The Tahoe Fire and Fuels Team will continue prescribed fire operations for the next several weeks, weather and conditions permitting.

California State Parks will conduct prescribed fire operations in Sugar Pine Point State Park, between General Creek Campground and Tahoma beginning on May 8. The U.S. Forest Service will conduct operations this week on Highway 89 (Luther Pass) near Big Meadow. 

Smoke may be present. A map with project locations and details is available online. To receive prescribed fire notifications, send an email to pa_ltbmu@fs.fed.us. 

Whenever weather and conditions allow, prescribed fire operations are conducted by the TFFT to reduce overgrown vegetation, which decreases the severity of future wildland fires and helps protect communities. 

Tahoe Star Tours will resume its summer stargazing schedule at the Dark Skies Cosmoarium at Northstar June 14-Sept. 1, Thursday through Saturday evenings.

A cosmic concert and meteor shower viewing event is also scheduled on Aug. 12.

Every Tahoe Star Tours event includes a laser tour of the night sky and the opportunity to view constellations through high-powered, professional telescopes.

Tony Berendsen, owner of Tahoe Star Tours, is the host.

Cost is $40 for adults, and $20 for children ages 12 and under. Tours begin at 8:15pm and conclude at 10:30pm. Event details and ticket information for all tours taking place at Northstar are online.

By Scott Sonner, AP
 
RENO — U.S. land managers are proposing offering $1,000 to anyone willing to adopt wild horses gathered from public lands to alleviate a backlog of mustangs in government corals and shrink what they say are badly overpopulated herds across the West.

Overwhelmed by what it characterizes as a $1 billion problem, the Bureau of Land Management proposed the novel approach to Congress on Thursday and also made requests to sterilize, euthanize or sell for slaughter tens of thousands of animals.

Read the whole story

Updated May 3:

Environmental documents have been released for the controversial gondola that would link Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows ski resorts.

The draft environmental impact statement/draft environmental impact report was prepared by the U.S. Forest Service and Placer County in accordance with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act and the California Environmental Quality Act, respectively.

Three action alternatives plus a no-action alternative are part of the analysis.

The project would include 37 towers in undeveloped area. What alarms many people is how close the site is to Granite Chief Wilderness Area, as well as the 5 Lakes trail.

“Our job now is to study this assessment to better answer the fundamental question: does the gondola make sense for North Tahoe or is it just another example of KSL and Alterra’s attempt to turn Squaw Valley into a Vegas-style amusement park?” Tom Mooers, executive director of Sierra Watch, said in a press release.

The document is available online.  The 45-day comment period started April 27.

Casey Blann, senior vice president of mountain operations at Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows.

“The release of the DEIR/DEIS represents a significant step closer to realizing the decades old dream of connecting Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows. We support the comprehensive review process and the hard work of the agencies involved. On behalf of over 6,800 Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows skiers and snowboarders who have signed petitions in support, we eagerly await the agencies’ final decision for the California Express Gondola. This base-to-base connection will enhance the ski and snowboard experience with the least possible impact on the environment,” said Casey Blann, senior vice president of mountain operations at Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows, said in a statement. “There has been tremendous support and anticipation for this connection, and we encourage our guests and community to remain engaged in the public review process as it moves forward.”

The proposed base-to-base gondola project would connect Alpine Meadows and Squaw Valley, include two mid-stations, multiple towers along the alignment, and eight Gazex avalanche mitigation exploders to be installed within the Alpine Meadows Ski Area boundary.

There will be two public meetings to gather comments. The first will be an open house on May 22 from 3-7pm at the USFS Truckee Ranger District office on Stockrest Springs Road, the second will be before the Placer County Planning Commission on May 24 at 10am at the North Tahoe Events Center in Kings Beach.

The Broken Arrow Skyrace, presented by Salomon, returns to Squaw Valley on June 15-17.

The three-day event consists of four distances for elite and recreational participants.

Designed in the vein of the classic European Skyraces, the Broken Arrow Skyrace represents a unique style of mountain running, characterized by off-trail scrambling on steep terrain with massive amounts of vertical gain and loss. Additionally, the event consists of exposure, bolted hand lines, an exposed alpine ladder and snow slopes. 

The majority of each distance is run at 6,000-plus-feet and above treeline.

Skyrunning as a discipline represents a marked departure from traditional trail running. Along the various Broken Arrow courses, runners experience steep and technical off-trail talus, snow-covered slopes, exposed ridges and rock climbing-esque exposure on the infamous “Stairway to Heaven” ladder. Skyrunning is commonly referred to as the intersection of mountaineering and trail running.

