Publisher’s note: This letter was sent to South Lake Tahoe officials and then the author asked for it to be published on Lake Tahoe News.

The City Officials of South Lake Tahoe,

I am a new resident of Nevada. I reside in (Southern) Nevada. I recently visited Lake Tahoe for the first time ever on July 7, 2013, and received a very unwelcoming welcome to your city, in the form of a parking ticket.

Minutes after arriving in town, my boyfriend and I went down to the beach to see the sunset and to grab a bite to eat at the Beachhouse Restaurant.

We parked along the fence next to the restaurant. There were no signs indicating that this was a paid parking area. I took pictures that show very clearly that there were no visible signs to pay for parking, in front of my car, nor were there signs to the left or right of my car, nor were there any signs in front of the car parked to my right. Nothing.

Shame on you South Lake Tahoe for purposely creating a parking ticket trap for tourists. I did some simple math, using conservative figures, based on my ticket fine of $55. I figured that you are probably making over $100,000 in revenue per year, for the city, from parking ticket fine … just in that one location.

I appealed my ticket online based on the fact that: The city is negligent in their lack of sign postings. How can you expect folks to see the signs that are so far and few between, with SUVS, vans, and vehicles parked along the fence, blocking the signs from view?

The appeal process online only allowed me to upload one photo. I had three photos which clearly showed no visible signs that could be seen from my SUV in any direction.

As I had said in my appeal, I am not a chancer or a cheater, nor am I a wealthy person. If I had seen a sign that required me to pay for parking, I would have and I should have been able to upload more than one photo in my defense online. The appeals board upheld their decision, and I must pay $55. I never even had a chance.

Shame on you South Lake Tahoe for purposely creating a money-making trap, penalizing hard working people out of their hard earned money, that they had intended to spend on their vacation in your city.

The city should post signs in front of every parking space clearly indicating that this is a paid parking space.

Stop cheating tourists out of their money by issuing bogus parking tickets.

Do the right thing. Make signs visible and put them in front of every parking space.

Sharon Resnick, Southern Nevada

To the community,

We had a wonderful Great Gatsby Festival again this year. We hope that some of you made it out for some of the festivities. If not, we hope you will come out next year.

The tour of the house is a unique experience during Gatsby and so much fun. So be sure to come out and play with us next time, 1920s style.

We want to thank our local businesses that donated to our silent auction. We made about $3,000 from our silent auction and that money goes directly back to the Tallac Historic Site.

Sincerely,

Tami Africa, assistant site director Tallac Historic Site

By Garry Bowen

The summer of 1997 was indeed a heady time: coffee with Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Richard Rominger at the Lone Eagle Grill in Incline; a lawn meeting with Assistant Secretary of Agriculture Jim Lyons at Tallac, entertaining an invitation to join an upcoming panel on Forest Health, the result of my having written a white paper to Vice President Al Gore’s domain while in the White House (the Office of Environmental Quality) on behalf of both of Tahoe’s Resource Conservation Districts, offspring’s of the USDA Forest Service’s “first cousin”, the Natural Resource Conservation Service.

To this day, the NRCS and the RCD serve the Tahoe basin very well, in so many ways across the community, as well as most of the other local agency efforts. But while the community needs to be reminded of this important ongoing work at various times, it is Monday’s visit by Al Gore that will be the subject of yet another reminder.

Garry Bowen

Those “heady times” came to mind at Sand Harbor on Aug. 19 as it became apparent to me that we have been missing the enthusiasm with which he spoke that morning, in spite of the emerging danger that he’s been so battered by in pointing out. Denying that climate change is now so obviously upon us seems to make the dwindling numbers even more vociferous, and the squeaky wheel still gets way too much credence, to our continued detriment.

When Gore can attest that “it is time to renew our commitment . . . to go the rest of the way,” he was not just talking about our local efforts at reestablishing the hallowed clarity of Lake Tahoe, but more in the vein of his other comments about climate change in referring to the release of “90 million tons of CO2 that will be released today” into the sky like it’s an “open sewer”. That his enthusiasm leads to “hope … tempered by a realization that much more has to be done” really reflected that from now on, Lake Tahoe could in fact “be a symbol, not in name only, but to truly and genuinely play a vital role in inspiring the (rest of) the world” as to the importance of preserving the systems that support all of life, not just the local budgetary concerns of contributing to any public/private partnership – for the time being.

