MontBleu is teaming up with the WFC World Fighting Championships to present MMA at the Lake on Aug. 18.

It will feature 10 amateur MMA fights at the Stateline casino.

Doors open at 7pm, fights start at 8pm.

WFC will showcase the up and coming talent of local and regional amateur MMA fighters. Headlining the show will be South Lake Tahoe’s own Ryan McCarthy. McCarthy is coming off a string of victories, including a title win over Sean Shamrock, the son of UFC Legend, Ken Shamrock.

In a special attraction, JJ Torres, the son of local World Champion Juan Torres, will be making his MMA debut in the same theater as his dad fought in in 1995.

The Torres family called South Lake Tahoe home for more than 20 years, where they groomed three World Champions: Hector, Alejandro, and JJ’s father, Juan.

Also featured at MMA at the Lak are locals Cris Montenegro, Chris Cocores and Leo Rodelo.

Tickets start at $25 and are available by calling 888.829.7630. This show is all ages.

Internationally known wetlands authority Jerry Qualls will be leading a tour Aug. 18 in Washoe Meadows State Park to educate people about fens.

The event is at noon. Meet at 758 Little Bear Lane, South Lake Tahoe.

Wear comfortable trail walking shoes and bring something to drink. The walk will take about 2.5 to 3 hours and will cover about 3 miles.

Qualls is an associate professor in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Science at UNR.

Questions about the event? Contact Lynne at LCPaulson@comcast.net or call Krissi at (530) 307.1357.

The 4th annual Bocce Tournament benefiting the High Fives Foundation is Sept. 23.

The event is at the Truckee River Winery.

Forty teams will compete for prizing and bragging rights.

Cost is $100 for teams of two.

More information is online.

The El Dorado County Resource Advisory Committee is accepting proposals for projects that benefit National Forest lands in El Dorado County. The deadline for applications is Aug. 31.

Applications, instructions, project evaluation considerations and other information are found on the Eldorado National Forest website.

The committee is expecting to have approximately $170,000 available to recommend projects to the Eldorado National Forest and the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit Forest Supervisors for implementation on their respective units.

Resource Advisory Committee funds were made available under Title II of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self Determination Act of 2012 which spells out how the funds can be spent. The act says funds may be used for the purpose of making additional investments in, and creating additional employment opportunities through, projects that improve the maintenance of existing infrastructure, implement stewardship objectives that enhance forest ecosystems, and restore and improve land health and water quality.

The act goes on to say that projects should have broad based support with objectives that may include, but are not limited to: road, trail, and infrastructure maintenance or obliteration; soil productivity improvement; improvements in ecosystem health; watershed restoration and maintenance; restoration, maintenance and improvement of wildlife and fish habitat; control of noxious and exotic weeds; and reestablishment of native grasses.

At least 50 percent of the funds must be used for projects that are primarily dedicated to: road maintenance, decommissioning, or obliteration; or restoration of streams and watersheds.

By Tom Knudson, Sacramento Bee

Like a steeple, the Jeffrey pine towers over other conifers and quaking aspen in the Tahoe National Forest north of Truckee.

Nearly 13 feet around at its base and believed to be about 250 to 300 years old, it has weathered every threat to come its way, including wildfire, drought, storms and logging.

Now it is slated to fall to a modern force: environmental restoration.

As part of a Forest Service effort to return Sierra forests to their pre-settlement glory, this tree is one of many conifers – large and small – the agency has designated for logging to help aspen, which its research shows is in danger.

“We need to be doing everything we can to help promote and foster these aspen stands,” said Quentin Youngblood, the Sierraville district ranger for the Tahoe National Forest. “And quite frankly, there are some tough choices.”

But as trees crash to the ground this summer, anger is growing among environmentalists and area residents who say the effort is heavy-handed and environmentally risky.

“I think they are going to destroy more than they are going to restore,” said Tom Leavell, a rancher whose cattle graze on Forest Service land in the logging zone. “Nature put everything together for a reason. As soon as we go in messing with it, something else happens.”

The project is part of a wider pattern. No longer is agency logging just about timber production. Now, it’s often aimed at healing past mistakes and restoring nature’s bounty.

Playing God with nature is often fraught with risk, of course. But what also makes some scientists uneasy about the Tahoe project is that the Forest Service is logging one cherished Sierra icon to help another.

Read the whole story

By Sparks Tribune

On Aug. 31, Kings Beach resident John Merryfield and a group of extreme stand-up paddlers will embark on a stand-up paddle circumnavigating Lake Tahoe to promote the Vegan One Day project, a challenge for everyone to adopt a vegan diet (no meat, dairy or eggs) for at least one day of the year.

