Slow Food Lake Tahoe is planning to reopen the Truckee Demonstration Garden located at the Truckee Regional Park.

The mission of the Truckee Demonstration Garden is to create a vibrant community space that provides education about growing food at high altitude.

Two workshops are planned:

• Build-Your-Own Critter-proof Garden Bed in partnership with the Truckee Roundhouse –April 29 from 8am-noon at the Truckee Roundhouse. Participants may build:a covered lid for their 4 x 4 garden bed; or a bed and a covered lid; or a covered lid for their 4 x 8 garden bed; or a bed and a covered lid;. Attendees need no prior experience.  Cost is $75 for an individual or a team of two, which includes complete kits. Discounted lumber and supplies from Truckee Tahoe Lumber must be purchased in advance online. Space is limited.
• Grow-Your-Own Organic Gardening 101 — April 30 from 10am-noon. Soil scientist and SFLT board member Heather Cullen will cover the basics of soil, how to grow a healthy soil food web, the high-altitude plant requirements, site selection, garden design and layout and more.  The cost is based on a self-selecting sliding scale from $10 to $20 per person. Tickets are available online.

The Truckee Demonstration Garden needs the community’s help on the third Saturday of each month for an hour or two to maintain the garden and accomplish this season’s projects including: rebuilding beds, planting seedlings and refurbishing the Kids Corner. Community Dig-Ins are scheduled for May 20, June 17, July 15, Aug. 19 and Sept. 16 from 9am-1pm. For more information, email truckeegarden@gmail.com.

Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit officials want the public’s input until April 28 about its plan to remove hazardous trees and plant seedlings in the Emerald Fire area. 

The fire last fall off Highway 89 burned about 175 acres, with 96 of those acres on federal land.

The goal is to restore habitat for various animals and provide benefits to the watershed, while providing a more fire resilient landscape.

Few trees remain and given the large number of shrubs that existed prior to the fire, it is expected that the shrubs would grow quickly, posing a challenge for natural seedlings to survive the competition, according to the U.S. Forest Service. Planting seedlings early would increase the chance that they will become established before the brush grows back, which would significantly increase the chance that trees will re-establish in this area.

The LTBMU proposes to plant native seedlings on approximately 10 acres as early as this May and 50 acres in 2018. Prior to the planting, removal of hazard trees would occur in all planting locations.

The proposed plan is online.

By Jessie Marchesseau

Summertime in Tahoe is starting to become synonymous with the Tahoe Area Mountain Biking Association building and upgrading yet another recreational bike trail in the basin.

Last year it was the Kingsbury Stinger Trail, the year before that it was the Bijou Bike Park, and before that, perhaps their best known project to date, the Corral Trail. This year’s project, however, could turn out to be their most notable undertaking yet: the Fallen Leaf Lake/Angora Ridge trails project.

“It’s not just a single trail like TAMBA has taken on in the past,” said Ben Fish, president of TAMBA, “this is really a trail system.”

There will soon be more mountain bike opportunities at Fallen Leaf Lake. Photo/Chris McNamara

This summer, TAMBA, in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service, plans to construct about six rideable miles of trails in the Angora Ridge, Angora Lakes and Fallen Leaf Lake areas. This is roughly half of the planned and approved trails for the area. The rest will be on next year’s agenda.

Fish said it just seemed logical to take on this project right now. With 2017 being the 10th anniversary of the Angora Fire, it felt like an appropriate time to restore and reinvigorate the scarred landscape. Plus, its proximity to residential neighborhoods, camping, lakes and other activities creates potential for a highly used recreational area.

Once completed, this new trail system will give users access to spectacular views at the top of Angora Ridge, a trail to hike or bike to Angora Lakes from Tahoe Mountain, the ability to bike around Fallen Leaf Lake, and eventually, a connection to the highest used bike trail in the basin, the paved trail along Highway 89 connecting Pope and Baldwin beaches.

Fish described the new trails as more of a low-elevation rolling trail system, and as such, they will be conducive to riders of a variety of skill levels.

“There are just those days where you’re like: ‘Do I really want to climb 4,000 feet today?’” he said.