The Broken Arrow Skyrace features four distances: a 52k, 26k, 10k and vertical kilometer. The vertical kilometer is 3.1 miles with more than 3,000 feet of climbing while the 26k showcases over 6,000 feet of vertical gain.

New for 2018 is a kid’s fun race so that all family members can participate.

For more info, go online.

By Ryan Canaday, KTVN-TV
 
Making a recovery underwater is a daunting task that often requires out of state expertise. That’s going to change now that the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office is geared up to do it all on their own with a brand new remote operated vehicle.

Keith Cormican, a man who’s behind some incredible discoveries in Lake Tahoe is teaching them how it’s done.

Cormican is the founder of Bruce’s Legacy, a nonprofit named in honor of his brother, which specializes in underwater search and recovery efforts. His company is responsible for recently finding two bodies in Fallen Leaf Lake. As well as the bodies of missing kayaker Dan Pham, and Nevada football player Marc Ma in Lake Tahoe.

Read the whole story

The Tahoe Rim Trail Association is putting on two events for National Trails Day on June 2.

On the South Shore volunteers are needed to work at Van Sickle Bi-state Park to clean up the trail connection from the park to the TRT.

People will be asked to remove garbage and graffiti. Some of the large granite boulders have been defaced with paint.

TRT will also be hosting guided hikes on the trails that day.

On the North Shore volunteers will work on the entrance to the Tahoe City North Trailhead.

For details on both, email info@tahoerimtrail.org.

The California Tahoe Conservancy is offering free firewood permits now through the end of the year.

The permits are available on the conservancy’s website. Also on the website is a map of potential firewood collection locations.

Permits allow for collection of two cords of wood for personal use only.

On April 30 is a one day only firewood collection at the Van Sickle Bi-state Park. There are approximately 25-30 cords of firewood stacked and ready for collection. The gate will open at 9am and the wood will be first come first served until it is gone.

Comments are being taken until May 27 on the draft environmental assessment for proposed management of 1,083 acres of U.S. Forest Service land off the Mt. Rose Highway above Incline Village.

The goal is to restore the Incline Meadow wetland and surrounding habitat, improve water quality, and improve dispersed recreation opportunities. The project is designed to complement the Incline Fuels Reductions and Healthy Forest Restoration.

Project-specific activities would include a series of management actions related to roads and trails projects, hydrology and habitat restoration and vegetation management activities. The project also proposes a Forest Plan amendment to modify a portion of the project area from a general conservation management area to a backcountry management area.

Project specific roads and trails proposals include adopting and rerouting of existing trails; replacing and/or upgrading road and trail stream crossings; installing best management practices and interpretive and wayfinding signs; creating a new trail near the former Incline Lake bed and installing resource protection barriers.

Restoration activities would include removing the dam diversion ditch that connects Third Creek to the former Incline Lake bed; restoring stream channels and aquatic species habitat throughout the area; revegetating areas that are degraded with native vegetation species; restoring damage to wetlands, which resulted from water diversion activities; repairing erosion along the Franktown Ditch; developing a plan for future white bark pine management; and reducing tree density in meadow and wetland areas through forest thinning and restoration of Aspen communities.

The draft EA is available online.

For more information or to comment, contact Ashley Sibr at 530.543.2615 or asibr@fs.fed.us.       

Roadside stations for inspections and decontamination of motorized boats and watercraft are to open in Tahoe-Truckee.

Locations, hours of operation, and opening dates are as follows:

Opening May 1:
8:30am-5:30pm, sevent days a week

Meyers: at the junction of Highway 50 and Highway 89
Spooner Summit: at the junction of Highway 50 and Highway 28 in Nevada
Alpine Meadows: Highway 89, off Alpine Meadows Road north of Tahoe City

Opening May 17:
8:30am-5:30pm, seven days a week

Truckee-Tahoe: Highway 267, off Truckee Airport Road.

All motorized watercraft require an inspection for aquatic invasive species prior to launching into Lake Tahoe, Fallen Leaf Lake, Echo Lake, and Donner Lake. Invasive species, such as quagga mussels, New Zealand mudsnails, and hydrilla, are known to multiply quickly and colonize underwater, as well on docks and piers, water supply and filtration systems, buoys, moored boats, and on shoreline. They destroy fish habitat, ruin boat engines, and can negatively impact water quality and the local economy, recreation, and ecosystem.

Knowingly transporting AIS into Lake Tahoe is against the law, and violators may be subject to monetary penalties.