Tahoe Truckee Region Local News: Environment


All Local Environment News articles contributed by our local media allies and other local newsrooms.

Image caption: A Pyrocumulus cloud generated by the Dixie Fire in July, 2021.
What is Fire 'Containment?' That and Other Terms, Explained

What does it mean when firefighters call a fire "contained?" Here's a brief guide to commonly used fire prevention terminology.

Image caption: A smoky blanket of particulate matter hovers over San Francisco’s skyline.
Getting Acquainted With AQI

Learn what's getting into Californians’ lungs and why it matters.

Image caption: California has a goal of 6 million heat pumps cooling and heating buildings by 2030.
6 Million New Heat Pumps: Essential to California's Climate Future

Heat pumps, an energy-efficient way to both heat and cool homes, are a necessary element of California's climate goal of net zero carbon emissions. Here's what they are, how they work, and how to get one.

Image caption: Does California’s signature environmental law protect the state’s scenic beauty, or cause more problems than it solves?
CEQA: The Surprising Story of CA’s Key Environmental Law

The California Environmental Quality Act, CEQA, is both the state’s signature environmental legislation, and is also often named as the villain in the state’s housing shortage. But the story may not be that simple.

Image caption: The Baldwin Hills area in South Los Angeles is one region where a state conservancy would keep open land accessible to the public.
California’s 10 State Conservancies: How They Protect Parks and Open Land

How California’s 10 state conservancies buy up open land and shield it from developers to preserve the natural environment for public use.

Image caption: Long-duration energy storage, such as this thermal energy storage facility, allows renewable energy sources to operate at full capacity without overloading the power grid.
How California Leads the Race For Long Duration Energy Storage

Long-duration energy storage is essential if renewables are to become the basis for a future, carbon-neutral power grid. Here's how California is leading the race to store energy from solar, wind, and other clean sources for use whenever it's needed.

Image caption: Since 1972, the California Coastal Commission has ruled over the state’s shoreline.
California Coastal Commission: Where It Comes From, What It Does

What is the California Coastal Commission? How one of the state’s most powerful agency protects public access to the state’s scenic coast from Mexico to Oregon.

Image caption: The Pajaro River levee broke during the 2023 atmospheric river storms, flooding the town of Pajaro.
Is California Ready for More Extreme Weather Driven by Climate Change?

This year, a series of extreme events in California and around the country have wreaked havoc, driven by climate change. How prepared are we for things to get worse?

Image caption: Since the Gold Rush era, land reclamation has cost California 90 percent of its wetlands.
How Land Reclamation Hurts California’s Environment

Since the Gold Rush era, land reclamation projects have helped to build California, but they are also damaging the state’s environment for people, plants and animals by eliminating essential wetlands.

Image caption: How California reclamation districts turned millions of acres of wetlands into fertile agricultural land, starting in the earliest days of the Gold Rush.
Reclamation Districts: Turning ‘Swamps’ Into Farmland

California has used reclamation districts to turn millions of acres of unusable swamps into fertile agricultural land, starting in the earliest days of the Gold Rush. Here’s how it happened.

Image caption: Kerry Wood, CEO of the Sacramento Region Community Foundation, says the organization researches areas of need to help donors direct their contributions.
What Is a Community Foundation?

By channeling funds to a number of nonprofits working on various issues in a given region, community foundations help solve big problems throughout California.

Image caption: They help feed the whole country, but life for California’s farm workers remains a struggle.
How California Feeds the Country

California stands as America’s agricultural powerhouse, growing half of its fruits and vegetables. Here’s how California farming has shaped the state, from the early missions to today’s “factories in the field.”

Image caption: From nitrates to arsenic to “forever chemicals,” California’s water supply faces a serious pollution threat.
Dirty Water: California Faces a Water Contamination Crisis

Almost one million California residents are forced to drink from contaminated water supplies, or pay for bottled water. Economic inequality makes the crisis worse. What is the state doing to fix it?

Image caption: Just because record rains have been falling, the state’s water crisis remains.
What Is Drought? Probably Not What You Think

2023’s torrential rainstorms have eased California's drought conditions. But there’s a lot more to drought than the amount of rain, and this drought isn't over yet.