These will be the trails for that kind of day. Mike Gabor, forest engineer for the USFS, said he can see this becoming a trail people ride to unwind after a long day at work, taking in the views of Lake Tahoe, Fallen Leaf Lake and the surrounding ridgelines.

The trails system will also provide access to areas which have previously been inaccessible by hiking or biking paths. There is a handful of what the USFS calls “social trails” in this area, trails formed simply by people walking on them. They often start as wildlife trails and then get used more and more, but they are not maintained or sustainably built, often causing erosion issues and impacting wildlife. Some of these trails run parallel to each other and don’t always make logical connections. This summer’s plan involves rebuilding and improving some of those trails, decommissioning others and building new, sustainably-planned ones.

“You couldn’t even describe to people how to hike around Fallen Leaf Lake, because it was such a spaghetti bowl of trails,” Jacob Quinn, USFS trails engineer, told Lake Tahoe News.

Quinn has worked closely with TAMBA on nearly all its recent projects, including the Fallen Leaf Lake/Angora Ridge trails. He explained how the Forest Service develops trail ideas, creates the plans and takes them through the necessary environmental approvals, but often lacks funding and manpower to make them happen. This is where the partnership with TAMBA has really paid off. Through their fundraising efforts and volunteer workers, TAMBA has been instrumental in bringing the Forest Services’ trail visions to life.

Last summer, TAMBA set a fundraising goal of $55,000 to make this trail project happen. They kicked off fundraising efforts in July and have since exceeded their goal, raising more than $60,000. The extra funds mean TAMBA might be able to hire a paid trail builder to work on the trail consistently all summer, and it also opens the door to working on trails which weren’t slated for construction until next year, like a bikeable trail to Lily Lake.

Even though this year’s goal has been met, more funds mean more trails, so there are still more fundraising events on the horizon, like the TAMBA spring party next month. Training workshops are in April and May for crew leaders, sawyers and more. Construction on the trails is scheduled to begin in June with TAMBA hosting volunteer weekends throughout the summer.

“I’d like to stress how great this project is because of all the partnerships created to make it happen,” Fish told Lake Tahoe News. “It’d be just lines on paper waiting to be built if it wasn’t for the willingness of the USFS to work with partners like TAMBA and the community stepping up to help build and fund the construction.”

For more information on workshops or becoming a volunteer, go online. Here is a map of the project area.

To the community,

The hot, nutritious, full course meals served every Monday to any and all who come to St. Theresa Grace Hall are made possible by the efforts of many caring and dedicated individuals, businesses and organizations. From the stores and businesses who donate food, volunteers who pickup donated food, cooks who prepare the meals, volunteers who do meal setup, serving and cleaning to the donors and sponsors who pay for the costs associated with each meal, Bread & Broth is genuinely grateful.

Heavenly Mountain Resort is one of B&B’s generous sponsors and on April 10 hosted one of six annual Adopt A Day of Nourishment sponsorships. Money from the Vail Epic Promise grant funds Heavenly’s Adopts A Day, and Heavenly team members donate their personal time to volunteer alongside B&B volunteers at each of their sponsorship dinner.

Volunteering on behalf of Heavenly this month were Chris Echert, Angela Haen, Rebecca Hamm and Jack Pippin. Hamm and Pippin are returning volunteers at the B&B dinners, Echert and Haen enjoyed their first time experiencing the heartwarming feeling of helping others at a B&B dinner. These four sponsor volunteers and Heavenly Mountain Resort exemplify how individual and businesses can give back to the community through service to others.

For more B&B information, go online or join us on Facebook.

Carol Gerard, Bread & Broth

By Kathryn Reed

Barton Memorial Hospital is not part of the trend of rural hospitals relying on foreign doctors to provide medical care.

That’s a good thing since President Trump on April 18 is expected to change the rules for obtaining H-1B visas in what he is calling “Buy American, Hire American.” It used to be that for $1,225 an employer could get an application approved in a matter of weeks instead of the customary monthslong wait.

Each year about 85,000 H-1B visas are granted.

