News Briefs
Keep Tahoe Blue Reveals Plans for New Environment and Education Center
LAKE TAHOE
The League to Save Lake Tahoe announced it is building a new environment and education center designed around opportunities for the public to learn, appreciate, and take part in protecting Lake Tahoe. The 65-year-old environmental nonprofit’s future home will be the Tahoe Basin’s premiere environmental facility and a hub for collaboration, volunteering, and community engagement focused on the league’s mission to “Keep Tahoe Blue.” The site will feature an outdoor amphitheater, native plant educational garden, citizen science laboratory, and environmental center open to the public, located at the busy intersection of U.S. Route 50 and Al Tahoe Boulevard in South Lake Tahoe.
The league’s recently announced capital campaign has been met with a huge outpouring of support. Those funds are added to the league’s own strategic savings and proceeds from the sale of its current building. After more than four years of careful financial planning and consultation with industry professionals, $4 million has been secured to create a space for everyone to take part in the movement to Keep Tahoe Blue.
To complete its vision for the new environment and education center, the league has set a fundraising goal of an additional $1 million, and is inviting community members to contribute what they can.
The former professional building at 2877 Lake Tahoe Blvd. — the league’s new Tahoe Blue home — has been completely reimagined and is being rebuilt thanks to expertise from Ward Young Architecture & Planning and Sierra Sustainable Builders, both Tahoe/Truckee area businesses. The property is currently undergoing renovations that will make it South Lake Tahoe’s only LEED-certified office building and a showcase of lake-friendly urban redevelopment. The league is aiming to move into its new space this fall.
The public is invited to view renderings, learn more about the project, and support the capital campaign at keeptahoeblue.org/new-home.
~ League to Save Lake Tahoe press release
Wildfire Prevention
TRUCKEE
The Glenshire-Brockway project between the Glenshire and Brockway summit southwest of Truckee is a 1,175-acre now-complete project set to reduce hazardous fuel loading between both neighborhoods. In collaboration with the U.S. Forest Service, National Forest Foundation, and the Truckee Fire Protection District, the project aimed to treat dense forest stands across public and private lands focusing on thinning brush and small trees for wildfire mitigation while maintaining the more fire-resilient trees.
This buffer could provide a critical advantage for firefighters trying to slow or stop an approaching wildfire as well as improve overall forest health and wildlife habitat across this important ecological area. “Over the last five plus years we have witnessed a dramatic increase in catastrophic wildfires across our region,” said Dan Alvey, NFF California Program Manager. “These fires, such as the Dixie and Caldor fires in 2021 and Mosquito Fire in 2022, were able to burn faster and hotter in part because of a significant build-up of brush and small-diameter trees. Projects like Glenshire-Brockway are reducing dangerous surface and ladder fuels to rebuild a healthy forest which is more resilient to fire.”
This project adds to the growing list of completed forest restoration projects on the Truckee Ranger District of the Tahoe National Forest.
~ NFF press release
Fire Protection District Introduces Life-Saving Technology
TRUCKEE
The Truckee Fire Protection District recently announced the adoption of PulsePoint in Truckee to further the fire district’s commitment to creating a healthy and civically engaged community. Benefits of PulsePoint, a free mobile app, include alerting CPR-trained citizens of cardiac events in their vicinity so they may administer aid; helping build a comprehensive automated external defibrillator (AED) registry; and informing the community of emergency activity in real time.
PulsePoint Respond empowers everyday citizens to provide life‐saving assistance to victims of sudden cardiac arrest. If the cardiac emergency is in a public place, the location-aware application will alert users in the vicinity of the need for CPR simultaneously with the dispatch of advanced medical care. The application also directs these potential rescuers to the exact location of the closest AED.
The companion app, PulsePoint AED, lets users report and update AED locations so that emergency responders, including nearby citizens, can find an AED close to them when a cardiac emergency occurs. Help build the community registry by using PulsePoint AED to describe the location of an AED and add a picture. This information is then staged for local authorities to verify. After that, the AED location data can be made available to dispatchers and anyone using the PulsePoint Respond app.
For more information about how PulsePoint is used by Truckee Fire, visit truckeefire.org/pulsepoint.
~ Truckee Fire Protection District press release
Chamber of Commerce Launches Lunch and Learn Series
TRUCKEE
The Truckee Chamber is launching a new monthly lunch and Learn program the second Wednesday of every month starting March 8, from 12 p.m to 1 p.m. at town hall. This new program will provide businesses with both networking and professional development opportunities during the lunch hour. Each month a new speaker will speak on topics important to Truckee and the North Lake Tahoe business community, followed by round table discussion topics from the group.
The first lunch and learn will feature Carissa Binkley, economic development program analyst for the Town of Truckee. Binkley will present on upcoming economic development programs and answer questions from the local business community. Future topics will include Truckee’s proposed single-use plastic ban, and how to network and leverage referral marketing. The lunch and learns are free for Truckee Chamber members and $20 for future members.
Those who are interested in sponsoring Truckee Chamber lunch and learns, have topic suggestions, or would like to learn more can reach out to Jessica Penman, president and CEO, at jessica@truckee.com.
~ Truckee Chamber of Commerce press release
Business Briefs
Sugar Bowl Resort Extends Ski Season
NORDEN
Having received 390 inches of snow so far this season — 154 inches fell in January alone — Sugar Bowl Resort announced it will extend its operations through April 23. The popular resort on Donner Summit plans to be open daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. through the end of the season, giving skiers and riders more time to enjoy deep turns and a robust snowpack.
Beginning March 1, Sugar Bowl’s spring pass will be on sale for $399 ($99 for children ages 5 to 12) and will be valid March 1 through April 23. In addition, passholders at other area resorts can escape to Sugar Bowl’s uncrowded slopes for only $89 per day. Simply show your valid season pass to any other Tahoe resort and purchase a lift ticket valid any day between March 1 and the end of the season.
In addition, the resort’s new tubing and snow play park, Sugar Rush, will remain open on weekends and holidays, and the Sugar Bowl hotel will remain open for Wednesday through Saturday night stays. Royal Gorge, North America’s largest cross-country ski area, will also continue daily operations from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. through April 23.
~ Sugar Bowl Resort press release
