March 15, 2013

Squaw Valley Pulls Proposed Roller Coaster

In a March 14 letter to Placer County planners, Squaw Valley Executive Vice President Mike Livak announced intentions to pull its proposed roller coaster, the ‘Timberline Twister’, stating, “At this time, due to considerations and capital priorities, Squaw Valley hereby withdraws the project.”

The proposed roller coaster was part of a series of projects designed to remake Squaw Valley into a four-season destination, with new condos, as many as eight new hotels, and other theme-park like attractions – even an indoor water park.

The ‘Timberline Twister’ would have plunged down a 3,000 foot track as high as 43 feet above the ground.  It was projected to draw a maximum of 400 visitors an hour, day and night.

Conservationists had urged Placer County officials to assess the project not as a stand-alone proposal but, instead, as part of the sweeping changes proposed for Squaw.

“We’re glad the proposed roller coaster was stopped in its tracks,” said Tom Mooers of the regional conservation group Sierra Watch.  “We need to make sure each project fits into a broad vision for Squaw Valley in order to safeguard the values of the entire Tahoe Sierra.”

Faced with additional impending proposals, a group of local homeowners has come together as Friends of Squaw Valley; their mission is to “advocate for environmentally sustainable, economically viable, and aesthetically compatible development in Squaw Valley while preserving its community character.”

One of its members, Sally Brew, who has owned a home in Squaw for more than fifty years, welcomed the news and asserted that the project’s withdrawal will encourage better decision-making, “We look forward to working together for good community planning for Squaw Valley.”

Just when you thought winter had made an early exit, it's snowing!  Our watersheds and snowpack 
sure need it, and skiers and riders can rejoice.

Donner Summit Ski Deal

If you want to hit the slopes – and help support Donner Summit, pick up a five-pack of lift tickets 
for only $99, good for passes to Sugar Bowl, Donner Ski Ranch, Boreal, Soda Springs, and Royal Gorge.

Five-packs are available at the Soda Springs General Store and Donner Ski Shop; proceeds go to the 
Donner Summit Area Association.

 Donner Ski Ranch (pictured)

Squaw Valley

If neighboring Squaw Valley is your favorite mountain, you'll want to learn more about impending 
development proposals.  KSL Capital is proposing to remake Squaw into an intensely developed, 
year-round destination resort.

Initial proposals include a roller coaster, an indoor water park, and more than 1,000 development 
units - enough condos and hotels to double existing development in Squaw Valley.

Just as we've done in Martis Valley and on Donner Summit, Sierra Watch is tapping our own proven 
experience and retaining expert resources to engage in the planning process and assess opportunities 
to shape a great future for Squaw.

For more background, check out the Sacramento Bee's coverage or give our Field Director, 
Peter Van Zant a call (530) 265-2849.

Dyer Mountain

Last, we mark with sadness the passing of Steve Robinson – a great friend to Sierra Watch and 
the hero of Dyer Mountain.

Steve Robinson (pictured)

We first met Steve in 2001, when he paid a visit to the Nevada City headquarters of Sierra Watch 
and told us about the proposal to develop Dyer Mountain, with 4,000 new homes, three golf 
courses, and a ski resort on 7,000 acres of undeveloped forest and meadow – the biggest development
proposal in the Northern Sierra; it would have doubled the population of Lassen County.

For the next twelve years, we worked with Steve to defend Dyer, and we supported his success in 
building up his own grassroots group, Mountain Meadows Conservancy.

Working together, we did turn back those development proposals, but the long-term fate of Dyer 
Mountain is still undetermined.  Steve left us with an incredible mountain – still free of subdivisions 
and home to bald eagles.  Now it's our job to complete our shared vision and secure the permanent 
protection it deserves.

If you have any questions or comments about the work we do, please feel free to contact me.

Tom

Happy Holidays indeed!

We can’t imagine better news for our Sierra Nevada.