“H1-B visas give health systems the flexibility to hire international employees who have the medical skills or qualifications they seek when there is a shortage of that talent locally,” Clint Purvance, president and CEO of Barton Health, told Lake Tahoe News. “Typically, H1-B visas recipients are recruited by health systems with education or training programs, or by a health system unable to fill a position in an isolated area or for very specialized service.”

According to the New York Times, foreigners make up nearly 25 percent of all physicians in the United States, with those percentages being even higher in most rural areas. The Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates said in December 2015 there were 211,460 international medical graduates practicing in the United States.

“We are currently not contracted with any physicians who are H1-B recipients and it is unlikely changes to the H1-B visa program will impact us,” Purvance said. “All Barton Health physicians are qualified and experienced care providers who have trained in the United States or U.S. territories.”

The only employee in the Barton Health system with a H1-B visa is a clinical lab scientist. She did not want to be interviewed by Lake Tahoe News.

By Scott Sonner, AP

Nevada Republican Sen. Dean Heller distanced himself Monday from the Trump administration’s immigration and health care policies at a sometimes combative town hall meeting with hundreds of critics.

Considered one of the most vulnerable GOP senators up for re-election next year, Heller also insisted he supports Planned Parenthood’s family planning efforts despite his recent vote to allow individual states to defund the program.

“It didn’t repeal money for Planned Parenthood,” he said April 17. “I think the states should be making those kinds of decisions.”

Read the whole story

·      Tahoe Rim Trail Association is celebrating National Trails Day on June 3 from 9am-3pm at Spooner Lake. This all day event will feature trail construction demos, mountain biking workshops, educational talks and more. For more info, go online.

·      Burning Man founder and board member Michael Mikel will give a talk at Sierra Nevada College on April 18 at 7:30pm.

·      The League to Save Lake Tahoe is hosting a cleanup day on April 19 from 9am to noon. Meet in front of Basecamp Pizza in South Lake Tahoe. Cleanup materials will be supplied. Lunch and raffle will be provided to all volunteers. For more information, email events@keeptahoeblue.org or call 530.541.5388.

·      Here is the Sierra roadwork schedule from Caltrans for the week.

·      The Loft in the Heavenly Village is having a five-course winemaker dinner featuring J. Lohr wines on May 10 at 6:30pm. Cost is $79. Make reservations online.

By Angela Fritz, Washington Post

Did you hear? It snowed a lot in the Sierra Nevada this winter. Unless you spent the cold months avoiding the news (we wouldn’t blame you), then you already know it’s a record-breaking season.

Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows, sister ski resorts, have tallied nearly 60 feet of snow this winter. At a slightly higher elevation, Sugar Bowl at Donner Summit hit 751 inches — 63 feet! — this month. Last week alone, Squaw reported three feet of snow.

“I’m actually considering staying open through the summer and fall so it becomes the 16-17-18 season,” CEO Andy Wirth said. “We’re taking a hard look at that. Maybe we spin Shirley [a back-side chair lift] through the summer. There’s so much snow up there.”

Read the whole story

Autism currently affects 1 to 2 percent of children (one in 68) in the United States. It is a complicated, behaviorally defined disorder that impairs social interaction and communication, causes repetitive behaviors, and restricts interests; it also has many associated features such as anxiety, digestive disorders, and epilepsy.

UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center in Incline Village is hosting a lecture where people will learn how the description of autism has changed since it was first described in 1943, the various causes of autism, the attempts at treatment, and the success of early intervention treatments.

The talk is May 18 at 6pm. Door open at 5:30pm for guests who have preregistered, open seating starts at 5:50pm. A $5 suggested donation will be collected at the door.

Go online to register.

By Mick Akers, Las Vegas Sun

Three major clean energy bills were passed through their respective committees last week at the Nevada Legislature to get them a step closer to becoming law.

Assembly Bills 206 and 223 and Senate Bill 150 were passed with amendments this week before Friday’s first house passage deadline.

A report carried out by ICF International and commissioned by the Natural Resources Defense Council indicates the bills could increase Nevada’s renewable energy and energy efficient share, drawing up to $3.3 billion in capital investments.

Read the whole story