trpa

Clarity levels at Lake Tahoe in 2014 showed the biggest improvements in more than a decade, according to researchers Tuesday 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.

In what would give Heavenly Mountain Resort more latitude for expanded activities, the Governing Board of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency on Thursday unanimously approved the resort's proposed Epic Discovery Project to allow new year-round outdoor recreational opportunities on already developed portions of the ski area on U.S. Forest Service land.

The California Energy Commission has given the OK to award a $200,000 grant for the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency to create a plug-in Electric Vehicle Readiness Plan for the Lake Tahoe and Truckee region.

The plan will assess potential public and private charging locations. The grant comes as the Tesla Gigafactory takes shape in Nevada with operations to start sometime in 2017.

A final environment impact report, environmental impact statement, and environmental assessment document is now available for the proposed State Route 89, Fanny Bridge Community Revitalization Project at Lake Tahoe.

A newly released scientific study highlights the importance of collaborative work to prevent the introduction of aquatic invasive species at Lake Tahoe, and confirms what many public and private stakeholders have feared: That the invasive quagga mussel, if introduced, could establish in our mountain lake’s clear, iconic waters.

A Tahoe Talks Brown Bag Lunch Series recently launched offers a monthly forum for people to discuss and learn more about ways to strengthen communities, make towns safer for bicyclists and pedestrians, and help protect Lake Tahoe’s amazing natural resources.

Lunches are held monthly at ≈. They cover topics ranging from transportation to the economy and the environment, and offer a comfortable, low-key setting for people to discuss and learn about those issues. The events are free to the public.

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency on Friday asked Nevada lawmakers to support Gov. Brian Sandoval’s recommended budget to fund a total of $750,000 a year to protect Lake Tahoe from invasive aquatic species.Specifical...

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.

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.

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency on Friday asked Nevada lawmakers to support Gov. Brian Sandoval’s recommended budget to fund a total of $750,000 a year to protect Lake Tahoe from invasive aquatic species.Specifical...

The Tahoe Fund announced Monday the election of Kevin Marshall, Pete Sonntag and Julie Motamedi Teel to its board of directors. The three new members each bring a strong commitment and love of the Lake to their positions.

They are charged with helping the organization expand its impact by growing support of environmental improvement projects that will restore and enhance the Tahoe environment.

Top experts will converge at Lake Tahoe in September for the annual meeting of the Western Regional Panel on Aquatic Nuisance Species, hosted by the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency.

Taking place Sept. 2-4, the annual meeting brings together officials from across the country in the fight against western expansion of aquatic invasive species. Participants will learn from informative lectures and discussions to foster coordination of aquatic invasive species management among western states. This event is open to the public.

It's not every day you see a 2,200 pound, 26-foot tall guitar being driven along Highway 50 from Sacramento into South Lake Tahoe. Nor does one normally see a huge crane lifting a metal guitar over 100 feet to be placed onto a base in front of a South Shore casino.

Douglas High Graduate Terrence Martin and his team, Todd Schulze and Courtney Cardenas, were busy installing the guitar last week. Many people were passing by, stopping to ask the metal artist questions and taking photos of what will soon be the talk of the town and the subject of many photos.

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.

Another step in the right direction for the economic revitalization of South Shore and the Highway 50 corridor happened this week at the site of the new Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Lake Tahoe. The old Horizon sign came down and the Hard Rock sign went up.

This sign is just part of the $60 million renovation going on at the Stateline resort and casino, the site of the original Sahara Tahoe.

As many local businesses know, one cannot put in just any flashing, moving neon sign as there are Tahoe Regional Planning Agency restrictions on what can and cannot go up.

Forty-five years ago, in December 1969, President Richard Nixon signed a unique Bi-State Compact approving California and Nevada’s plan to create the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency. It was the first such undertaking of its kind, uniting two states, six local jurisdictions, and the federal government in a shared mission to protect Lake Tahoe’s sensitive environment from overdevelopment.

That effort has shaped the Tahoe we know and love today, and will help shape the Tahoe that we bequeath to future generations.

The partnership between California and Nevada that created the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency turns 45 years old today, marking nearly a half-century of progress in the protection and restoration of Lake Tahoe and its treasured environment.