Landmark land deal protects key piece of Sierra Nevada

http://www.mercurynews.com/science/ci_22234372/landmark-land-deal-protects-key-piece-sierra-nevada

By Paul Rogers
progers@mercurynews.com

Posted:   12/21/2012 12:02:00 AM PST

DONNER SUMMIT — For more than 150 years, waves of change have flowed through the lodgepole pines, glorious meadows and granite outcroppings at Donner Summit in the Sierra Nevada. There were wagon trains, then workers laying track for the transcontinental railroad and more recently vacationers and skiers from around the world.

Now, a landmark deal to protect 3,337 acres here along the crest of the Sierra Nevada range just west of Lake Tahoe ensures little else will disturb the majestic landscape.

In a sale that closed late Thursday, a coalition of environmental groups based in Palo Alto has paid $11.25 million to buy the Royal Gorge Cross Country Ski Resort, the site of a recent development battle that highlighted choices for the future of the mountains that naturalist John Muir once called “the Range of Light.” The deal ends developers’ plans to build hundreds of luxury condominiums, retail stores and hotels.

“This is truly one of the great stories of conservation in the Sierra Nevada in our generation,” said Tom Mooers, executive director of Sierra Watch, an environmental group based in NevadaCity. “It’s a continuation of the legacy that started with the protection of Yosemite in the 19th century and saving MonoLake in the 20th century. Future generations will appreciate it forever.”

Located six miles west of Truckee, the property is the largest cross-country ski resort in North America. But since it opened in 1971, Royal Gorge has remained a low-key destination with about 100 miles of cross-country trails, and none of the heavy development that characterizes many Colorado and Lake Tahoe downhill resorts.

It became a flash point, however, in 2005, when a group of Bay Area developers purchased the land for a reported $35 million. The partnership included Todd and Mark Foster, grandsons of real estate magnate Jack Foster, who filled in a large section of San FranciscoBay wetlands in the early 1960s with 1.4 million truckloads of sand and rock to build Foster City, a community of 30,000 residents today.

The developers announced plans to build 950 housing units, including vacation homes and luxury condominiums, along with retail stores, parking lots and hotels. Residents in the tiny PlacerCounty communities off Interstate 80 pushed back hard.

“It met instant, stiff and vigorous opposition,” said Perry Norris, executive director of the Truckee Donner Land Trust, an environmental group based in Truckee. “It was completely out of character with the community.”

The plans imploded as the economy crashed. The developers defaulted on a $16.7 million loan, and last year, a judge placed the property in receivership. Under Thursday’s deal, three conservation groups purchased the property: the Truckee Donner Land Trust, the Trust for PublicLand and the Northern Sierra Partnership.

At the Royal Gorge property Dec. 11, 2012, from left: Perry Norris, executive director of the Truckee Donner Land Trust; Lucy Blake, president of the Northern Sierra Partnership; and David Sutton, Northern California director of The Trust for PublicLand. (Patrick Tehan)

The ski resort will remain open, operated by Sugar Bowl, a nearby ski resort that has been in business since 1939. Through the deal, the property will remain intact, rather than sold off by the bank to developers and land speculators.

“It would have been cut up into 160-acre or 40-acre lots,” Norris said. “Donner Summit is still largely intact open space. It has extensive trails. The view is not interrupted by high-rise condominiums and it never will be.”

Instead, the property will be upgraded, with new signs and trails. It will be owned eventually by the Truckee Donner Land Trust, and open to the public in the summer free for hiking, mountain biking and horse riding, allowing people to travel along the Pacific Crest Trail, which abuts the land, or venture out through national forests for about 10 miles to the shores of Lake Tahoe.

The land is rich with wildlife — including brown bears, gray foxes, mountain lions and more than 100 species of butterflies. It also serves as the headwaters of the SouthYubaRiver and the upper watershed of the North Fork of the AmericanRiver.

“If you want to maintain wildlife, you need unbroken corridors,” said Roger Bales, director of UC Merced’s Sierra Nevada Research Institute. “Whenever there is a housing development going in, you evict the wildlife and break up the wildlife corridors.”

