Executive Director.

TCSF is pleased to announce that Scott Ross of Truckee has been retained as Executive Director on a part-time basis. A graduate of the University of Michigan, Scott is a certified industrial hygienist, knowledgeable about environmental issues, a skilled facilitator and has been active in the Tahoe-Truckee Region since moving here three years ago. He most recently organized the successful Tahoe Truckee Forum for TTREC and TCSF. Welcome Scott!

New Board Members.

TCSF welcomes new board members Lori Gaskin, Vice President of Lake Tahoe Community College; Vance Peterson, President of Sierra Nevada College, and Eric Severance, Technology Consultant from the Severance Group.

Program Manager for the Sustainability Curriculum Program:

TCSF is seeking a part-time program manager for day to day management, grant writing and fundraising. Suggestions are welcome.

Program for Building Information and Technology Capacity.

The NTIA grant is evolving very well, with all goals being met and exceeded. The Tahoe Basin Wide Area Network (TBWAN) has 27 participating organizations. There are 24 completed homepages with three more in progress, as well as links to 6 more regional and national organizations. TCSF has trained over 400 persons, including at each organization to access and update their own pages as they identify and provide information and resources of value. See Regional Organizations

TCSF is conducting a mid-grant survey of the TBWAN partners and has received the following input so far: most TBWAN members use the internet for email and research (browsing for specific information), they want to see data and documents about the Region available over the internet, and they find TCSF's assistance very helpful in improving their internet ability. We welcome the participation of Lynn Purvis, Northern Sierra Nevada GIS, who will help us develop the survey information into a cost/benefit analysis.

TCSF is working towards specific applications of the technology to meet Regional needs. We are working with others on creating a Regional GIS, topical Regional issue forums and have already developed a data repository as part of the TBWAN. To date, TCSF has made available the TRPA Individual Parcel Evaluation System database (searchable in a mapped format), the Shorezone Consensus Committee Meeting Minutes and Issue Papers, and the Community Leaders in Classrooms Resource Guide. New features on the web include an Issue Forum which will highlight topical issues and provide all stakeholders access to relevant information and community dialogue. Just beginning, each topic will be continued for at least a month.

TCSF is pursuing grant funding to expand the TBWAN to additional organizations, fund pilot applications of GIS technology, and continue building an information resource of value to the Region.

Sustainability Curriculum Program.

Now in its third year, the program has been evolved by TCSF and its partners, Sierra Nevada College (SNC), and the University Extension, University of California at Davis (UNEX) to include:

1. Project development, coordination and evaluation. Ten student projects were developed at the 1996 SCP workshop, eight of which are now underway with TCSF's help. The projects now involve 17 teachers and more than 400 students. The projects include a community-oriented watershed fair, a comprehensive watershed management plan, a student-driven park design, and numerous water quality monitoring/improvement projects. Spring, 1997 will bring additional field work and project evaluation.
2. Community Leaders in Classrooms Training. The second CLC training was held successfully, thanks to the excellent presentations by area teachers Toni Rockwell, Sue Mock, and Vali Dees. Ten community members attended and received excellent insight into techniques for classroom participation.
3. Teacher preparation workshops. TCSF sponsored several focused after-school workshops during the fall and winter geared to helping teachers develop skills necessary to effectively promote sustainability education. These were oriented to field study methods and use of the Internet. The 1997 two-day teacher preparation workshop, Sustainability in the Sierra, is scheduled for May 9-10. We are glad to have registered returning and new teachers from the Tahoe-Truckee Region, as well as teachers from Marysville, Camptonville, and Nevada City. There is still room available and interested persons should contact Sue Rae Irelan, Program Manager.

Collaboration with Cape Cod:

A Memorandum of Understanding between organizations in the two regions has been signed. The MOU will use information technologies to allow each region to benefit from the experiences of the other. Armando Carbonell of the Cape Cod Commission participated in the annual Tahoe Truckee Forum in November, and Joseph Kruth of the Tahoe Center will participate in the Cape Cod program in May.

Workshop with Communities of the Future.

Rick Smyre of COTF and Joseph Kruth of TCSF have worked together for the past several years to develop capacities for community transformation. Their collaboration includes presentations at the World Future Society, and this year the WFS program in San Francisco on July 17-20 will include a full track called "Pathways to Sustainability." Following the WFS Conference, TCSF and COTF will cosponsor a Workshop in Napa Valley for 15 invited participants from around the U.S. who are working with new approaches in key areas such as leadership, life-long learning, effective decision-making models, the role of business, and the "Digital Economy." Information on "Pathways" can be found on the TCSF web page.