When I bought the Tahoe Weekly in November 2013, one of my priorities for the magazine was to enhance our outdoor coverage on an issue of personal importance to me – the public’s right and ability to access public lands.
We are surrounded by vast swaths of public lands, but we are limited to accessing those lands by a lack of parking, transportation, trailhead facilities, trail maintenance, signage and education. All these issues are exasperated in the winter by a shocking lack of snow removal at parking areas that would allow backcountry skiers, snowshoers, snowmobilers and sledders to use the lands that they have a right to access.
A myriad of problems are at work here including a lack of funding and a lack of vision by government agencies. Many local nonprofits, volunteers and businesses have stepped in to address and fund solutions to increase the public’s access, including the Tahoe Back-country Alliance.
While we’ve been covering back-country access issues in the Tahoe Weekly since 2014, this is the first time we’ve compiled our coverage into a single edition to provide an update on parking and transportation access along with safety and education information.
Back-country use has skyrocketed during the pandemic and shows no signs of slowing down. But before stepping into the back country, everyone needs to have some basic knowledge of the challenges and potential dangers. Take some time to read our inaugural Tahoe Sierra Back-Country Guide, then sign up for some educational courses and take a guided tour into our beautiful and seemingly boundless back country.
Tahoe Weekly’s 40th
In February, we’ll be celebrating the 40th anniversary of Tahoe Weekly. I have some fun celebrations I’m hoping we’ll be able to hold later this year when it’s safer, in the meantime we’re kicking off our anniversary by sharing some of our covers from the first 40 years. We’ll be sharing these covers in our print editions (see page 27), as well as @TheTahoeWeekly on Facebook and Instagram, and in our newsletter (you can subscribe at TheTahoeWeekly.com). We’ll have different covers featured on each platform, so you’ll have to check them all out to fully enjoy our covers.
Wine column hiatus
Sommelier Lou Phillips is taking a break from penning his wine column for a few months. In the interim, we’ll be reprinting excerpts from our guidebook “Wineries of the Sierra Foothills,” which features 20 winemaker stories along with original recipes created to pair with landmark wines. The book also includes a directory of all 286 wineries organized to make wine touring in the Sierra Foothills easy.