Funding for the deal totals $15.5 million. That includes the purchase, transaction costs and upgrades to the land. The money is coming from a variety of sources. Donations by property owners in two nearby communities, Sugar Bowl and Serene Lakes, generated $7 million. Bay Area foundations contributed as well: $1 million from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation; $400,000 from the Flora Foundation; $250,000 from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and $250,000 from former Applied Materials CEO Jim Morgan and his wife, Becky, of Los Altos Hills.

The land trusts are pursuing federal and state grants and bond funding for another $5 million or so, and the groups are still seeking donations.

In a wider sense, the deal is the latest example of a movement largely started by the Morgans in 2007 with the goal of preserving 100,000 acres between Lake Tahoe and MountLassen for $100 million. The group, a partnership of land trusts known as the Northern Sierra Partnership, has so far preserved more than 20,000 acres since then, raising $87 million.

Most of that land was in outright purchases, but in the years ahead, large deals will buy development rights instead, which can stretch dollars further, said Lucy Blake, president of the partnership. The goal is to fill in century-old “checkerboard” patterns of private and public land left from the railroad grants of the 19th century, and to preserve key wildlife habitat, forests and rangeland, limiting clear cuts and outsize development.

“The Northern Sierra is an area that most Bay Area residents think of as already protected,” said Blake, a former a MacArthur genius grant winner. “When you drive up Interstate 80 you see these beautiful landscapes. But there is a very fragmented landscape up there. We’re trying to consolidate and protect it while we still have the chance.”

Thanks again – and Hooray!

Tom

Happy Holidays!

Wishing you the happiest of holiday seasons…

… here’s to permanent protection our favorite Sierra places – the gift we can enjoy year after year after year!

Tom, Peter, Chris, and the Sierra Watch team

Donner Summit In The News

Great news sure travels fast!

Our success on the Summit is generating headlines up and down the Sierra, across California, and beyond.

To read more about it click on:

• Donner Summit Deal in the San Francisco Chronicle
• Environmental Coalition Agrees to Buy Royal Gorge in the Sacramento Bee
• Conservation Groups to Buy Royal Gorge in the Sierra Sun
• Coalition to Purchase Famous Royal Gorge Property in the Reno Gazette

Kialey DeRock on Donner Summit (pictured)

Thanks for being a part of this great accomplishment.

And, if you’re ready to pitch in toward the purchase price, feel free to contact me directly at (530) 265-2849 ext. 200.

Thanks again – and Hooray!

Tom

Donner Summit Update: We Did It!

Sierra Watch is delighted to join the Northern Sierra Partnership in announcing the best of all possible outcomes for Donner Summit: it’s saved!

As you can see in the release below, the Trust for Public Land and the Truckee Donner Land Trust have entered into an agreement to purchase – and permanently protect – the entire 3,000-acre Royal Gorge property on Donner Summit.

This is indeed a stunning achievement – another great chapter in the proud history of conservation in the Sierra Nevada.

Sierra Watch Field Director Peter Van Zant at work on Donner Summit (pictured)

And you, as a supporter of Sierra Watch and as a champion of our Sierra Nevada, made it happen.

Note that our work is not done.  We’re presented with a steep fundraising challenge: we need to raise $13.5 million by December 20.  So we’ll be reaching out to you soon with an opportunity to pitch in and preserve one of the last great unprotected places in the Sierra.

In the meantime, join us in shouting from the peaks along the stunning Sierra crest: We did it!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 6, 2012
Contact:
Tim Ahern, The Trust For Public Land (415) 710-9095
Perry Norris, Truckee Donner Land Trust (530) 582-4711
Lucy Blake, Northern Sierra Partnership (650) 529-1765

CONSERVATION GROUPS ANNOUNCE PLAN TO BUY
ROYAL GORGE PROPERTY ON DONNER SUMMIT

TRUCKEE, Calif. — The famed 3,000-acre Royal Gorge property on Donner Summit in the Sierra Nevada will be bought and protected from development under an agreement announced today by The Trust for Public Land, the Truckee Donner Land Trust (TDLT), and the Northern Sierra Partnership (NSP).

