The Loma Prietan - November/December 2009

Proposed golf course in Washoe Meadows State Park. Illustration by Nina Khashchina.

The California Department of Parks and Recreation wants to restore the Upper Truckee River where it runs through the Lake Tahoe Golf Course in the Lake Valley State Recreation Area. That's the good news. Because of past abuses, this stretch of the river is a huge contributor of fine sediment and nutrients to Lake Tahoe, decreasing the lake's clarity.

The bad news is they want to move much of the golf course into the adjacent Washoe Meadows State Park.

Located near South Lake Tahoe at the base of the escarpment leading to Echo Summit, the park consists of meadows, woodlands, wetlands, and bogs. The wetland and bog communities are unique in the Sierra Nevada. The bogs contain deep holes connected by subsurface stream flows. These unique botanical and hydrologic features must be preserved.

An alternative proposal to reconfigure the golf course within the State Recreation Area is a better option, especially since golfing is declining and other lower-impact forms of recreation such as snowshoeing and hiking are increasing.

A draft Environmental Impact Report is expected in early February 2010. There will be a 60-day comment period.

Nancy Graalman of Defense of Place notes that by California law, "State parks are part of the public heritage to be preserved for current users as well as future generations. All of us need to take action to defend these precious resources wherever they are threatened" Defense of Place (www.defenseofplace.org) is the nation's only organization exclusively devoted to protecting parks, open space, and wildlife preserves.

The golf course was built in the 1950s in the area along the east side of the Upper Truckee River. Straightening sections of the river and building the golf course too close to it damaged the wet meadows and floodplain habitat. Sediment continues to flow into the river, eventually reaching Lake Tahoe.

In 1984 the State purchased a 777-acre parcel of private land to save it from development. The Department of Parks and Recreation established the Lake Valley State Recreation Area on 181 acres, mostly east of the river, incorporating the golf course, and Washoe Meadows State Park on the remaining 596 acres, west of the river.

In 2006 the proposal to restore the river and move the golf course was made, along with a number of options including the "preferred" option of restoring the river and relocating nine holes of the golf course to the state park. In exchange, part of the existing golf course would be restored and added to the park. This alignment of the golf course along the entire segment of the river under restoration would result in fragmentation of the park, disruption of wildlife corridors, damage to a unique fen and wetland area, and disturbance or covering of prehistoric sites. Many acres of the state park would be transformed from a wildlife habitat to a heavily managed golf course with non-native greens, paved paths and herbicide spraying.

Despite the budget crisis surrounding the state parks, we don't want to allow a supposed "improvement" project like this to be planned and ready for implementation when additional funds become available. An alternate solution must be achieved that protects the park and still restores the river.

Lynne Paulson is a member of the Chapter's Guadalupe Group and a former member of the Chapter's Sustainable Land Use Committee. Contact her at LCPaulson@comcast.net.

John Wilkinson is chair of the Chapter's Wilderness Committee.