To highlight the challenge, a group of extreme stand-up paddlers will complete the entire 72 mile trek in one day, paddling all day and all night powered by a vegan diet and a commitment to create a better world. Merryfield says the intense physical and psychological strain of the 72 mile paddle in one day is nothing compared to the extremely cruel conditions endured by animals on factory farms.

The group will paddle at night along the eastern shore under a full moon, greet sunrise near Emerald Bay and hope to return to Kings Beach by dusk. Merryfield is confident that paddle will inspire others to see that a whole foods diet is a celebration of life.

A community, vegan pot luck is scheduled on the beach in Kings Beach on Aug. 31 at 6pm as the paddlers embark on their journey. To learn more about the Vegan One Day project, go online and take the pledge to go vegan for one day.

Are you ready for an all day Tahoe single track epic? Start your training and mark your calendars for Sept. 2. Rose to Toads is a 60-plus mile ride showcasing some of the best trails linking Tahoe’s North Shore from Mount Rose down to the Lake Tahoe’s South Shore ending on Mr. Toads Wild Ride.

This is a TAMBA member’s only ride that is limited to 75 people.

For more information about the mountain bike group and how to become a member, go online.

Nevada Division of State Parks is seeking pre-applications for the 2013 round of funding for the Recreation Trails Program. Pre-applications will help Nevada determine the need for the $1.064 million is has.

Federal, state, city, and county governments, special governmental districts, trail organizations and private individuals are potentially eligible for the funds. Eligible projects include motorized and non-motorized trail projects for new construction, maintenance and trail related facilities. Trail education projects are also eligible.

While submitting a pre-application is highly recommended in order to assist in the successful allocation of these funds, it is not required.

Past projects include the multiuse Jumbo Grade trailhead in Washoe Valley, Shoshone Off Highway Vehicle Trail, Tahoe Pyramid Bikeway, and the Blue Tree trail system.

Contact Jenny Scanland for a pre-application and assistance at (775) 684.2787 or jscanland@parks.state.nv.gov.

The 2012 manual is online, with the 2013 manual coming out soon.

A group of 25 gardeners is not content with making their yards enjoyable. They have been spreading their love of playing in dirt throughout the South Shore.

On Aug. 14 the South Tahoe Garden Club will be sharing 50 years of gardening history with anyone who wants to listen. The free event is at the Tahoe Tallac Site from 10:30am-12:30pm. Walks will be given through the gardens, and stories of the lawns and gardens of the past will be told.

Gardening club members at the Tallac Site. Photo/Provided

The group formed in the 1960s by a handful of women seeking a social activity with a purpose. They chose gardening. Ideas were shared, speakers brought in, and trips to nurseries and gardens near and far were typical doings. Many public programs have been presented to the basin in the past years and over time, the women (sometimes with help of husbands) landscaped Happy Homestead Cemetery, Barton Memorial Hospital, a small shade area at the county library and the garden planted next to the Baldwin Museum at the Tallac Site.

The Baldwin garden was difficult because of the multitude of rocks found. They have been used to create a dry creek bed. Colorful birdhouses are found at the garden, too. This keeps with the history of the site because Dextra Baldwin put a dry creek bed in her garden along with an abundance of birdhouses.

For the last 10 years, the club has maintained this garden and in 2011, planted trees in memory of members who have passed on.

New this year is the Gathering Garden installed by the Washoe people and the Green Team of the U.S. Forest Service helping with gardening.

The group sticks with 25 members and has five on the waiting list.

The Tallac Site is on Highway 89, past Camp Richardson if headed north. Turn right at the sign saying Tallac Historic Site.

Tahoe Expo on Sept. 8-9 is a geotourism showcase collection of fun, educational, and sustainable adventures around all 72 miles of Lake Tahoe, as well as Truckee, Reno and Pyramid Lake.

Through guided Adventure Tracks, the Tahoe Expo aims to cultivate a deeper connection with the watershed and inspire visitors to realize sustainability in their lives. Each Adventure Track is made up of one to three activities including lunch, and land or water transit to and from. Each activity is hosted by local experts, organizations, and businesses from South Lake Tahoe to east of Reno.

Most of the Adventure Tracks will take place on Sept. 8, and include tours of the Upper Truckee River ecosystem by kayak, yoga classes led on paddleboards on the lake, and a photo safari to see Nevada’s wild mustangs run free on the range. There will also be a boat ride showcasing a live underwater feed from below the surface of Lake Tahoe, captured from a submarine piloted by underwater explorer and conservationist Scott Cassell. On Sept. 9, tour a “green makeover” of a local residence, or check out the 10th annual Tour de Tahoe – America’s Most Beautiful Bike Ride – during which more than 2,500 cyclists will bike around Tahoe.

For more information and registration, go online.