forests

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.

The ongoing drought, warmer-than-usual weather conditions and the fuel for fire those conditions produce could lead to a “perfect storm” this summer where multiple states in the West could be having large, simultaneous fires, state and federal fire officials told Gov. Brian Sandoval Monday.

“The system is going to be heavily taxed this year,” said Kit Bailey of the U.S. Forest Service. “We have preparedness levels of one through five and I’m a little concerned that we may get to an unprecedented level, a level six, and that is kind of a worst-case scenario.

Climate experts are discussing what we can do for the future in the drought. A forum on Wednesday afternoon summarized the climate conditions for the entire Great Basin, and how they affect resources like agriculture and wildlife.

These forums are important because experts say climate not only has a big impact on our region, but experts say it also affects our economy.

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.

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.

Environmental groups concerned that the 2004 Sierra Nevada Framework Forest Plan failed to protect old growth forests and associated wildlife species, was not consistent with national environmental laws so they filed suit.

A coalition of conservation organizations led by Sierra Forest Legacy and including the Center for Biological Diversity, Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club and The Wilderness Society have signed a settlement agreement with the U.S. Forest Service, ending the decade long battle.

Whole the Lake Tahoe Resort Hotel is undergoing $8 million dollars in renovations, the leadership of the hotel formerly known as "Embassy Suites" is also undergoing renovations.

The resort just celebrated a year of independence in April 2014 and is putting into place a management structure that throws away the corporate mold, and invests in the resort’s front line -- its staff.

The League to Save Lake Tahoe invites volunteers to come stabilize stream banks, pull invasive plants and restore trails for the 17th annual Tahoe Forest Stewardship Day on September 27 at Tahoe Paradise Park in Meyers.

The park lies along the Upper Truckee River, Lake Tahoe’s largest tributary. Volunteer efforts will have a tangible effect on reducing sediment flow into the river, and help Keep Tahoe Blue. This is the League’s third year hosting the event at this location.

The Sierra Business Council is hosting Peak Innovation, a conference for Lake Tahoe locals, small business owners, communities and local governments. During the conference, Dr. Peter Gleick, an expert in water issues especially in the context of economic and environmental justice, will be at the conference which takes place October 8-10 in Tahoe City. In a National Geographic science blog, Gleick recently repeated the common question, “Why, if the California drought is so bad, has the response been so tepid?”

The Sierra Nevada, with its beautiful blue lakes, towering granite mountains, forests with trees that appear to touch the clouds, thundering rivers and waterfalls, and hidden valleys has long been the domain of dreams, attracting the good and the bad, the adventurous and the delusional.

The Christmas tree permits sold by the U.S. Forest Service in Lake Tahoe are officially sold out as of today! Between the north and the south shores of the lake there were 2,500 permits to sell to those people wanted to cut down their tree on Forest Service land.

The reauthorization of the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act was introduced yesterday in the U.S. House of Representatives, following the Senate’s introduction of the bill in August.

What many locals remember as Embassy Suites, the Lake Tahoe Resort Hotel is still a thriving and vibrant part of the community. On April 1 of this year, the hotel owners, Ken Corporation, Ltd and management team, PHR Management, announced that they would be dropping the franchise agreement with Embassy Suites and become the Lake Tahoe Resort. Since then, they have been investing $5 million in property renovations and upgrading all 400 rooms in the nine-story all-suite hotel. The work is taking place in phases with completion planned for the winter season.

Lake Tahoe organizations whose collaborative work over the past 15 years has been a driving force for advancing Lake Tahoe restoration efforts applauded congressional leaders Thursday for introducing a $415 million reauthorization of the federal Lake Tahoe Restoration Act.

The federal government settled two lawsuits Thursday seeking recovery against PG&E and its contractors for wildfires that scorched thousands of acres of national forest land in 2004 and 2008.

The fires — known as the “Power Fire” and the “Whiskey Fire” — collectively burned more than 18,000 acres of national forest. These settlements, totaling $50.5 million, are a significant step toward restoring the precious national resources destroyed by the fires, said U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner.

Mary Bennington, executive director of the Tahoe Rim Trail Association, is featured on Friday's KUNR program Beyond The Headlines.

The Tahoe Rim Trail is one of the world's premier trails. It passes through California and Nevada, six counties, one state park, three National Forests, and three Wilderness areas. This spectacular trail is 165 miles of single-track multiuse trail, winding from peak to peak around Lake Tahoe.

The Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit of the U.S. Forest Service and the Tahoe Area Mountain Biking Association have been working together for a couple of years to improve mountain bike trails all while protecting the natural resources of our local forests. Lake Tahoe is a special place, loved and used by millions of visitors each year from around the world. The local forest service has been at the forefront of working collaboratively with user groups and the public to ensure that protecting the environment of this special place, still allows for uses that are compatible and fun.

The Beacon Bar and Grill at Camp Richardson in South Lake Tahoe will hold its next wild and spirited evening snowshoe cocktail races Feb. 16 and again on March 16. Both events begin at 7 p.m.

The events are free to participate in with snowshoes provided by Camp Richardson’s Mountain Sports Center in South Lake Tahoe.

Along with the snowshoe cocktail races, this South Lake Tahoe event will include food and drink specials, prizes for winners and losers, and happy hour prices until closing.

For the first time since 1987, Lake Tahoe has a new regional plan for development and land use.
Twelve of the 14 voting members of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency's governing board voted in favor of the new plan, with one member voting against it and another abstaining, according to TRPA spokesman Jeff Cowan.

Business interests say the plan is an overdue overhaul of regulations that will jump-start Tahoe's tourism economy while also protecting its environment.

Driving around our expansive El Dorado County - sprawling from the Valley up through the foothills and forests to Lake Tahoe - I am constantly amazed at the diversity and beauty of the terrain.I am...

Last week, South Tahoe High seniors Emily Barnett and Tyler Myers traveled to Russia to present their field research project, “The Effects of Fire and Forest Thinning on the Biodiversity of Understory Plants in the Lake Tahoe Basin,” at the Ninth Annual International Junior Foresters’ Competition.

Celebrate the annual fall migration of the Kokanee salmon of Lake Tahoe at the Taylor Creek Visitor Center. The Visitor Center is located three miles north of South Lake Tahoe on Highway 89. Join the fun and participate in this free family event which has become one of the most fascinating educational and wildlife viewing events in Northern California.
The festival encourages participation by children and their parents in a wide variety of educational and entertaining activities including:

South Tahoe High seniors Emily Barnett and Tyler Myers will travel to Russia to present their field research project, “The Effects of Fire and Forest Thinning on the Biodiversity of Understory Plants in the Lake Tahoe Basin,” at the 9th Annual International Junior Foresters’ Competition. Their project was selected by the U.S. Forest Service International Programs office in Washington DC to represent the U.S. in the upcoming competition.

Natural forces and human actions have affected the lake's clarity, physics, chemistry and biology since 1968, when UC Davis first began continuous monitoring of Lake Tahoe.
Despite an extreme weather year, overall clarity at Lake Tahoe improved in 2011. Yet underlying trends portray a more complex picture of the Lake Tahoe ecosystem, according to the annual “Tahoe: State of the Lake Report 2012,” released today by the Tahoe Environmental Research Center at the University of California, Davis.