Image caption: Moss Landing in Monterey Bay is the world’s largest battery storage facility for solar and other renewable energy.
Solar Power and California’s Clean Energy Goals

Solar power, and a network of giant battery storage facilities, are playing an essential role in moving California toward its goal of exclusive reliance on renewable energy sources.

Image caption: Over two weekends last October, residents of Santa Cruz and Watsonville  participated in demonstration rides aboard an electric streetcar on rails.
The ‘Rail Trail’ Movement, Explained

Thousands of miles of railroad track, including some in Santa Cruz County, now sit idle. The fate of those largely abandoned tracks has become a burning controversy.

Image caption: Supercell storms are just one of many weather phenomena in the era of climate change.
The New Vocabulary of the Climate Change Era

The climate change era has created a whole new set of terms for a wide variety of storms and other weather phenomena. Here are some of the most important.

Image caption: Mosquitos kill about 725,000 people every year, worldwide.
Taking a Bite Out of the Mosquito Population

The pesky mosquito can be deadly as well as annoying. Here’s how local governments in California have been waging war on mosquitoes for more than a century.

Image caption: RCDs look after the land, whether it’s used for grazing, growing, or getting out into nature.
California Dirt

What do resource conservation districts protect? Pretty much everything that’s worth saving.

Image caption: Water is a human right under California law, but it doesn’t always work out that way.
Agriculture and Water Shortages in the State’s Breadbasket, Explained

Residential wells are drying up in the state’s main agricultural region at the same time that agricultural businesses consume almost 90 percent of the water there.

Sierra Sun logo From Sierra Sun...

11/16/2024
Image for display with article titled Climate Transformation Alliance Hosts Webinar on Community-Led Thermal Energy Networks

The Climate Transformation Alliance, in collaboration with the North Tahoe Chapter of Citizens' Climate Lobby (CCL) and 100% Renewable Truckee, will host a webinar on "Community-Led Thermal Energy Networks: Learning from Vermont" on November 20 as part of its series for community leaders and the general public on "How to Electrify Buildings in Truckee Tahoe."

Tahoe Daily Tribune logo From Tahoe Daily Tribune...

11/13/2024
Image for display with article titled Sierra Nevada May Hold Key to Meet California’s Ambitious 30×30 Goal

California's 30 X 30 goal was a topic at the Sierra Nevada Alliance Conservation Conference held at Lake Tahoe Community College, Nov. 7-8. In 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom committed the state to conserving 30% of lands and coastal waters by 2030, and the key to meeting the ambitious goal could be right here in the Sierra Nevada.

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11/10/2024
Image for display with article titled Agencies ‘Excitingly’ Remove Taylor Tallac Creek Bottom Barriers, Still More Work to Do

Under the gaze of the freshly powdered Mt. Tallac, workers wade through Taylor Creek and Tallac Creek to pull up rebar, sand bags and what appear to be large black tarps.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

11/08/2024
Experts don’t know how much gas prices may rise from the revised California climate program, which tightens standards and gives incentives for low-carbon fuels. The board ordered an annual review of the cost impacts.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

11/07/2024
A lot is at stake with the new Trump administration: California’s water projects, its unique authority to clean its air, federal support for offshore wind and disaster aid for wildfires.

California Local Pin Marker From The Sacramento Bee...

11/05/2024
Learn more about how the just-passed $10 billion climate bond measure will fund resiliency projects across the state.

Tahoe Daily Tribune logo From Tahoe Daily Tribune...

11/03/2024
Image for display with article titled Philanthropy and Collaboration Are Driving Environmental Improvements at Lake Tahoe

We recently released our Tahoe Fund Annual Report, and it is clear that last year was full of transformational change for Lake Tahoe. Our partners throughout the region rallied around projects that are speeding up forest health treatments, undertaking large-scale conservation projects, and revolutionizing how recreation and tourism are managed. Much of this work is in large part due to the philanthropic generosity of our community.

Tahoe Daily Tribune logo From Tahoe Daily Tribune...