President Richard Nixon signed the Bi-State Compact creating TRPA on Thursday, December 18, 1969. Nixon’s signature followed the compact’s ratification by Congress and its approval by both states’ legislatures and former governors Ronald Reagan in California and Paul Laxalt in Nevada.

As the keynote speaker at last month’s National Workshop on Large Landscape Conservation in Washington, D.C., U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Sally Jewell emphasized the central role collaboration must play for America to protect its natural resources, balance economic needs, and address emerging environmental challenges such as climate change.

“We are moving into an era of epic collaboration,” Jewell said, explaining that regional partnerships across jurisdictional boundaries are more important than ever for the federal department that manages 20 percent of our nation’s land.

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency announced recipients of its 2013 Best in the Basin awards Monday. Award winners in the agency’s 24th annual Best in the Basin include remodel, new construction, Best Management Practices, stream restoration and erosion control projects that stand out as examples of the best environmental planning, design and implementation.

The U.S. Forest Service, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, and California Public Utilities Commission have released a final environmental document for the electrical line upgrade project proposed by California Pacific Electric Company, now known as Liberty Utilities, in the North Lake Tahoe area.

The U.S. Forest Service will hold an open house on Thursday, September 18, 2014, to explain and answer questions about its draft analysis of a proposal from Heavenly Mountain Resort to expand year-round, non-skiing activities at the Lake Tahoe resort.

Public comments are being accepted on a draft environmental impact report for Heavenly Mountain Resort’s Epic Discovery Project until Tuesday, October 21, 2014.

The U.S. Forest Service, Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, and Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board directed the preparation of a joint environmental document for the project, located at the Heavenly Mountain Resort in El Dorado, Alpine and Douglas counties.

Visitors to the Lake Tahoe Summit on Tuesday, August 19 will notice new gateway signs along three Nevada highways leading into the Lake Tahoe Watershed. Installed near Daggett Summit on Nevada State Route 207, Spooner Summit on U.S. Highway 50 and on Nevada State Route 431 the Mount Rose Highway, the decorative gateway signs read, “Entering the Lake Tahoe Watershed — Help Protect It!”

Tahoe Resource Conservation District watercraft inspectors stopped a boat with quagga mussels and an unidentified snail species hiding in the anchor locker, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency announced Thursday.

The boat, coming from Lake Mead, a known quagga-infested water body, was inspected Wednesday at the Spooner Summit inspection station on Highway 50 in Nevada.

What started as a way to get more staff members of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency to participate in the Tahoe Bike Challenge has become a hallmark event for planners at the bi-state agency, according to TRPA.
This is the fourth year that the agency has made an environmental improvement by essentially closing its parking lot to motorized staff vehicles for one car-free day today.

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency announced Tuesday the launch of a new online tree removal permit application and credit card payment system that can be accessed through their website at trpa.org.

“The new online service is more customer friendly and is in line with the Agency’s core values of improving operational efficiency while providing a high-level of customer service,” said TRPA Executive Director, Joanne S. Marchetta.

With record drought conditions in the West, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Governing Board underscored its commitment to improving forest health and protecting Lake Tahoe communities from wildfire Wednesday by adopting a resolution supporting the 2014 Lake Tahoe Wildfire Awareness Month and giving special recognition to two departing Lake Tahoe fire chiefs at its meeting in Kings Beach, Calif.

The April court decision to uphold the 2012 Lake Tahoe Regional Plan is being appealed by the Sierra Club and Friends of the West Shore according to a notice filed Wednesday.

With record drought conditions in the West, preparing your home for wildfire is more important than ever. May has been designated “Wildfire Awareness Month” in the Lake Tahoe Basin. This year’s theme is “Prepare Your Home For Wildfire” with a focus on creating and sustaining Fire Adapted Communities.

A Fire Adapted Community is a community located in a fire-prone area that requires little assistance from firefighters during a wildfire. Residents of these communities accept responsibility for living in a high fire-hazard area. They possess the knowledge and skills to:

A federal court Monday ruled in favor of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, affirming an update to the Lake Tahoe Regional Plan that took years to craft, according to the agency.

The lawsuit was filed by the Sierra Club and Friends of the West Shore in February 2013 following nearly a decade of public input to update the plan originally adopted in 1987.