The agreement is a big change for a property that, as recently as 2007, had been slated for major resort development.  That proposal stalled in the face of overwhelming opposition and an unfavorable economic climate – opening the way for conservationists to buy the land when the bank foreclosed on the loan.

“This is a wonderful opportunity to protect one of the prime spots in the Sierra,” said Sam Hodder, California Director of The Trust for Public Land.  “It is great that we can preserve this property and its stunning scenery, rather than losing it to development.”

Perry Norris, Executive Director of the TDLT, said, “This is great news for all of us who love Donner Summit and the northern Sierra Nevada.  The Royal Gorge property has been a top priority for us for decades, and now we finally have the opportunity to protect it for generations to come. The response from the community is inspiring.”

The three groups now face a Dec. 20, 2012 deadline to raise $13.5 million to complete the project.  The Northern Sierra Partnership is coordinating the collection of contributions to the Royal Gorge campaign. To learn more about the campaign, please visit www.northernsierrapartnership.org.

Donner Summit is one of the most famous places in the Sierra Nevada, with incredible historic, recreational, and wildlife resources.

In 2005, a speculative partnership purchased Royal Gorge and, two years later, floated plans for a controversial 950-unit resort.  Local residents and second homeowners worked with regional conservation advocates to oppose the project and promote a conservation outcome.

“This is the most important conservation acquisition in the Sierra Nevada in a generation,” said Tom Mooers, Executive Director of Sierra Watch, which spearheaded opposition to development of the property.  “It protects one of the Sierra’s greatest places from development – forever.”

By the terms of the agreement, the Truckee Donner Land Trust will become the new owner of Royal Gorge and will oversee a long-term stewardship plan aimed at expanding all-season recreation opportunities.  The Trust will work with community groups to improve the network of local trails on the property so visitors can more easily explore Royal Gorge and understand its role in our nation’s history.  Neighboring Sugar Bowl will manage – and improve upon – the Royal Gorge Cross Country Ski Area.

Local residents and second homeowners are eager to pitch in.  Nancy Bechtle, Chairman of Sugar Bowl Corporation, is motivated by her own connection to the Summit.  “As a life-long skier and a member of a family deeply in love with Donner Summit, I am terrifically excited by the opportunity to protect the iconic Royal Gorge property forever.”

Ken Hall is a long time cabin owner at Serene Lakes, a quiet community that would have been surrounded by the new development.  “Those of us who live up here understand that this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to protect everything we love about Donner Summit  – not just for ourselves today, but for everyone forever.”

The Truckee Donner Land Trust preserves and protects scenic, historic and recreational lands with high natural resource values in the greater Truckee Donner region.  Learn more at www.tdlandtrust.org.

The Trust for Public Land protects land for people to enjoy as parks and open space.  Since it was founded in 1972, the organization has completed 5,200 conservation projects in 47 states.  For more information, visit www.tpl.org.

The Northern Sierra Partnership is a collaborative initiative to conserve, restore, and enhance the magnificent natural landscape of the northern Sierra Nevada, and build the foundation for sustainable rural prosperity.  Visit www.northernsierrapartnership.org.

###

Sierra Watch Update: Victory on the Bear River

For the past year, Sierra Watch has been applying our winning formula for Sierra conservation to defend theBear Riverfrom a destructive new dam project.

I’m happy to report: we won.

Bear River Canyon

As you can see below, Sierra Watch has once again successfully defended our Sierra resources from a misguided proposal.

We’re still focused on our top priorities: securing the final piece of our vision in Martis Valley and permanently protecting the Royal Gorge property on Donner Summit.  But it’s encouraging to see how we can effectively apply our proven experience to protect threatened landscapes elsewhere in our Sierra.