He said the original presidential summit, all those years ago, “was accomplished without partisanship or ideology” and that Lake Tahoe still retains the “chance to move beyond that”. He also went beyond the now-regular boundary of each year’s annual summit by upping the ante in saying that Tahoe should now think about spawning an annual global event with “awe-inspiring and demonstrable” examples of the “cooperation” that makes him so proud of being a part of bringing attention to Lake Tahoe in the latter part of the last century. “Awe-inspiring and demonstrable” examples are, of course, a missing ingredient.

Unfortunately, the word cooperation has to be “in quotes” for now, as the necessary community spirit to match Gore’s enthusiasm, vim and vigor for his subject matter is not yet as readily apparent as needed, in that local dealings are still not so much about change as they are about maintaining whatever the power structure thinks of itself as “leading” – bringing the slippage back up to par, instead of instituting the types of change that would suit them better. Joanne Marchetta of TRPA is right: “it will take (much) more than growth control and design standards for new buildings”: it will take individual recognition and responsibility to meet or exceed those standards and to sincerely care enough about our surroundings that there is active participation in creating truly sustainable lifestyles … life will soon depend upon it on unheard-of levels.

Active participation means that Lake Tahoe not just be thought of in terms of its natural beauty (all of nature has a beauty of its own) or as a function of any “picture-postcard mentality” (a term coined by an economist with the Forest Service Research Station), currently favored for real-estate valuations.

For Gore’s energetic statements from Monday, Tahoe will have to learn of the subtle (but profound) distinction between aiming for “sustainable communities”, seemingly just a step or two from where we now find ourselves, and in learning the certain significance of scientific sustainability in restoring life-giving processes.

To truly match Gore’s enthusiastic support in thinking of Tahoe as a “model for combating global warming” (surely we’ll want to think of ourselves that way, but then conflate and deny what it will actually take to do so). The ability-to-sustain will actually have to be taught, but fortunately there are easy ways to do that – aside from any mere program that the powers-that-be think will be sufficient and politically correct.

Even the mighty EPA decided in late 2011 that our global problems are so daunting that no individual program will work, so they have called for sustainability to be “embedded” in everything they do, from administration, to policy, to implementation. If Gore’s suggestion is to be realized and we think about becoming a global beacon for answers, then we’d better create better questions as to how to “get there”, so Tahoe does not trip itself up in trying to be what others already know they’re not: sustainable.

“Going the rest of the way” does not mean “more-of-the-same (just a little different)” – it means embracing the tremendous work of the Sustainable Sites Initiative, the U.S. Green Building Council, the International Living Future Institute, and the very people who work every day wanting to make a difference right here in the Basin and in all of the outdoor world – Tahoe is not in a vacuum, but it can resonate with a renewed emphasis of using the resources it gets with the very best leverage possible – that’s an important beacon of its’ own – “good enough for government” is not anymore – but can be.

As William McDonough, the “mastermind of sustainable development” said, “it will take more than simply being ‘less bad’ ”, or even Jerry Garcia (Grateful Dead), “picking between the lesser of two evils is still evil”.

The foregoing is an adequate reflection of what’s been learned in the interim 15 years since those heady days headed up by Senator Reid’s orchestration of a first-time visit anywhere by a sitting president and vice president, and the ongoing support of both our states’ senatorial contingent – but Gore’s rallying cry early this week calls for much more than “more of the same (but better)” as Marchetta implies.

The world is actually waiting for such a leadership example; why not Lake Tahoe? It is most decidedly not “the sustainability powerhouse of the nation”, but could be, with the right motivational direction – do we dare extend ourselves to meet such a challenge?

It took 16 years for Gore to stir us up once more – can we stand another decade or more again? I think not.

Garry Bowen has a 50-year connection to the South Shore, with an immediate past devoted to global sustainability, on most of its current fronts: green building, energy and water efficiencies, and public health. He may be reached at tahoefuture@gmail.com or (775) 690.6900.

