Olympic Valley, Calif. – Placer County planning officials released their initial environmental assessment of proposed development in Squaw Valley today. The document paints a bleak picture of traffic, construction, and high-rises for the Tahoe Sierra.

“The county’s report makes it crystal clear,” said Tom Mooers of the conservation non-profit Sierra Watch. “Proposed development in Squaw Valley threatens everything we value about Lake Tahoe and the Sierra Nevada.”

Meadow and Mountain, Squaw Valley

KSL Capital Partners, a private equity firm based in Denver, Colorado, purchased Squaw Valley in 2010, citing the property’s “great growth potential”. They filed an initial application for development entitlements in 2011 that has undergone some revision of the last four years.

Yesterday’s release of planning documents included the final version of the “Village at Squaw Valley Specific Plan” − and a detailed assessment of what that project would mean to Squaw Valley and the surrounding North Tahoe Region.

The proposal would remake Squaw Valley with a series of highrise hotels and condo projects with 1,500 new bedrooms − as many as in three of the giant highrise casinos at Tahoe’s Stateline combined − and a massive indoor amusement park as big as a Walmart and ten-stories tall, with waterslides, fake rivers, arcades, and simulated sky-diving.

All told, the project would be so big it would take 25 years to construct.

Village at Squaw Valley Specific Plan: Proposed Building Heights

“This is a development proposal the likes of which North Tahoe has never seen,” said Mooers of Sierra Watch. “It threatens to displace scenic views and outdoor fun in the Tahoe Sierra with highrises and indoor amusements.”

California planning law requires thorough environmental review of large development proposals. The initial assessment Placer County released Friday, known as a Draft Environmental Impact Report (Draft EIR), is designed to encourage public involvement and inform decision makers.

The Draft EIR for the proposed Squaw Valley development runs over 2,000 pages and assesses the project’s potential impacts on everything from water quality to climate change.

Its initial findings are clear: proposed development would have “significant” and “unavoidable” impacts on Squaw Valley − and beyond.

According to the Draft EIR, development would add to area traffic and “exacerbate unacceptable operations” on Highway 89 in Tahoe City, in Truckee, and in between.

In terms of Squaw’s iconic mountain scenery, the project would make a “substantial contribution to the cumulative degradation of the existing visual character or quality of the site and its surroundings” with a “significant and unavoidable impact on scenic vistas.”

Because the project would destroy two of the remaining three buildings from the 1960 Winter Olympics, it would have “significant and unavoidable” impacts on Squaw Valley’s cultural resources.

The project would threaten the peace and quiet of the mountains; generating noise louder than “applicable Placer County noise standards”, especially for the 25 years it would be under construction − even at night.

It would threaten the Sierra’s famously starry sky, by developing “a new source of substantial light or glare that would adversely affect day or nighttime views in the area”. The local light pollution would be “significant and unavoidable”.

Beyond its local impacts, the project would have global implications as well. It’s so big that, according to the Draft EIR, proposed development would put Squaw Valley on the wrong side of climate change, with “the potential to result in a substantial contribution to GHG (Global Greenhouse Gas) emissions”, the fundamental culprit in global warming.

Closer to home, the proposed development and its likely impacts make it the biggest development issue facing the Sierra Nevada.

“The Draft EIR encourages us to ask some important questions about the Tahoe experience,” said Mooers. “Do we want to take our kids to sit in traffic and play in an arcade? Or do we want to find peace and quiet and share the great outdoors?”

Construction Traffic, Highway 89

Regulatory agencies, local jurisdictions, and the general public now have 60 days to digest the massive document and submit comments to Placer County.

Sierra Watch has lined up a team of experts in planning, hydrology, wildlife biology, land use law, and even herpetology to analyze the Draft EIR and its findings.

“We will engage the best experts in our review of the Draft EIR,” said Isaac Silverman, Staff Attorney for Sierra Watch. “Squaw Valley deserves no less.”

Additionally, Sierra Watch is bringing on a full-time grassroots organizer to recruit citizen comments and ensure public participation. “The best way to secure sound planning is to include meaningful public involvement,” said Silverman. “If you’re interested in shaping a good future for Squaw Valley, Lake Tahoe, and the Sierra Nevada, now’s the time.”

According to Placer County, public comments will be received through July 17, 2015. They can be emailed to cdraecs@placer.ca.gov or mailed directly to:

Maywan Krach, Community Development Technician
Environmental Coordination Services
Placer County Community Development Resource Agency
3091 County Center Drive, Suite 190
Auburn, CA 95603

And those interested in more information about Sierra Watch and its effort to Keep Squaw True should contact Isaac Silverman at (530) 265-2849, ext. 203; or visit keepsquawtrue.org.

Letters to the editor are an easy but effective way to help Keep Squaw True.  They educate fellow citizens about what’s at stake in Squaw Valley and the Tahoe-Sierra and they are an important way to demonstrate public opinion to important decisionmakers, whether they sit at a desk in Denver or serve on the Placer County Board of Supervisors.

Read on for tips for writing effective letters to the editor.