YubaNet.com/Sierra Conservationists Celebrate Defeat of Bear River Dam Proposal

Sierra Conservationists Celebrate Defeat of Bear River Dam Proposal

Published on Jul 13, 2012 – 12:53:54 PM

Trowbridge, Calif. July 13, 2012 – The South Sutter Water District voted yesterday to stop pursuing a new dam on the Bear River, effectively ending a statewide struggle between Sierra conservationists and Southern California water providers.

“This is a stunning victory for theSierra Nevadaand everyone who cares about our region’s resources,” said Peter Van Zant, Field Director of Sierra Watch, the Nevada City-based advocacy group that led the fight to stop the dam. “And it sends a clear message throughout the state: our rivers and canyons are worth more than a dam.”

At yesterday’s meeting, officials at the water district pointed to the lack of support in the region. District counsel Kevin O’Brien stated that “a localNorthern Californiaproject partner was a key element in going forward.” But the water district failed to find a Sierra water agency willing to participate.

O’Brien then recommended the Board of Directors put the project “on hold”; the board agreed — on a 7-0 vote.

The controversy centered on the Garden Bar region of theBear River. Distant water interests saw a potential location to impound water for delivery hundreds of miles south. But conservationists effectively stood up for the area’s prized cultural and biological values.

Running between the better-known Yuba andAmericanRiverwatersheds, the Bear River tumbles from the granite peaks of Emigrant Gap, through the remote reaches of theCaliforniafoothills, and into the Great Central Valley. It serves as the Nevada/Placer County line, provides innumerable swimming holes to local residents, and lends its name to a nearby high school.

In recent years, the Garden Bar Region – in the canyons below Highway 49 – have been targeted by conservationists for permanent protection of working ranches and thriving wildlands.PlacerLandTrust and Bear Yuba Land Trust have invested millions of private and public dollars to protect the region’s habitat, cultural, watershed, hiking, fishing, and ranching resources.

Those values, however, were not so secure. New parklands, including Garden Bar Preserve and Bruin Ranch, were at risk of being flooded by the proposed dam and the new reservoir.

In 2011, South Sutter Water District partnered with Castaic Lake Water Agency, the Palmdale Water District, the San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District, and the Cities of Napa andAmericanCanyonto fund a ‘Preliminary Study’ of a proposed dam. Initial plans called for a 300-foot tall dam at Garden Bar Preserve, backing up Bear River water to be shipped through the Delta and end up as far away asLos AngelesCounty.

The land trusts reached out to Sierra Watch and asked for help in protecting their conserved lands from drowning in an old-fashionedSouthern Californiawater grab.

Sierra Watch coordinated with local allies, printed up Save the Bear River bumper stickers, and worked to drum up support for the canyon.

Local jurisdictions quickly joined in a chorus of overwhelming opposition. Both thePlacerCountyand Nevada County Boards of Supervisors voted unanimously to voice their opposition, as did upstream water district Nevada Irrigation District and a wide range of community organizations.

A clear message from the state may have provided the last straw. In a letter to proponents of the dam, California Secretary for Natural Resources John Laird conveyed official opposition to the proposed dam, writing “(T)he Natural Resources Agency does not support the proposed Garden Bar Dam going forward…” citing the project’s threat to the “…state’s conserved lands and natural resources.”

Today, conservationists are celebrating their success in protecting those resources — the Garden Bar region and theBear Riveritself.

In the meantime, the water district will return unspent funds to the far-flung water providers that originally invested in the project, and they’ll look elsewhere to meet future water needs.

“This is a great example of how all of us — Republicans and Democrats, ranchers and bird lovers, hikers and historians — an work together to defend what we love about theSierra Nevada,” said Tom Mooers, Executive Director of Sierra Watch.

© Copyright YubaNet.com

Martis Valley

Did you see Sierra Watch and Martis Valley in Wednesday’s Sacramento Bee?