To the community,

“Unity at the Lake is a thriving, diverse spiritual community that celebrates God, nurtures wholeness, embraces oneness, and embodies the truth of our being”. This is the mission statement I recite on Sundays when I attend services at my spiritual home, Unity at the Lake.

Many reading this may well have already discovered the positive spiritual message that Unity at the Lake brings. I am writing this letter out of appreciation that we have the voice and presence of Unity at the Lake here in South Lake Tahoe. I have attended Unity at the Lake since soon after moving to Tahoe 15 years ago. Since the day I walked through those doors (then we were at the Senior Center) I have felt consistently uplifted and inspired. Unity at the Lake lives its mission statement.

Our congregation is diverse, representing people of all faiths and lifestyles. Christians, Buddhists, Jews, and those who do not identify themselves with any religious affiliation all find a home within our walls. One of the primary slogans of the Unity church/movement is, “Many paths, One God”. All spiritual seekers are welcome.

Our lessons incorporate a rich tapestry of teachings from the great spiritual leaders of our time, including, but not limited to, the teachings of Jesus. Wholeness. Unity sees every individual as inherently good and as a divine reflection of God or divine nature. Unity celebrates our goodness and our “Godness” for we are never separate from God. Unity believes in the power of affirmative prayer. We give thanks for the health, abundance, and love we are rather than praying for what we “want”.

We gratefully accept the divine flow (“God”) as working for our highest good in all things and at all times. As we affirm what we have and the truth of who we are we see more goodness manifesting in ourselves and in our lives. This is one of the truths we believe and endeavor to live.

Prayer, gratitude, affirmation, meditation, and celebration are our primary spiritual tools. Our spiritual leaders, the Revs. Stew and Hillary Bittman, lead our community in a joyful, authentic, and accessible manner that I have not found elsewhere in my spiritual journeying. I am so grateful for the spiritual community I have found in Unity at the Lake. I have grown, and continue to grow, in gratitude, joy, love, and prosperity because of the messages I have received and the tools I have learned to practice as a result of being a part of the Unity at the Lake family.

If you have not yet discovered Unity at the Lake, please consider this letter an enthusiastic invitation to check us out – even online.

Namaste’ (“The Spirit within me salutes the Spirit in you”).

Janice Eastburn, South Lake Tahoe

To the community,

Bread & Broth would like to thank Heavenly Mountain Resort for hosting an Adopt of Day of Nourishment on Aug. 12. With the $250 donation provided by Vail’s Echo Foundation, the B&B cooks prepared a tasty meal featuring lamb with curry sauce that was enjoyed by the evening’s dinner guests. I

n addition to providing a nutritious meal, the Monday evening B&B dinners also provide a safe gathering place for those in need.

Helping the B&B volunteers with the dinner setup, serving and cleanup were Michelle Beall, Mary Hajdas, Trace Kment and Connie Yee. These lovely ladies are reservation agents with Heavenly Tahoe Vacations and according to Michelle, “We are all honored to have the opportunity to help Bread & Broth tonight. We hope we get to volunteer again soon. What a great group of people!”

Their helpfulness and cheerful attitudes were greatly appreciated by the B&B volunteers and dinner guests.

Bread & Broth salutes Heavenly Mountain Resort employees for the generous donation of their time at the dinners and Heavenly/Vail Echo Foundation for their financial support of our program. With the help of generous donors and sponsors like Heavenly Mountain Resort, B&B has been providing hot, healthy meals for over 24 years.

If you would like to support Bread & Broth’s program, please contact me at (530) 542.2876 or carolsgerard@aol.com.

Carol Gerard, Bread & Broth

By Joanne Marchetta

In a stream not far from the stage on which a group of Tahoe’s most staunch legislative supporters gathered on Monday for the 17th annual Lake Tahoe Summit, fish are swimming freely in a naturalized channel after a roughly 50-year hiatus. Incline Village residents have reported seeing the fish navigating clear, cold pools in Third Creek miles upstream from its inlet to Lake Tahoe. Trout, minnows and Tahoe’s own land-locked salmon have returned after completion of a multi-agency restoration project spearheaded by Incline Village General Improvement District that targeted multiple fish barriers and eroding banks. The project restored the stream bed and floodplains to near-natural conditions, and pedestrian bridges were installed to reduce the informal creek crossings that were causing bank erosion.