10/31/2024
Image for display with article titled Biannual Conservation Conference Returns to Tahoe, Focuses on Partnership

The Sierra Nevada Alliance is hosting its biannual conservation conference Nov. 7-8 at Lake Tahoe Community College in South Lake Tahoe. They've titled this year's theme as Strengthening Conservation Impact Through Partnership.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

10/31/2024
Sixty years ago, I was a reporter for the Klamath Falls (Oregon) Herald and News and with my family lived in a small house on the Link River, which flows out of Upper Klamath Lake, draining a large portion of the Cascade mountain range.

Tahoe Daily Tribune logo From Tahoe Daily Tribune...

10/30/2024
Image for display with article titled Field Notes: Life in the Eldorado National Forest After Wildfire Strikes

Charred trees punctuated the Eldorado National Forest like blackened skeletons of their former selves, victims of the Mosquito Fire. Two years earlier, in 2022, the Mosquito Fire started in Tahoe National Forest, moved north to the Eldorado, and torched a total of 76,788 acres, making it California's largest wildfire in 2022.

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10/28/2024
Image for display with article titled ‘Don’t Drop the Top’ Nets Biggest Collection Yet

The Shane McConkey Foundation's latest collection and sorting of plastic bottle caps and lids is keeping another 2,000-plus pounds of plastic out of landfills. The foundation gathered with 120 volunteers at Truckee Elementary earlier this month to sort the 1,945 pounds of tops that had been dropped in collection bins throughout the region.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

10/24/2024
Growers support a federal and state proposal for operating California’s massive systems that send river water south. But it could harm more salmon and other endangered fish.

Sierra Sun logo From Sierra Sun...

10/23/2024
Image for display with article titled Town Council Discusses Truckee Environmental Justice Analysis

The Truckee Town Council met on Tuesday, Oct. 22 to discuss a report on the Truckee Environmental Justice Analysis and an update regarding the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility (IDEA) Work Plan.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

10/21/2024
Capturing and storing carbon underground is a big part of California’s efforts to tackle climate change but community members and environmentalists say it prolongs the life of fossil fuels.

Sierra Sun logo From Sierra Sun...

10/10/2024
Image for display with article titled Truckee Town Council Discusses River Revitilization Project

The Truckee Town Council met on Tuesday, Oct. 8 to discuss an update from staff and the River Revitalization Steering Committee on the progress of the River Revitalization project. 

California Local Pin Marker From The Sacramento Bee...

10/08/2024
How to apply rebate as part of the recent $80 million state program to electrify homes.

Tahoe Daily Tribune logo From Tahoe Daily Tribune...

10/07/2024
Image for display with article titled Mast Year: Massive Seed Collection Success for the Sugar Pine Foundation

For the Sugar Pine Foundation – a local non-profit dedicated to restoring Tahoe's sugar pines and overall forest health – this September was incredibly busy with seed collection because 2024 proved to be a mast year for sugar pines and most conifers in the Tahoe region. This is significant because reforestation starts with collecting seed.

Tahoe Daily Tribune logo From Tahoe Daily Tribune...

10/01/2024
Image for display with article titled California State Parks Scuba Divers Show Off Conservation Efforts in Emerald Bay

Viewers of the "Guardians of Lake Tahoe: A Dive into Aquatic Conservation" webinar were treated to the unique experience of diving in the Emerald Forest, a part of the Emerald Bay filled with submerged trees and remnants of avalanches past. The California State Parks hosted a livestream of diver and state park interpreter Jeremy Lin as he performed an invasive species survey and explained the importance of preserving and protecting Lake Tahoe.

Tahoe Daily Tribune logo From Tahoe Daily Tribune...

10/01/2024
Image for display with article titled Bottom Barriers Successfully Kill 17 Acres of Aquatic Invasive Plants

A peak under the bottom barriers at the Taylor and Tallac creeks and marshes reveal the mats successfully treated 17 acres of aquatic invasive plants in one of Tahoe's largest aquatic invasive species control projects ever undertaken.

Tahoe Daily Tribune logo From Tahoe Daily Tribune...

09/27/2024
Image for display with article titled Motel 6 Memorandum of Understanding Between City and Conservancy

The boarded up and chain-linked Motel 6 site that's headed towards restoration was a topic at the City of South Lake Tahoe's City Council meeting on Tuesday night, Sept. 24.

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