The 26th issue of Tahoe In Depth is hitting the streets and will be in mailboxes soon. Enjoy articles on the Motel 6 acquisition and restoration, reintroducing Lahontan cutthroat trout, Tahoe Blue Beaches, and many more.
Lake Tahoe, Nev./Calif. – The 19th annual Tahoe Bike Month begins June 1 with a full month of bicycling events throughout the Lake Tahoe Basin, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) and the Tahoe Bicycle Coalition announced today. Bike Month is a basin-wide celebration of biking and a friendly competition to see which individuals and teams can record the most rides with weekly prize drawings for everyone who records a ride online.
“There is always a swell of regional support for bike month in Tahoe” TRPA Transportation Planner Ryan Murray said. “We are excited to continue collaboration with the Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition and our regional partners to encourage more people to get out of their personal automobiles and onto bicycles, particularly as the weather improves into the summer months.”
Community members who want to join the friendly competition can register at www.tahoebikemonth.org and connect their account with the Strava app for free to track bike rides throughout the month. Participants can join as individuals or create a team and start recording rides. Each recorded ride during the month of June is an entry to win local prizes.
Whether you’ve been riding a bicycle for years or are new to the joy of life on two wheels, TRPA and the Bicycle Coalition invite everyone to pump up their tires and join a great lineup of events:
“You don’t have to be a pro cyclist to enjoy pedaling around Tahoe – it’s a healthy way of life!” said Nick Speal, president of the Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition. “We encourage kids, families, visitors, and residents to join us on our wonderful bike paths throughout the month of June and beyond.”
Bike Month organizers encourage everyone to watch a short video to get their bike ready to roll and to remember to share the road when driving and biking around the region. Cyclists and drivers need to make sure to give enough space for one another. For more information on Tahoe Bike Month, visit www.tahoebikemonth.or
###
With a mission to help make Tahoe more bicycle friendly, the Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition is an all-volunteer organization dedicated to promoting bicycling, bike events, and new bicycle infrastructure such as bike paths and bike lanes throughout the Tahoe region. Learn more at tahoebike.org.
The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency leads the cooperative effort to preserve, restore, and enhance the unique natural and human environment of the Lake Tahoe Region, while improving local communities, and people’s interactions with our irreplaceable environment.
Lake Tahoe, Nev./Calif. – The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) launched an online Climate Resilience Dashboard this week to monitor and record progress on climate action strategies that will help guide the long-term health of the Lake Tahoe watershed and safety of its communities, according to the agency.
The dashboard, funded by the California Tahoe Conservancy and TRPA, pulls together regularly collected data from diverse sources and displays them in relation to their role in climate resilience. For example, the dashboard tracks the resilience of Lake Tahoe’s transportation system by reporting total transit ridership, equitable access to transportation, miles of bike and pedestrian facilities, a breakdown of people’s transportation choices, and the availability of electric vehicle charging stations. The information will help full- and part-time residents, businesses, and Lake Tahoe Environmental Improvement Program partners measure the results of climate actions.
Climate resilience refers to how well prepared Lake Tahoe’s ecosystem, infrastructure, and communities are for continued temperature increases, changing weather patterns, and climate hazard events. This includes local actions needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and pollution.
“Lake Tahoe is already experiencing the impacts of climate change and we must keep making progress as a region to confront emerging threats to the lake and reduce the vulnerability of our communities,” TRPA Executive Director Julie Regan said. “Science, research, and data are essential for decision makers, residents, and property owners to lead the region into a more resilient climate future.”
The Climate Resilience Dashboard tracks progress across four long-term goals and associated indicators. TRPA and more than 80 partner organizations are implementing climate projects through the Environmental Improvement Program and the Climate Resilience Action Strategy to better prepare for climate hazard events such as wildfire, prolonged drought, and extreme weather events. The dashboard also includes recommendations on actions individuals can take to get involved in building a more resilient Lake Tahoe.
###
The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency leads the cooperative effort to preserve, restore, and enhance the unique natural and human environment of the Lake Tahoe Region, while improving local communities, and people’s interactions with our irreplaceable environment. For additional information, contact Jeff Cowen, Public Information Officer, at (775) 589-5278 or jcowen@trpa.gov.
Lake Tahoe, Nev./Calif. – The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) is reminding residents, property owners, and project managers that the grading and digging season for permitted projects in the Lake Tahoe Basin begins May 1.
Grading and digging work is confined to drier months to protect Lake Tahoe’s famed water clarity from sources of erosion and sediment, according to TRPA. During the normal grading season of May 1 through October 15, soil work can proceed in dry conditions, but is prohibited when a project area is covered with snow, when ground is saturated, muddy, or unstable, and during periods of precipitation.