With all the discussion and news about the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act and coverage of a historic Lake Tahoe Summit event this year at Sand Harbor, I wanted to give you the big picture of the plan to restore Lake Tahoe by describing how just one exemplary project has improved the ecosystem.

Joanne Marchetta

While there have been many environmental successes of which we can be proud, there is still work to do and residents and property owners are going to play an increasingly important role.

The Third Creek restoration project is just one of more than 400 environmental projects that have been completed basinwide since 1997, the year that TRPA and basin partners chartered the new environmental investment strategy for Tahoe – the Lake Tahoe Environmental Improvement Program. The program is one of the most comprehensive regional scale restoration efforts in the nation.

The EIP as we call it was first imagined soon after the first Regional Plan was adopted by the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency in the 1980s. We saw that regulations alone were not achieving the ambitious environmental targets set for Tahoe. Most of the environmental damage comes from an outdated transportation network, the tens of thousands of existing homes and businesses built without water quality controls and the loss of 75 percent of Tahoe’s marshes to development.

To restore Lake Tahoe’s land, air and water will take more than growth control and design standards for new buildings.

This recognition and the need for urgent action galvanized support to charter the first Lake Tahoe Summit in 1997. Then President Bill Clinton and Vice President Gore convened here with state and local leaders and the heads of more than 50 organizations to create a collaborative partnership of the public and private sectors. Under the EIP, hundreds of projects have been completed improving water quality, reducing hazardous fuels, improving air quality though transportation and bike trail improvements, along with scenic and recreation enhancements. With each project, whether it be one property owner installing stormwater infiltration and erosion control measures or the opening of a new bikeway, there comes an instant recapturing of environmental glory.

On a spectator-packed hillside at Nevada’s Sand Harbor State Park, some distance south of the pure, cold pools of Third Creek, about 1,000 people gathered Aug. 19 to help mark the accomplishments of this truly ambitious program. On stage were many of the same leaders who helped usher in the first EIP — Gore, and Sens. (Harry) Reid, and (Dianne) Feinstein among others.

Top officials from myriad agencies like the EPA, U.S. Forest Service, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers joined local leaders like myself not only to mark the 15th anniversary of the Lake Tahoe EIP, but also to recommit our efforts to the successful completion of the program.

After nearly $1.7 billion of investment from the public and private sectors since that first Tahoe Summit the alarming decline in lake clarity has flattened and the average clarity is now the best it has been in 10 years. However, we know we are not done and there are significant challenges ahead. While much of the investment in the past 15 years has been in public restoration projects, private sector investments in erosion control and stormwater best management practices are still needed on approximately 25,000 properties. TRPA has improved regulations to encourage more home improvements and has created regulatory incentives that will bring sensitive land restoration with redevelopment.

Join us in answering Al Gore’s call to action – become actively engaged and discover your part to ensure that Lake Tahoe’s waters run clear, our forests are healthy, and we leave a legacy of conservation and cooperation for those who come after us.

Joanne Marchetta is the executive director of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency.

To the community,

I wanted to thank Liana Zambresky for her eloquent article in the August Tahoe Mountain News about healthy forests (thank you Carla Ennis, too, for your letter-to-the editor). I lack the scientific expertise to back Ms. Zambresky up, but I share her sentiments.

I have just come back from walking through the latest destruction zone that I used to call the sacred land of Fallen Leaf. I shed many tears, got sick to my stomach, shed some more tears and came home. I am cried out for the moment, but my heart is heavy and hurting. I sorrow for the friends that I will never see again and exchange the joy of being alive with, the once stately grove of trees. I sorrow for all the countless birds and animals that were nourished and sheltered by those trees. I feel sorry for my own loss, the shade, the peace, the sense of secret paths though you were close to a road. I sorrow deeply for the earth that misses her children and has had Her land savagely destroyed.

