May 2024 Conservancy Newsletter
Published: May 23, 2024
May has delivered extraordinary natural events for the Sierra, with a major snowstorm to start the month and the spectacle of the aurora shining over Lake Tahoe. For the Conservancy, warming weather aligns with the start of field season. Work is getting underway to restore sensitive Conservancy lands, protect water quality, maintain our properties and facilities, reduce wildfire risk, and improve forest resilience. I’m excited to welcome our new field crews and new Conservancy employees, including five seasonal forestry aides.
Jason Vasques, Executive Director
California Tahoe Conservancy
Title photo courtesy of Brent Coe.
May is Wildfire Awareness Month
Wildfire Awareness Month is well underway, and the Tahoe Fire and Fuels Team (TFFT) is leveling up the region’s wildfire preparedness efforts via its Lake Tahoe Wildfire Awareness Campaign. The campaign includes many events and will run from May through October, highlighting the message: “Get Defensive – Create Defensible Space.”
Ways that homeowners can do their part to “Get Defensive” include:
- registering for a defensible space inspection and chipping services through your local fire agency,
- hardening your home to reduce the risk of ember ignition, and
- becoming a Fire Adapted Community Leader and connecting with your neighbors to encourage community projects and working with your local fire agency.
To learn more, visit www.TahoeLivingWithFire.com
Video Series: How Work by Homeowners and Land Managers Reduces Wildfire Risk
As we learned in the 2021 Caldor Fire, many factors determine whether a community will withstand a major wildfire. As noted above, homeowners can help prepare through home hardening and increasing defensible space, and becoming a Fire Adapted Community. Land managers like the Conservancy contribute through treating forested public open space lots, with goals to enhance wildlife habitat, water quality protection, and forest and wildfire resilience. Well-managed open space lots also provide safe space for firefighters to operate and protect neighborhood homes in the event of a wildfire. This series of videos, developed in partnership with Outside Lake Tahoe TV for the TFFT, shows how these homeowner and land manager approaches complement each other.
Preparing Future Projects to Improve Forest Health, Protect Neighbors
The Conservancy’s new seasonal forestry aides have begun preparing forestry projects on state and federal open space lots. Under a good neighbor authority agreement with the USDA Forest Service, the Conservancy’s Community Forestry program is able to treat all the public open space lots in a neighborhood at the same time to reduce wildfire risk. But first we need to prepare each project. The forestry aides identify project boundaries and mark trees for removal. Read on to meet five of the six new forestry aides, along with other new Conservancy employees. (The sixth forestry aide begins work in June.)
Community Forestry Operations Begin
In June, the Conservancy anticipates that work will begin on projects to improve forest health and reduce hazardous fuels on public open space parcels in El Dorado County on the west shore. Contractors will treat hundreds of parcels owned by the Conservancy, the USDA Forest Service-Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, and El Dorado County.
Later this summer, the Conservancy expects work to begin on forestry projects on public open space parcels in Placer County along the west shore, as well as a 150-acre forestry project on Conservancy property near the Golden Bear subdivision on the south shore.
Photo: California Conservation Corpsmembers sending branches and brush from Conservancy land into a chipper.
Field Crews Begin Work
The Conservancy’s longstanding collaboration with Tahoe Resource Conservation District (Tahoe RCD) continues, with this year’s seasonal field crews beginning work. Forestry, land management, and restoration crews work on projects to maintain and restore Conservancy lands, reduce wildfire risk and improve forest resilience, and protect Lake Tahoe’s water quality.
Strategic Plan Development Moves Ahead
Thanks to all who contributed input during the recent public comment period for the Conservancy’s draft 2024-2029 Strategic Plan (and to all who provided input along the way during the preceding year of public engagement and collaboration with partners). The Conservancy is considering all comments, and expects to bring a final version of the Plan forward for potential approval by the Conservancy Board in June.
Grantee Spotlight:
Accessible New Restrooms for Lake Forest Boat Ramp
The Conservancy congratulates the Tahoe City Public Utility District (TCPUD) on the official grand opening of their brand-new restrooms at the Lake Forest Boat Ramp. The new restrooms—which are heated and meet accessibility standards of the Americans with Disability Act (ADA)—will serve people visiting the popular recreation site year-round. The Conservancy awarded a $75,000 grant to TCPUD to support the project.
