire operations are scheduled in Blackwood Canyon between Tahoe City and Tahoma, on the south side of Meeks Bay, at Ski Run Boulevard near Heavenly and on the East Shore near Logan Creek Drive.

Operations may last through the next several weeks as conditions allow at the following locations:

Heavenly - 70.25 acres scheduled for fire operations
Logan Creek Drive - 20 acres scheduled for fire operations

Clarity levels at Lake Tahoe in 2014 showed the biggest improvements in more than a decade, according to researchers at the University of California, Davis, who have studied the lake for the last half century.

The improvements are in part due to continuous work from the Lake Tahoe community to lower pollutants to the lake. They were also influenced by the drought, as reduced precipitation meant fewer contaminants flowed into Lake Tahoe, particularly during the summer, when clarity levels were the highest recorded since 2002.

Learn about the Geology of the Tahoe Rim Trail with TRTA Board Member, Dave Schnake during his talk on April 28 starting at 6 p.m. You'll gain an appreciation of the enormous geologic forces that led to the formation of Lake Tahoe in this informative, non-technical presentation of the geologic history of the Lake Tahoe Basin. The varying geology to be discovered as one travels around the Lake on the Tahoe Rim Trail will be highlighted.

Free and open to all.

Location

An illegal campfire at Granite Lake in Desolation Wilderness started a wildfire on Tuesday according to the U.S. Forest Service (USFS). With the lack of a deep snowpack and high winds in the area this week, the fire could have easily spread had it not been for the quick response by USFS firefighters.

Illegal and unattended campfires cause over 90 percent of wildfires in the Lake Tahoe Basin. Fire managers are concerned about the impact from illegal campfires as we are in our fourth year of drought and forest conditions are already as dry as they would be in June.

Heavenly's Epic Discovery project passed their biggest hurdle Thursday as the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency's (TRPA) Governing Board unanimously approved the newest year-round recreational experience in South Lake Tahoe. With it, comes a wide variety of outdoor recreational opportunities for locals and visitors alike. Epic Discovery will include new zip lines, sky cycle tree canopy tours, a mountain bike park and trails, ropes courses, and interpretive and educational tours to teach visitors about the Lake Tahoe Region’s cultural and environmental resources.

The public has an opportunity to meet Forest Service Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) engineering, trails and recreation staff during an open house on April 2.

This is a great time to ask questions regarding OHV used on designated routes within the Lake Tahoe Basin, the LTBMU Motor Vehicle Use Map (MVUM) and the California Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreational (OHMVR) Grant application.

There were more than 1,000 fires in California in 2014 and, because of the current dry conditions, 2015 is expected to be more of the same.

The Lake Tahoe Community College Foundation and Rotary Club of South Lake Tahoe are teaming up once again for the fourth annual “Off the Wall” Art Auction at LTCC. Participants can enjoy works of art created by locally and regionally known artists, bid on their favorites, and support local education and charitable organizations, all at the same time.

The artwork up for auction is being donated by a number of local artists, including nationally known artist and LTCC Art Department Chair Phyllis Shafer, David Russo, and many other Art Department faculty members.

The U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit (LTBMU) is accepting public comment for the Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) Cooperative Funds grant application submitted to the State of California Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation (OHMVR) Division.

The OHMVR grant provides staffing for OHV education and information, law enforcement patrols, resource and use monitoring, protection of natural and cultural resources and maintenance of OHV trails and trailheads on the LTBMU.

Heavenly Mountain Resort added summertime activities to the top of the gondola last summer but that was only the beginning if the Epic Discovery Project gets approval from the necessary agencies.

There’s a lot to be learned by studying others’ successes. At the Tahoe Talks Brown Bag Lunch this February, a design engineer for the Federal Highway Administration discussed how modern roundabouts are being used to improve traffic and make roads safer for drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians, as well as where they would make the most sense at Lake Tahoe.

Several different areas around the Lake Tahoe basin have been tapped for continued fire operations.

Over 700 acres will be burned north of Tahoma near Elizabeth Drive, southwest of Meeks Bay, on Gardner Mountain near South Tahoe High School and Gardner Street, Christmas Valley, Luther Pass near Grass Lake, and Ski Run Boulevard near Heavenly. On the East Shore, operations may take place near Logan Creek Drive and off Highway 28 north of Spooner Summit.

Operations will last through the next several weeks as conditions allow.

Over 700 more acres of slash pile still remain to be burned around the Lake Tahoe Basin as part of the California Tahoe Conservancy, Nevada Division of Forestry and U.S. Forest Service fire operations.

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.

As the incoming Chair of the 15-member Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Governing Board, this promises to be a hopeful and exciting year. 2015 will be full of opportunities, but also challenges, for the continued protection of Lake Tahoe.

The number one priority among our challenges is funding shortfalls. Federal and state funding that has paid for environmental restoration and protection efforts at Lake Tahoe for years is drying up and new approaches need to be pursued.

The U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit (LTBMU) would like the public's input on their proposed restoration project at six impaired meadows near South Lake Tahoe. Restoration will include tree thinning and removal, prescribed fire, stream channel repair, planting of vegetation and rerouting trails.

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.

Lake Tahoe area Sno-Parks can now be enjoyed with the purchase of an annual pass as well as with a daily pass.

The California Department of Parks and Recreation operates 21 Sno-Park sites that provide snow-cleared parking lots with sanitation facilities and access to snow play areas, cross-country ski and snowmobile trails.

In the Lake Tahoe area there are several Sno-Parks: Echo Lake, Taylor Creek, Donner Summit, Hope Valley, Blackwood Canyon, Carson Pass and Meiss Meadow.