Ever-changing regulations from state and local officials have everyone continuing to ride the pandemic roller coaster. Add to that the cloistered lives many of us of all ages are leading these days, and we’re all going stir crazy.
Visitors to the Tahoe Sierra are feeling that, as well, and are seeking refuge in our mountain enclave to breath in the fresh air, take in the outdoor beauty and have the ability to move freely in open spaces. I can understand that, as my saving grace during the last year has been the ability to go on a walk, a hike, to the beach, out on the boat or to go snowshoeing and cross-country skiing, all while safely away from others.
That need to seek refuge in the Tahoe Sierra has also brought with it a tidal wave of trash on the beaches and trails in the summer and now to the sled hills and parks in the winter, as Priya Hutner writes in her feature on “Tahoe’s trash trouble continues” in this edition.
Unfortunately, this isn’t a new issue in our community, but is one that exponentially became worse during the pandemic (read Tahoe Weekly’s five-part series on tourism impacts last summer at TheTahoeWeekly.com). Litter has been a problem in the Tahoe Sierra for years, although on a smaller scale, but it was always present. Years of ignoring the issue or inadequately addressing the issue by most local government agencies started us down this road and their inability to react quickly to the problem overwhelmed our communities last summer.
The League to Save Lake Tahoe is one of the few organizations that has long tried to deal with the problem through education and its trash clean ups, but it’s too much for any one government agency or nonprofit to handle.
Since the start of the pandemic and the onslaught of trash, we’ve seen some increased trash service and more trash bins in some communities, but not all. Most of the hard work has been done by community groups and nonprofits like Tahoe Fund, the League and Clean Up the Lake picking up trash, organizing cleanups, educating the public and trying to get government officials to do more faster. There have been some innovative solutions like installing trash compactors in downtown Truckee and corrals for broken plastic sleds at popular sled hills.
It’s time to be bold, move swiftly and spend money for more trash bins and increase garbage collection in every community, in every town, and at every local, state and federal park and trail. Paying for these services won’t be cheap, but sacrificing our community, the safety of our wildlife, the health of our local waterways and the condition of our parks and trails – the lifeblood of our tourism economy – will be even more costly. A cost none of us can afford.