I have heard this called fuel reduction with the idea that it will save it from a future fire and improve its health. I walked through the Angora area after the fire, I live across from Seneca Pond on the other side of North Upper Truckee and my parents lost their home on Mule Deer. I understand the deep pain that fire cost our Tahoe residents and I mourned the forest then, too. But I sure don’t understand getting rid of a whole forest because you want to prevent it from burning in the future or think you are making it healthier by doing that.

I have heard there are good reasons for this practice, but I can’t seem to wrap my mind around them in the face of the visual evidence of what is left behind.

I am a minister at Unity at the Lake and it is very important to me to be a bridge builder and see/hear someone else’s point of view. When I can’t see the other side, then I know I have work to do … to remember that there are people behind the point-of-view and that those people have dreams, fears and people they care about … just like me. So I’m trying here. And yet my heart still cries and asks who will speak for the trees, the birds, the animals when they can’t.

I know that when people are on opposite sides of an issue it often is hard to find common ground; everybody just feels they are so “right”. And I certainly feel that way now but that doesn’t help the situation or our community.

Ms. Zambresky wrote that we are two years into an eight-year cycle of these kinds of projects. What I would love to do is take a walk with everyone in the Forest Service who believes in this plan (and still says it was carried out properly) and walk though the few remaining of my favorite walks and then walk through the newly created “healthy” forest. I believe we could get beyond words, agendas, computer models and plans and perhaps the sacred heart of the forest, although It beats in fewer places now, would talk to us … be the bridge between us. Perhaps you would light up from the inside in a way you’d never experienced before. We could share something special, and then I could listen to your concerns. And together we might be able to work at a solution, probably not totally to my satisfaction, probably not totally to yours. But maybe, just maybe we could come away knowing we worked on something together, perhaps a way that is less extreme and that doesn’t leave a divided community and a dead (OK my opinion, so, at the very least uninviting) forest.

Hillary Bittman, South Lake Tahoe

To the community,

Over 90 Bread & Broth dinner guests enjoyed the full course dinner that was sponsored by Corporate Nevada Ltd. on Aug. 5.

Corporate Nevada Ltd. owner Matt Wiggins and fellow sponsor volunteer crew member Amber Prevost greeted each of the guests and made sure that they got ample first round servings of the dinner menu items. As the evening progressed, they helped serve “seconds” and handed out “to go” packages.

“We really enjoyed the experience”, Wiggins said, adding, “The food looked great.”

The $250 that Corporate Nevada Ltd. donated covered the cost of the food, utility costs and materials needed to prepare the evening’s dinner. It was the first Adopt A Day of Nourishment that Wiggins had sponsored and he was impressed with the service provided to the needy of the South Shore by Bread & Broth.

Bread & Broth would like to thank the generosity of Matt Wiggins and his commitment to his community and helping the less fortunate. As a nonprofit, all volunteer organization, Bread & Broth is only able to continue its Monday evening dinners at St. Theresa Church’s Grace Hall and Friday evening meals at lake Tahoe Presbyterian Church for the less fortunate due to the support of sponsors like Corporate Nevada Ltd.

If you would like to support Bread & Broth’s program, please contact me at (530) 542.2876 or carolsgerard@aol.com.

Carol Gerard, Bread & Broth

To the community,

Our Lake Tahoe … is America’s national gem.

The quality of our water … is the lifeblood of our communities.

We drink it … we cook with it … we play in it … we rely on it for the nourishment of our souls.

Our Lake Tahoe water fills our bodies and minds with the promise of what is possible for all of us.

Every day, it assures us there is still enrichment and wonderment in our world.

Its astonishing beauty is available to each of us who live here … and to those who visit.

We never tire of looking at it … and we never, ever, take it for granted.

Our water permeates everything around us and in us … our forests, our wildlife, and even our hearts.

Our Lake Tahoe’s water brings life to our children, to our schools, and to our dreams and our passions.

We will always protect it and preserve it for future generations. Always.

It is a mandate given to us by the universe itself.

Others, however, view Lake Tahoe only as a source of money and wealth.

And their greed is insatiable.

Their lust is practically incomprehensible.

And we who live here suffer … because of them.

So, who would you prefer to believe?

Them, or us?

Welcome to the Lake Tahoe Summit.