Working in dry conditions prevents soil compaction and stops loose soil and mud from washing away from project sites or into roadways, storm drains, waterways, and the lake.
Although all grading is prohibited in wet conditions, not all digging requires a permit. Moving up to three cubic yards of soil is exempt and does not require a permit if the site is stabilized to prevent erosion and the work is not part of a larger project. More information is available on the Applications and Forms page.
###
The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency leads the cooperative effort to preserve, restore, and enhance the unique natural and human environment of the Lake Tahoe Region, while improving local communities, and people’s interactions with our irreplaceable environment. For additional information, contact Jeff Cowen, Public Information Officer, at (775) 589-5278 or jcowen@trpa.gov.
Image: Natural buffers separate a stormwater infiltration pond and manicured links at Edgewood golf course in Stateline, Nev. The 2016 Best in Basin winner filters stormwater from a public highway while also protecting the pond from fertilizers.
Lake Tahoe, Calif./Nev. – The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) is calling for nominations for projects that display outstanding environmental design for the 31st Best in Basin awards, the agency announced today. Projects must have been completed in 2022 or 2023. Nominations are due by May 17 at 5:00 p.m. Use this Nomination Form to submit an outstanding project.
TRPA’s annual Best in Basin awards program showcases projects and programs around the lake that demonstrate exceptional planning, implementation, and compatibility with Tahoe’s natural environment and communities. The categories are:
For more than three decades, Best in Basin awards have recognized property owners, contractors, architects, and planners in both the public and private sectors whose work and investment stand out as excellent examples of environmental design in the Tahoe Basin.
Only projects completed between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2023 are eligible. Winners will be selected by a panel of local professionals in the fields of architecture, landscaping, planning, engineering, or resource management. For the nomination form and information about past winners, visit the Best in the Basin webpage.
The Burke Creek Phase 1 stream restoration project near Stateline, Nev. freed 200 feet of the creek from an underground culvert. *2016 Best in Basin Award
Image credit: Nevada Tahoe Conservation District
Image: Native and adaptive plants surround a renovated historic residence on the West Shore. *2019 Best in Basin Award
Image credit: John and Heather Mozart
###
The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency leads the cooperative effort to preserve, restore, and enhance the unique natural and human environment of the Lake Tahoe Region, while improving local communities, and people’s interactions with our irreplaceable environment. For additional information, contact Jeff Cowen, Public Information Officer, at (775) 589-5278 or jcowen@trpa.gov.
Members of Team Tahoe on the steps of The Capitol, Washington D.C. See names below.
March 13, 2024
Lake Tahoe leaders, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) and partner agency staff, scientists, and representatives of the private, non-profit, and business communities attended a press conference March 13 in Washington D.C. hosted by U.S. Congressman Kevin Kiley (R-CA). The event was organized to show support for extension of the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act, which is set to expire in September of this year. Dubbed by the late U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein as Team Tahoe, the contingent of supporters united to visit legislators and share the importance of federal support to Lake Tahoe and its communities.
The Lake Tahoe Restoration Reauthorization Act provides funding for projects that support forest health, water for fire infrastructure, watershed restoration, water quality, aquatic invasives species control, Lahontan cutthroat trout recovery, and accountability. Since the Act’s passage in 2016, Lake Tahoe Environmental Improvement Program (EIP) partners have implemented hundreds of projects, substantially leveraged the federal investment with state, local, and private funding, and supported 1,700 jobs per year. To learn more, read the fact sheet that accompanied the team on their legislative visits.
Pictured from left to right:
Dr. Sudeep Chandra, Director of the Global Water Center; past Co-Director of the Lake Tahoe Science Advisory Council; Professor, University of Nevada, Reno
Cody Bass, Governing Board Member, Mayor
Devin Middlebrook, Government Affairs Manager
Chris Proctor, Director of Community Benefit and Business Development
Steve Spurlock, Board Chair
Bradley Johnson, General Manager
Erick Walker, Forest Supervisor
Charles Clark, Legislative and External Affairs Staff Officer
Dr. Darcie Collins, Chief Executive Officer
Kimberly Caringer, Chief Partnerships Officer/Deputy Director
Laura Metune, Senior Director of Government Relations and Grant Development
Carl Hasty, District Manager
Serrell Smokey, Chairman
Gavin Fieger, Policy Director
Caitlin Meyer, Chief Programs Officer
Steve Teshara, Principal
Laura Patten, Natural Resources Director
Shelly Thomsen, Director of Public and Government Affairs
Sarah Coolidge, Board President
Cindy Gustafson, Governing Board Chair, County Supervisor
Sharla Hales, County Commissioner
Alexis Hill, Governing Board Member, County Commissioner
Julie Regan, Executive Director
Meghan Hayes, Governing Board Member, U.S. Presidential appointee