Strong economy the fix for Lake Tahoe

Tahoe Daily Tribune

July 25, 1997
Our View (Editorial)

When opportunity knocks, for God's sake open the door.

So it is with Lake Tahoe and this weekend's summit on our town and our basin hosted by President Clinton and Vice President Gore.

What an unprecedented opportunity for our town to grab the federal government by the proverbial ear and tell it to pay some attention to this national treasure before it's too late.

It's an opportunity for the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, with help from myriad federal agencies, to address issues like water quality, transportation, the economy, tourism, salvage logging - issues that cut to the heart of our community. They are issues that will ultimately determine whether Lake Tahoe remains on the mantle of national pride or burns up in catastrophic wildfire.

As a counter to those skeptics who claim that nothing of value will come from this grandiose photo opportunity is the hundreds of collective hours spent planning and organizing by high-ranking government employees over the last several weeks, long before Marine 1 touches down in Incline Village on Saturday with Bill Clinton aboard.

A steering committee of 15 community leaders has met with the likes of Cabinet members and their staff - intermixed among three public forums - to pare voluminous amounts of information into a palatable package the president can digest. Those are thankless hours given freely for the betterment of Lake Tahoe.

According to Tom Tuchmann, western director for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, "What we hope to achieve is helping local, regional and state governments help the community to do their job better - to meet the goals in their vision. The measure is, 10 years from now, is water quality decline arrested? Or, even better, clear?

"Are we doing something with our forest health problems? Are we able to assist local and regional government with transportation problems?

"There is an array of things that can occur if you get the right (federal) agency on board," Tuchmann said.

The top-level aide added that Tahoe, especially the South Shore, is a rural community with urban issues. What that means is because of Tahoe's relatively meager year-round population base, South Lake Tahoe doesn't qualify for many federal programs and subsidies, yet it still has to provide for the hundreds of thousands of visitors who recreate here every year.

If decision-makers in the federal government realize this, a plight common among resort communities, they may amend legislation that frees up federal resources and programs for the basin.

And for the South Shore's struggling business community, the presidential visit provides an opportunity to underscore that a strong economy will inevitably help strengthen the environment. Although business leaders did meet with Tuchmann this week, it may be too little, too late.

It may be healthy to remain skeptical of the promises made by those who work for the federal government, but closing the door on a presidential opportunity could be the hardest knock of all.