Conservancy Staff Updates
New Employees
Marlon Charneau
Tahoe Livable Communities Supervisor
Marlon Charneau joined the Conservancy in April as the Tahoe Livable Communities (TLC) Program Supervisor. Marlon oversees staff engaged in land acquisitions, exchanges, sales, and land banking of development rights. He also ensures the TLC Program supports climate adaptation and affordable housing and sustainable community development initiatives. Prior to joining the Conservancy, Marlon gained experience in land use planning and natural resources management in California and Nevada. As an associate planner with a private firm, Marlon reviewed environmental permits in the Tahoe region and helped clients implement land use strategies for recreational, commercial, and residential projects. As a Sierra Corps Forestry Fellow, Marlon helped develop forest health projects and fire-adapted community programs to increase the pace and scale of projects and build local capacity in underserved communities. Marlon has a Master of Science in Environmental Policy and Management from the University of Denver and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Colorado Boulder.
Maiya Greenwood
Tahoe-Central Sierra Initiative Coordinator
Maiya Greenwood joined the Conservancy in April as the Tahoe-Central Sierra Initiative (TCSI) Coordinator. TCSI is a collaborative effort aimed at restoring resilience across 2.4 million acres of Sierra Nevada forested watersheds. In this role, she collaborates with partners to promote local economic opportunities, coordinate across jurisdictions, develop innovative approaches to advance restoration goals, and scale successes. Maiya’s career has focused on advancing watershed restoration, conservation, and social equity in the Sierra Nevada through on-the-ground restoration projects, science, partnerships, and tribal engagement. Before joining the Conservancy, Maiya worked for a nonprofit focused on restoring and protecting the nation’s rivers and communities. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Aquatic Biology from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Adam Henriques
Associate Environmental Planner, Land Management Program
Adam Henriques joined the Conservancy in April as an associate environmental planner in the Land Management Program. In his new role, Adam develops and oversees agreements authorizing the use of Conservancy lands and leads management of Conservancy recreational facilities. He brings over a decade of professional experience in natural resource conservation and management in the Lake Tahoe region with land management agencies, regulatory agencies, nonprofits, and private contractors. Most recently, Adam was an environmental scientist at the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board, where his primary responsibilities included issuing and overseeing water quality permits for forestry and in-water activities.
Seasonal Forestry Aides
The Conservancy recently hired six seasonal Forestry Aides who work on forest health and fuel hazard reduction projects on Conservancy lands, primarily identifying project boundaries and marking trees for removal. Five have begun work, with a sixth joining staff in June.
Cameron Grant
Forestry Aide
Cameron Grant is starting his fourth year at the University of Utah, studying Urban Ecology and Environmental Science. Cameron grew up in Markleeville, attending school presentations from the Tahoe Conservancy. He worked on landscaping and fuels reduction for private property during high school.
Kristina Sessler
Forestry Aide
Kristina Sessler previously worked for California State Parks and the National Park Service in positions ranging from visitor services to vegetation management. Last summer, Kristina served on a revegetation crew in Yosemite National Park. Her first conservation-related job was an American Conservation Experience internship on Catalina Island managing invasive plants.
Spencer Thirtyacre
Forestry Aide
Spencer Thirtyacre has implemented fuels reduction and invasive species removals throughout the American Southwest. A Certified California Naturalist, Spencer has experience teaching in classrooms and outdoor education. He has led conservation crews in Alaska and the central Sierra Nevada.
Jordan Vena
Forestry Aide
Before joining the Conservancy, Jordan Vena’s experience has included serving as a Sierra Nevada Americorps Partnership member, providing outreach and program assistance for Tahoe RCD’s Fire Adapted Communities program. He worked on raptor bird monitoring as an intern at the San Diego Port Authority through the Geopaths Program of the University of California, Santa Cruz. Jordan earned his bachelor’s degree in Earth Science from UC Santa Cruz.
Alek Wheeler-Quintanilla
Forestry Aide
Alek Wheeler-Quintanilla earned his Bachelor of Science in Forestry and Natural Resources from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. Alek spent many summers in the Eastern Sierra.
Upcoming California Tahoe Conservancy Board Meetings
The Board will meet on June 20, 2024. An agenda will be available on the Conservancy website ten days prior to the meeting.
Lake Tahoe in the News
Online dashboard tracks Tahoe’s climate resilience – Tahoe Daily Tribune, April 30, 2024
Placer County awarded $1.2M grant to construct Segment 1 of North Tahoe Trail – Sierra Sun, May 3, 2024
California State Parks offers free admission to veterans, active and reserve military on Memorial Day – South Tahoe Now, May 20, 2024
Show Your Love for Tahoe While Protecting It
When you order a California Lake Tahoe license plate, you help build biking and hiking trails, restore fish and wildlife habitat, and protect Lake Tahoe’s famous beaches and blue waters. 96 percent of all funds from Tahoe plate sales come back to Lake Tahoe.
Show Your Love for Tahoe While Protecting It
When you order a California Lake Tahoe license plate, you help build biking and hiking trails, restore fish and wildlife habitat, and protect Lake Tahoe’s famous beaches and blue waters. 96 percent of all funds from Tahoe plate sales come back to Lake Tahoe.