Reporter Hudson Sangree provides a great update on our ongoing success, including some of our accomplishments so far and some of the challenges yet to come:

http://www.sacbee.com/2012/06/27/4591711/sales-at-wealthy-enclave-near.html

THE SACRAMENTO BEE  – sacbee.com

Sales at wealthy enclave near Lake Tahoe help fund open-space drive

Published Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Tom Mooers, executive director of Sierra Watch, above, scans Martis Valley from a fire lookout. The area between Truckee and Lake Tahoe was scheduled for development of homes and stores, but the exclusive Martis Camp development has been paying transfer fees that fund land conservation. (pictured)

A mountain playground for the ultra-wealthy near Lake Tahoe is thriving in a moribund real estate market, spinning off millions of dollars in fees to help preserve open space in the scenic Martis Valley.

Empty lots in the Martis Camp development run from $500,000 to $2.8 million. Building a house that meets the developer’s quality standards costs millions more. Golf memberships run $120,000.

And demand is brisk. Nearly two-thirds of the 650 home lots in Martis Camp have been sold. Buyers include Silicon Valley executives, San Francisco financiers and a smattering of Sacramento-area residents, some from Granite Bay.

Last year alone, they snapped up properties worth $90.2 million, a 68 percent increase over 2010, said developer DMB/Highlands Group. Sales director Brian Hull says the elite buyers have faith in DMB to “deliver on the overall vision” of a community with $100 million in luxurious amenities.

Dozens of homes are under construction, and many perquisites are already in place. The palatial mountain-style homes overlook a golf course with emerald fairways and towering pines designed by renowned architect Tom Fazio, who also designed courses for Donald Trump.

A 50,000-square foot camp lodge modeled after the grand lodges of the national parks perches on a rocky outcropping above the 18th hole. It boasts gourmet restaurants, a spa and a sprawling men’s locker room with a bar and leather club chairs.

A family “barn” features a movie theater, soda fountain and bowling alley. It has an indoor basketball court and an outdoor stage that has hosted concerts by Lyle Lovett, Randy Newman and Jose Feliciano. The concerts, performed for about 400 to 500 members and guests, are free to homeowners – covered by their $8,500 a year in social dues.

A ski lodge, opening soon, and a chair lift provide direct access to the slopes of the Northstar California resort.

Is it a gated community? You bet. But forget the metal gates that swing open when you punch in a code. The gatehouse at Martis Camp is an imposing drive-through structure that could serve as the entrance to the Grand Canyon or Yosemite. A guard turns back uninvited visitors.

“The wealthy are buying,” said Truckee real estate agent Alison Elder. “Martis Camp is one community that has shined through the recession. It’s an extremely high net worth environment up there.”

Another selling point of Martis Camp is its natural setting, with national forest on its borders, miles of trails and a trout stream flowing through its midst.

The community is tucked out of sight above the Martis Valley, a 45,000-acre stretch of sagebrush, pines and wetlands between Truckee and Lake Tahoe.

During the housing boom, the valley and its surrounding hillsides were slated for development of more than 6,000 homes, shopping malls and multiple golf courses north and south of Highway 267.

The Martis Valley Community Plan, approved by Placer County supervisors in 2003, led to a fierce fight between conservationists, developers and the county.

Today – after a court battle won by activists and a series of agreements with developers – those plans have been scaled back by nearly half, and 5,600 acres of open space have been preserved, much of it for public use.

That’s thanks in part to millions of dollars from homebuyers at Martis Camp, who must pay a 1 percent transfer fee every time a home changes hands. So far the fees have added up to about $3 million based on $300 million in sales, Hull said.

The money goes into the Martis Fund, which provides grants to conserve open space, restore habitat and promote workforce housing. It is overseen by leaders of two conservation groups, Sierra Watch and the Mountain Area Preservation Foundation, and developers the Highlands Group, and Scottsdale, Ariz.-based DMB.

Tom Mooers is executive director of Sierra Watch, a group that formed to fight development in Martis Valley and successfully sued the county. He said the arrangement has been a “model of how developers, conservationists and elected officials can work together on a shared vision.”

