tahoe basin

After five years overseeing nearly 40 percent of Utah's land, Juan Palma retires Friday as the state director for the Bureau of Land Management.

While many state and local leaders would rather evict the federal agency from Utah, they don't feel the same way about Palma.

An easygoing leader who was able to navigate the fraught politics of public lands management in Utah, Palma is respected by environmentalists and oil and gas developers alike.

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.

Tahoe Regional Planning Agency is accepting nominations for Lake Spirit Awards to honor real people making real progress protecting Lake Tahoe. Members of the public are encouraged to nominate exemplary members of the community who are going above and beyond the call of duty to protect the beauty and clarity of the Lake.

With the retirement of Nancy Gibson, the U.S Forest Service started the search for her replacement. It was announced Tuesday Jeff Marsolais has been selected as the new forest supervisor for the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit.

The final environmental impact report on Heavenly Mountain Resort's Epic Discovery Project has been completed and is now ready for public review. The new project, located at Heavenly Mountain Resort, will expand their summer activities to include more canopy tours, hiking and biking trails as well as interpretive activities.

A lack of the snow in the Sierra Nevada isn't just hurting water supplies, it's also hurting vegetation around popular snowmobiling routes.

This preventable problem is being seen around the lake where snowmobiles on too little snow creates ruts in the soil and crushes vegetation.

The U.S. Forest Service is asking snowmobilers to shift their activities to locations with adequate snow coverage, within permitted snowmobile areas. Snowmobile operators should avoid bare dirt and patchy snow and should not ride across streams or over small trees or brush.

The City of South Lake Tahoe is soliciting applications for appointment to the following City Commission and Board:

AIRPORT LAND USE COMMISSION:

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.

The South Lake Tahoe Fire Department is looking for locals who'd like to help out during the time of large scale emergencies from winds, heavy snow, flooding, wildfire and avalanches.

STAT has been formed and that stands for South Tahoe Action Teams.

Teams of citizens will be given eight hours of training so they can help out when local resources are overwhelmed. After training they will be incorporated in the field with the SLTFD and other first responders during times of crisis.

This is the first program of its kind in the Tahoe Basin.

Dr. James Tarwater has informed parents that schools in South Lake Tahoe are closing immediately due to a power black out for the area. He reported that the black out will last until 4:30 p.m.

All parents are requested to pick up their students and buses will start transporting children if they are normally transported by bus. Each school has a different Bus departure time starting with STMS at 12:45 p.m., STHS at 1:30 p.m., Bijou at 1:35 p.m., Sierra House and Tahoe Valley Elementary schools at 2:10 p.m., and the Magnet School at 2:25 p.m.

Heidi Hill Drum, Executive Director and Bev Ducey, Program Manager of the Tahoe Prosperity Center, will bring everyone up to date on their organization’s work to improve high speed Internet and cell phone service around the lake through the Connected Tahoe Project.

Location

The Lake Valley Fire Protection District, California State Parks, Nevada Division of Forestry and the U.S. Forest Service will continue prescribed fire operations near Sugar Pine Point State Park, Pioneer Trail and Washoan Boulevard, Ski Run Boulevard near Heavenly, Luther Pass, Spooner Summit, and Lake Tahoe Nevada State Park in Slaughterhouse Canyon. Operations will last through the next several weeks as conditions allow.

The following is a list of burn areas and how many acres are being burned.

Project Sunset at Washoan and Pioneer Trail - 12 acres

Tahoe Chamber is currently offering discounted rates for booths at the 2015 Business EXPO: Innovation in the Basin.

Member businesses that reserve booth space prior to January 1, 2015 will receive $50 off their booth registration.

The Business EXPO is the South Shore's premier business event with approximately 100 participating local businesses and over 1,500 attendees annually. This year's theme will focus on the innovative businesses and programs unique to the Tahoe Basin.

The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in South Lake Tahoe may not be opened yet, but they've been busy becoming a part of the community.

On Monday, November 24, their Executive Chef Jonathan Snyder delivered 48 turkeys to Sierra Community Church, who will serve them in their community kitchen and distribute the rest to local families in need for Thanksgiving.

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.

State Route 28 on the East Shore of Lake Tahoe from Incline Village to the intersection with Highway 50 is set to receive $12.5 million in improvements.

The Washoe County Commissioners approved a Federal Lands Access Program Memorandum of Agreement for federal funding for the design and construction of the improvements.

In 1998 the Washoe Tribe was awarded a 20 year special use permit by the US Forest Service to operate the Meeks Bay Resort. At that time their plans to keep it a family friendly vacation spot on the shores of Lake Tahoe.

South Lake Tahoe non-profits were awarded $48,000 during the Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority board meeting today. The 22 groups were each given between $1,000 and $3,000. The LTVA, in partnership with NBC Sports and American Century Investments, previously directed an additional $67,200 through on-site volunteer organizations and other efforts during tournament week to area high schools, Soroptimist International of South Lake Tahoe, South Lake Tahoe Booster Club, Boys and Girls Club of South Lake Tahoe, and the Gene Upshaw Scholarship

If you've driven past South Tahoe High School in the last month you've most likely noticed a new bike trail heading from Lake Tahoe Blvd and Viking Way, through the forest to Sawmill Pond.

This new segment of bike trail, which is part of the Lake Tahoe Blvd Enhancement Project, will help to connect Meyers to the City of South Lake Tahoe.

South Lake Tahoe, Calif. - You've walked by them, biked past them, and maybe even seen them on empty lots - what are those random piles of wood? The piles are the first half of a two-step process used by Lake Tahoe Basin agencies to reduce hazardous fuels, provide community protection, and improve forest health.

Smoke will be visible from various locations around the lake due to prescribed burns of underbrush and wood piles starting Sunday.

The North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District, the Nevada Division of Forestry and the U.S. Forest Service will conduct prescribed fire operations in the Incline Village, Ponderosa Ranch, Tunnel Creek trailhead areas and on scattered urban lots around the Lake Tahoe Basin beginning, Sunday, November 2, 2014, and continuing as conditions allow.