Getting published and making your point

1. Make one point and make it well.  Letters to the editor must comply with strict word limits and there typically is not space to address multiple issues in a compelling manner.
2. Make it personal. The letter should clearly communicate why you want a better future for Squaw Valley than KSL’s current plan.  Maybe you live in Truckee and work in Tahoe City (or vice versa) and are concerned about the increased traffic.  Maybe you live in the Bay Area and come to the mountains to get away from city life and not to spend more time around highrises.  Or maybe you have fond childhood memories of summer dips in the waterfalls of Squaw Creek and want that, not a massive indoor water park, for your own children.  Whatever your angle, making it personal makes it more powerful.
3. A typical structure for an effective letter is:
   1. State the general problem/issue/threat. No need for sensationalism but this should be written to grab the reader’s attention.
   2. Elaborate on the issue. Make it specific.
   3. Provide a solution, in both general and specific forms.
   4. Conclude with a summary and the main message that you want to convey.
4. Relate your letter to a recent article. While this is not a strict requirement at all news outlets it demonstrates that you are a reader and will increase your chances of getting published.
5. Read all of the rules for the specific newspaper you are submitting to.  Follow them!

Below, find an example of a LTE we submitted to Sacramento Bee following (most) of these basic rules. The Sacramento Bee is tough since they limit you to 150 words.

Re: Drought alters face of Tahoe Tourism

The drought is tough, but irresponsible development, not a run of poor snow years, is the biggest threat to Squaw Valley and the Tahoe-Sierra.

KSL Capital Partners purchased Squaw Valley in 2010 and is asking Placer County’s permission for a resort development unlike anything North Lake Tahoe has ever seen—four city blocks worth of highrise condo hotels, a 108’ tall 90,000 square foot indoor water and amusement park near the existing village, and timeshare “cabins” in the mouth of Shirley Canyon.

This proposal to remake Squaw Valley into a luxury destination resort would diminish the very things that make Squaw Valley special.  Learn more and sign our petition to Keep Squaw True.

When the snow returns, decisions made in the coming months will determine whether or not it falls on a resort true to the mountains and the people who love them.

Rules and procedures for letters to the editor at local news outlets

Submitting a letter to the editor is relatively straightforward, but you must pay careful attention to the requirements of each individual news outlet.

Below I’ve identified the primary news outlets that are important for spreading our message and influencing decisionmakers regarding Squaw Valley and listed each one’s policies concerning letters to the editor.

Auburn Journal

The Auburn Journal utilizes an online form for LTE submission. That form, which asks for name, address, telephone #, and email is available at:

http://www.auburnjournal.com/contact/forms/letter-editor

Letters should be no longer than 200 words and must include a name, address and phone number and must be signed or confirmed by the editor. Letter writers are limited to one every 30 days

Tahoe Daily Tribune/Sierra Sun Times

The Tahoe Daily Tribune/Sierra Sun Times uses a webform for LTE submissions.  The form is available at: http://apps.tahoedailytribune.com/utils/forms/index2.php?formId=lettertoeditor.

Official guidelines for letters are copied below.

The decision to print any submission is completely at the discretion of the Tahoe Daily Tribune editor. Letters must include the author’s name, hometown, affiliation (if any) and phone number (for verification of authorship only). Form letters and letters considered libelous, obscene or in bad taste will not be printed. Anonymous letters will not be printed. Tahoe Daily Tribune reserves the right to edit all letters. Because of space constraints, please limit your letters to 300 words. Letters containing long lists of names will not be printed. The deadline for submissions is noon, three days before publication.

Moonshine Ink

Moonshine Ink does not list specific LTE guidelines however short and to the point is good for this format. Limiting the letter to 250 words or less is a good rule of thumb.  Submissions, including your name, email address, telephone contact #, and address, can be sent directly to editorial department at editors@moonshineink.com or via their contact form at: http://www.moonshineink.com/connect.

Reno Gazzette Journal

Letters and columns may be published and/or distributed in print, electronic and other forms.  Letters to the editor can be sent electronically by either e-mailing them to letters@rgj.com or using their online form. You can also fax your letters to the editor at (775) 788-6458 or send them by USPS to Reno Gazette-Journal, Letters to the Editor, P.O. Box 22000, Reno, NV 89520.  Letters are limited to 200 words and may be edited for length and clarity.  Submissions that are considered potentially libelous will not be published. Writers are limited to one letter every two months.

Sacramento Bee

The Sacramento Bee utilizes a web form to collect letters to the editor.  To be considered for publication the Bee imposes a 150 word limit and a requirement that the letter responds to a specific story or letter previously published in the Sacramento Bee.  They ask that an individual only submit one letter every 30 days. Due to the high volume of letters they ask you not to call to confirm receipt.

The form, available at http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/submit-letter/, also asks for your name, postal address, daytime phone number, email address, the date and headline of the story or letter to which you’re responding and a suggested headline.

San Francisco Chronicle

You can submit letters to the editor of 200 words or less at: www.sfgate.com/submissions.

Letters should be 200 words or fewer. Shorter letters have a better chance of publication.

San Jose Mercury News

Submit via email at letters@mercurynews.com and make sure to put letter to the editor in the subject line. You must also include full name, address, and phone number.

Letters may also be submitted via fax @ (408) 271-3792.