By Lynne Paulson
Update November 12, 2021 (scroll down for 2018 post and call to action)
Thanks to great work by our coalition of conservation groups, grass-roots support, and legal action, California State Parks has withdrawn their plan to destroy Washoe State Park resources by moving the golf course in to the park (all under the guise of a river restoration project). While we celebrate this win, we must stay vigilant.
State Parks’ development of revised plans for the river restoration and golf course were delayed this past year by wildfire impacts to state parks. Now, 15 years after their initial project planning, State Parks established a new project team and planning for the project will begin. Because of the previously proposed Washoe Meadows project and several other examples, it is important that Sierra Club stays engaged with the process to ensure that natural, cultural and recreational resources are protected for present and future generations.
Please help Sierra Club keep Washoe Meadows State Park wild. Sign up to volunteer today.
In 2006 Sierra Club joined Washoe Meadows Community to organize a campaign against CA State Parks’ plan to move a golf course from an adjacent State Recreation Area into Washoe Meadows State Park near South Lake Tahoe. The state of California purchased Washoe Meadows in 1984, citing the land’s outstanding ecological assets— rare fens, meadows, forests, wetlands, and cultural sites. The state park is home to a diversity of wildlife—including black bear, pine marten, coyote, birds, and fish. The park also provides a range of no-cost, family-friendly recreation—hiking, jogging, bicycling, birding, snowshoeing and walking in nature.
With all the acreage of park land destroyed by the recent wildfires, Washoe Meadows State Park is even more important to protect.
Original post: July 17, 2018
California State Parks has a laudable goal of improving water quality flowing into Lake Tahoe from the Upper Truckee River, as it flows between Washoe Meadows State and Lake Tahoe Golf Course.
However, what appears to be their preferred alternative is to expand the golf course into Washoe Meadows State Park. This would fragment the state park and exchange some park land for land next to Highway 50 and an adjacent road, and it would cut off your public access to the river to allow for the expanded golf course.
Fragmenting of Washoe Meadows State Park and deteriorating of the region’s ecology should not be the price we pay to improve water quality to the lake. And it’s unclear this action would make the improvements necessary.
It’s clear the golf course was built too close to the river in the first place. The most sensible solution is to pull the golf course back from the river, then restore the riparian area to restore its healthy function and flow. Doing this reduces the space for the golf course.
This expanded golf course proposal was thrown out by a California First District Appellate Court ruling last November, but it appears to remain the preferred option as State Parks pursues this project again.
Although the Sierra Club understands the desire to maintain the economic value and recreational value of the Tahoe Golf Course, this cannot be done at the expense of the ecological function, beauty, wildlife habitat and recreational opportunities that California State Parks acknowledged when they designated Washoe Meadows State Park.
The Sierra Club believes the correct, balanced solution to this challenge is Option 3 in the EIR/EIS: reduce the size of the golf course, improve flow and function to the Upper Truckee River, while leaving Washoe Meadows State Park fully intact. The Sierra Club would also potentially support a new alternative which uses innovative design to keep the golf course on the East side of the river and provide a less impactful footprint.
Please click here to support this option to CA State Parks. Please add whatever comments you wish to your letter.
Learn more about the state’s plans here. The draft PAAEA for this project is available electronically to review and comment via download at State Parks’ web page: http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=981 (click on “El Dorado County”). The document is titled Notice of Availability Preferred Alternative 2B.