After more than 8,500 pounds of litter was collected after the recent Fourth of July weekend, the Forest Service and League to Save Lake Tahoe have announced upcoming changes for visitors.
“What happened at Zephyr Shoals was absolutely unacceptable,” said Forest Supervisor Erick Walker from the USDA Forest Service, naming the National Forest location hardest hit with litter on July 4th. “Lake Tahoe is a national treasure, with 155,000 acres of public land that are open for everyone to enjoy. You wouldn’t empty a trash-filled cooler on your living room floor; it’s just as unthinkable to do it on a Tahoe beach.”
The Forest Service announced that Zephyr Shoals will be managed by a concession beginning this fall for the first time, similar to other developed National Forest sites around the Tahoe Basin. With a concessionaire managing day-to-day operations under a permit with the Forest Service, the public will continue to have access, but can expect changes like managed parking, enhanced trash management, signage, sanitation services, and staffing.
Working in partnership, the League to Save Lake Tahoe, Forest Service and other stakeholders have made a multi-year commitment to “Tahoe Blue Beaches,” a new model that centers around:
* Education – Proactive outreach prior to and during high-use times, combined with physical signage that gets people’s attention and clearly communicates the “Tahoe way” to responsibly enjoy the outdoors and prevent the impacts of bad behavior.
* Engineering – Adding trash cans, dumpsters, restrooms, and the staffing required for upkeep, along with designing access points that fit the natural contours of the site, because paved roads and buildings are not right for everywhere in Tahoe.
* Enforcement – Enforcing rules and regulations to ensure public lands aren’t misused or abused, following education and engineering.
(Keep Tahoe Blue contributed to this report.)
