Significant accomplishments accompany skeptical speculation on Clinton summit

Tahoe Daily Tribune

July 27, 1997
By Rob Bhatt
Tribune Staff Writer

An undercurrent of cynicism accompanied the made for television photo opportunities and sound bites portrayed by media representatives that converged upon Lake Tahoe this weekend.

Few in the press corps doubted the need for federal support - and more importantly, funding - to help aid efforts to restore the Tahoe Basin's ecological health. And, as CBS White House Correspondent Bill Plante pointed out, providing access to lakefront property for the Washoe Tribe and funding for 25 environmental improvement projects can be considered significant accomplishments.

But there was no shortage of speculation among regional and national media representatives covering the event about the potential ulterior motives behind the executive office's benevolence.

"Events like this are what the administration is doing to show the public that it cares about the issues they care about," Plante said during a break in Saturday's action at the Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe in Incline Village. "It shows this administration in a positive light for people who care about these things, and it's good for (Vice President Al) Gore."

With Gore widely considered the top contender to be the Democratic Party's presidential nominee in 2000, the campaign implications are limitless.

On both Friday and Saturday, the candidate-in-grooming praised Tahoe Basin leaders for striking a balance between the often competing goals of environmental health and economic stability.

"Five years ago, the environmental themes in Clinton's platform seemed to involve conflict, especially when logging interests were involved," said Tom Knudson, environmental writer for the Sacramento Bee. "It's very possible that in the year 2000, using Lake Tahoe as an example, Gore may change it to cooperation."

Of course, much of the work that made the president and vice president's visit to the area a success occurred long before Air Force One and Air Force Two touched down in the Sierra Nevada.

For most of this decade, environmental advocates have developed compromise with business interests, and vice versa, in the Tahoe Basin.

Gaming and ski industry officials have come to accept the need for a healthy environment as the trump card that attracts visitors to Lake Tahoe from other areas. And projects like South Lake Tahoe's redevelopment have helped demonstrate that development and environmental improvements are not mutually exclusive.

But there are communities in the Pacific Northwest that rely on logging as their primary economic engine. In these areas, the conflict between business and the environment is more heated and consensus may be more difficult to attain. "Here (in Lake Tahoe) is an opportunity that is easy pickin's," said Timm Hurdt, Sacramento Bureau reporter for the Ventura County Star. "It's a chance to come in and do something where everyone's going to love you. Everyone in the administration is looking for a chance to come in and look like a hero when the community has already done the work."

Many of those who live, work and visit Lake Tahoe are already familiar with the issues discussed during the weekend and the five workshops with Cabinet officials in the weeks leading up to the summit.

But sometimes it takes a presidential visit to bring these issues to the attention of those with the power to rectify the problem - namely Congress and federal Cabinet secretaries.

As Hurdt said, "The president is not the story, and the vice president is not the story. The lake is the story, and their presence brought attention to it."