Bill Casey, Incline Village

To the community,

It has been 17 years since President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore stood on the shores of Lake Tahoe and issued a challenge. They urged the frequently fractious perspectives in the region to come together in support of the restoration of Lake Tahoe. They incentivized their challenge with a renewed federal commitment to the Lake.

The states of California and Nevada, Washoe Tribe, regional agencies, local governments, business and community leaders, science community, and many residents and property owners responded to this challenge by shaping and supporting the Lake Tahoe Environmental Improvement Program (EIP). Widely recognized as a national model, this innovative multi-sector approach to restoration continues to serve as a framework for the investments necessary to achieve and maintain adopted environmental threshold standards.

Community leaders with diverse perspectives remain committed to the EIP through the Lake Tahoe Partnership, a network of private sector entities, and community and nonprofit organizations that advocate in support of the EIP. The partnership works closely with the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, state, federal, local government, and other partners to ensure a unified message as we seek federal, state, local and private funding.

During the period of 1997 through 2012, $1.69 billion was invested in the EIP. Nearly 414 projects have been completed and 194 are in progress or currently in planning, including:

• Improving erosion control measures on 628 miles of roadways.

• Treating 54,248 acres of hazardous fuels.

• Restoring 15,896 acres of wildlife habitat, including 1,509 acres of stream environmental zones.

• Adding 2,579 linear feet of shoreline for public access.

• Creating 136 miles of bike and pedestrian routes.

Since 2009, the Lake Tahoe Aquatic Invasive Species Program has conducted approximately 29,000 watercraft inspections, performed over 10,000 watercraft decontaminations, and treated more than 24 acres of weeds and Asian clam infestations in Lake Tahoe.

Last year, the collaborative commitment to Lake Tahoe was renewed again with adoption of the Regional Plan update. Thousands of people contributed ideas and feedback during the years of meetings, workshops, seminars, and public hearings that led to plan approval. The TRPA is implementing the plan update with widespread support from environmental and business groups, local governments, partner agencies, and the community at large. As part of this effort, California Gov. Jerry Brown and Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval demonstrated great leadership in recommitting their states to Lake Tahoe.

Recently, Sen. Dianne Feinstein introduced the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act of 2013, cosponsored by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Sen. Dean Heller, and Sen. Barbara Boxer. This legislation renews the federal commitment to Lake Tahoe. As the largest land owner and manager at the Lake, the federal government’s continued leadership and investment is essential to our collaboration.

We know it is our shared responsibility to help protect the unparalleled experiences Lake Tahoe offers, including public access to clean water, fresh air, healthy forests, mountains and streams, and pure drinking water. We understand that additional public and private investments are needed to address new water clarity standards, threats from invasive species and catastrophic wildfire, and the challenge of improving near shore clarity. We recognize that Tahoe is a diverse community where people live, work, and recreate. It is and will remain a national and international destination. We can and should use this vision as a call to action to help protect the lake. Policies and plans must support the revitalization of Tahoe’s economy, including the replacement of aging infrastructure built long before contemporary environmental regulations.

This in itself will achieve significant environmental benefits for the lake.

The Lake Tahoe Partnership embraces the updated vision for Lake Tahoe’s protection that has emerged over recent years as we face the challenges of the 21st century. We are solution oriented and proud of our successful track record in support of the EIP. As we approach the 2013 Lake Tahoe Summit and Mr. Gore once again joins us, we renew our commitment to the shared responsibility of protecting one of America’s most treasured, clear and pure lakes for current and future generations.

B Gorman, Lake Tahoe South Shore Chamber of Commerce

Darcie Goodman Collins, League to Save Lake Tahoe

Andrew Strain, Heavenly Mountain Resort

Amy R. Berry, Tahoe Fund

Steve Teshara, Sustainable Community Advocates

Sandy Evans Hall, North Lake Tahoe Chamber/VCB Resort Association

Nancy J. Gibson, Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit

Bob Larsen, Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board

Joanne Marchetta, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency

Cindy Gustafson, Tahoe City Public Utility District

Darrell Kizer, Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California

Tom Greene, Tahoe Prosperity Center

Jim Lawrence, Nevada Division of State Lands

Carl Hasty, Tahoe Transportation District