“We’ve built a very good relationship with DMB,” he said.

East West Partners, which is building housing at Northstar, also agreed to transfer fees. Altogether, the fees could amount to $100 million over 25 years, Mooers said.

Fees from Martis Camp helped buy the 1,500-acre Waddle Ranch. The rangeland, once slated for hundreds of homes and a Walmart, is now open to public use.

Local residents said the agreements have allowed them to enjoy new open space while shifting the cost to wealthy owners of second homes.

Taking a walk along Martis Creek last week, Katia and Dave Campbell said they had moved from Davis to Truckee 20 years ago and were dismayed when massive development was proposed in the Martis Valley.

“Everybody wanted to come in and keep building, building, building,” Katia Campbell said.

Her husband, an environmental scientist, said he doesn’t like the gated and “elitist” nature of Martis Camp. But, he said, “We are very much aware that our wealthy neighbors fund our recreational activities. We’ve seen our recreational access increase rather than decrease,” as the area has been developed.

Outside of Martis Camp, much of the development planned for the Martis Valley has been slowed by the recession. For instance, only a small fraction of the hundreds of homes planned for the Highlands at Northstar have been built so far. Its developer, East West Partners, did a stint in Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization.

Today, the wide-open vistas of the Martis Valley, a backdrop for TV’s “Bonanza,” remain largely unchanged.

Standing on the fire tower on Martis Peak last week, Mooers gazed across an expanse of sagebrush flats, sparkling lakes and pine forests climbing hillsides to snowy summits.

Stretching below the lookout were the thickly forested slopes of a 6,900-acre parcel owned by Sierra Pacific Industries. Mooers said conservationists hope to work with the landowners to preserve much of the acreage.

 Martis Valley (pictured)

 WANT TO TOUR MARTIS CAMP?

What: The Excellence in Education Home Tour benefits local schools via the Tahoe Truckee Excellence in Education Foundation. Visitors will see five custom homes and Martis Camp amenities.

When: Aug. 5, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Last tour leaves at 2 p.m.

Tickets: $40 in advance at www.ExinEd.org. For more information call (530) 550-7984.

Donner Summit

Don’t get rid of that SAVE DONNER SUMMIT sticker quite yet!

Turns out we’ve still got some work to do to permanently protect the 2,900-acre Royal Gorge property. We kicked inappropriate development proposals off the mountain, and our land trust allies made a fair offer to purchase the property. But the bank – essentially the defaulted property-owner’s creditor – turned the offer down.

This may be disappointing, but it’s certainly not defeat. We remain confident in our progress in pushing the property towards a conservation future.

Now Sierra Watch needs to continue to deter speculative developers from making their own offer, we need to raise money for the eventual purchase and protection of the property, and we need to continue to generate – and demonstrate – overwhelming support for conservation of arguably the most important property in the American West. In short, we still need to SAVE DONNER SUMMIT!

Kialey DeRock atop Donner Peak (pictured)

Martis Valley Update

Meanwhile, we’re happy to report another addition to our Martis Valley conservation map: The Truckee Donner Land Trust announced purchase of a small parcel between Waddle Ranch Preserve and the property formerly known as Martis Creek Estates.

Some of the funding for the purchase came from The Martis Fund, a collaborative effort of Sierra Watch, Mountain Area Preservation Foundation (MAPF), and DMB/Highlands Group.

Martis Valley (pictured)

Preservation of the property is another example of the ongoing success of the Truckee Donner Land Trust, it’s another opportunity to add some green – permanently protected land – to our Martis Valley Conservation map, and it’s another step towards our bold vision of conservation of all Martis lands east of Highway 267, from the sage valley floor to the forested rim of the Tahoe Basin.

As always, if you have any questions or comments about our work – or to order another ‘Save Donner Summit’ bumper sticker, please don’t hesitate to call me directly at (530) 265-2849 ext.200.

And, of course, we’ll keep you posted.

Tom Mooers
Executive Director