Organization: League to Save Lake Tahoe
Mission: The League to Save Lake Tahoe is dedicated to protecting and restoring the environmental health, sustainability, and scenic beauty of the Lake Tahoe Basin. We focus on water quality and its clarity for the preservation of a pristine Lake for future generations.
Activities: To achieve our mission the League to Save Lake Tahoe advocates for environmental protections and policies that are backed by science to ensure that Tahoe is resilient to the changing climate, we engage Tahoes diverse and evolving community of visitors and residents to protect Lake Tahoe by spreading awareness and taking action, and we create solutions to the challenges facing Tahoe that strike a balance between the enjoyment of the Lake today and preservation for future generations. Our work is focused on three primary campaigns: to Combat Pollution, Advance Restoration and Tackle Invasive Species.Our successes through our four focal campaigns are outlined below:Restoration of wetlands and habitat: With so much of Tahoes wetlands and forests damaged by past development, ecosystem restoration is key to bringing back the Lakes natural filtration system, creating a healthy and safe fire regime, and ridding the environment of harmful invasive species. Functioning and healthy forests, meadows, streams and marshes make for a resilient ecosystem that is better able to avoid catastrophic wildfire and adapt to other threats from a changing climate.Tahoe Forest Stewardship Days is the Leagues longest running community engagement event and Tahoes largest single day restoration volunteer effort. On June 22 for our spring event, 57 volunteers and partners braved the windy day to protect the endemic and sensitive Tahoe Yellow Cress plant at Baldwin Beach in South Lake Tahoe. Volunteers installed 300 feet of new fencing and planted 500 willow stakes around the TYC at the mouth of Tallac Creek, which flows to Lake Tahoe; cleared the beach of 14 pounds of litter; and monitored for aquatic invasive species around Baldwin Beach, in which no invasive species were found. At the fall event on September 21, 70 participants came out to the 22nd annual Fall Tahoe Forest Stewardship Day at Johnson Meadow along the Upper Truckee River. Volunteers planted 600 willow stakes and installed 60 willow fascines in 100 yards of the Upper Truckee River to stabilize the stream banks and prevent sediment from dumping into Lake Tahoe; removed 138 encroaching Conifer trees from a 1/4 acre of Aspen grove and meadow; removed 20 T-posts, two wooden posts, and 200 feet of remnant fencing leftover from historic cattle grazing days; removed approximately 128 cubic feet of down wood and branches for fuel hazard reduction; removed invasive weeds including 4,665 Curly Dock, 56 Bull Thistle, and 24 Salsify; removed 20 pounds of litter, including 148 cigarette butts and 378 plastic pieces (cleanup efforts were part of the larger regional Great Sierra River Cleanup.Controlling weeds: Eyes on the Lake is the Leagues citizen science program to help prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species in Tahoes waters. League staff train water recreationists to identify aquatic invasive plants and their native look-alikes in and around Lake Tahoe, complete short field surveys while out enjoying the water and report what they see. In 2019 we:Conducted 9 trainings certifying 66 volunteers166 surveys were completed In 2019, the Citizen Science team worked with a local designer to create a wooden countertop display that holds four preserved plant samples in plastic test tubes. The League also contracted with a printer to develop new accordion handouts to accompany the plant displays, which quick identification of aquatic invasive plants found in Lake Tahoe.Maintained bubble curtain at mouth of TKPOA channel into Lake TahoeInstalled and monitored Laminar Flow Aeration project at multiple locations within the Tahoe KeysContinued to work on the Tahoe Keys Lagoon Restoration Stakeholder ProcessProtecting our Shoreline: Tahoes shoreline beauty is deteriorating rapidly in some areas. Algae blooms, sediment, water weeds, and non-native clams are big problems. The shoreline ecosystem is rapidly changing. Trash and graffiti mar beaches and boulder areas. In 2018 the League helped to protect our Shorelines by:Keep Tahoe Blue Cleanups provide locals and visitors with opportunities to protect Tahoes shoreline and the surrounding watershed. Lake Tahoe attracts millions of visitors to enjoy its beaches and trails, but heavy use often means large quantities of litter left behind. We partner with land managers and local jurisdictions to target beaches and community areas where volunteer efforts will help most. The League collects data on the trash collected to identify hot spots and advocate for solutions. In 2019 we hosted 28 cleanups with 887 volunteers who helped us collect over 3,300 pounds of trash. Through these cleanups we cleaned 38 miles of beach and collected 24,363 cigarette butts.Fighting pollution: Unchecked past development paved over much of Tahoes natural pollution filtration system its marshes and wetlands. Now, rain and melting snow moving over our roads, buildings and parking lots releases fine sediment pollution that flows into the Lake, a threat that is intensified by climate change. Litter, like cigarette butts and single-use plastics, also harm the Lakes health and degrade its unmatched natural beauty. Our vision for Tahoe is one where the general public, visitors, core volunteers, community members and better businesses are all an active part of the solution to protecting our Lakes clarity. We continue to work to bring alternative transportation methods like Lime bikes and microtransit like Chariot to South Lake. These smart transportation ideas encourage visitors and locals to use greener methods of transportation. Our transportation and stormwater accomplishments in 2019:Snapshot Day: Snapshot Day is an annual event occurring each May, in which volunteers take a snapshot of the health of the Tahoe-Truckee watershed by collecting water quality data from select streams and lakes in the Tahoe Basin. The Leagues efforts are focused on the upper watershed, which includes the headwaters of the Upper Truckee River and Lake Tahoes South Shore from Meeks Bay to Zephyr Cove. In 2019 90 volunteers attended Snapshot Day and monitored 34 sites.Pipe Keepers: Pipe Keepers is the Leagues citizen science program to address stormwater runoff into Lake Tahoe. Unchecked twentieth-century development paved over much of Tahoes marshes and wetlands, which had acted as natural pollution filters. Now, when rain hits our roads and parking lots, it washes off fine sediment, the number one threat to Lake clarity, and other pollutants into storm drains that lead to the Lake. League experts train community members to assess and monitor the condition of stormwater infrastructure and collect stormwater samples for turbidity analysis during the first big storm of the year and large snowmelt events. Volunteer efforts help League staff locate and address pipes that are dumping high levels of sediment into Lake Tahoe. League staff then collaborate with agency partners to find solutions for the most-polluting pipes, so we can stop pollution before it enters the Lake. In 2019 we trained 23 volunteers who made 163 assessments of pipes.
NTEE category: Environment
Secondary category: Animal-Related