[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 118 (Wednesday, September 9, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10137-S10138]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION AT LAKE TAHOE

 Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I rise today to convey my 
strong support for the $3,000,000 this bill contains for land 
acquisition at Lake Tahoe. This funding is crucial if we are to control 
the erosion problem that is robbing Lake Tahoe of its striking water 
clarity.
  Lake Tahoe is the crown jewel of the Sierra Nevada. The clarity of 
its blue waters, and the beauty of its surrounding forests and high 
mountains, inspired Mark Twain to call it ``the fairest view the whole 
earth affords.''
  Mark Twain would still recognize the Lake Tahoe Basin today, but it 
is no longer a pristine wilderness surrounding a perfectly clear lake. 
Today Lake Tahoe is a year-round recreational mecca, drawing millions 
annually to its ski slopes, hiking trails, and crystal clear waters. 
Lake Tahoe is a major economic force in both California and Nevada, 
contributing $1.6 billion annually to the economy from tourism alone.
  The environment and the economy are inextricably linked at Lake 
Tahoe. The famous azure lake and its surrounding pristine forests are 
the primary reasons that people visit the region. Protecting 
environmental quality at Lake Tahoe is key to preserving the economy of 
the Sierra region.
  Scientists agree that the Lake is in the midst of an environmental 
crisis. Lake Tahoe is one of the largest, deepest, and clearest lakes 
in the world, but that remarkable clarity is disappearing at the rate 
of over a foot a year.
  In the 1960s, you could drop a white plate into Lake Tahoe and watch 
it fall 105 feet before it disappeared. Now you can watch the same 
plate fall only 70 feet. As the Lake's water clarity decreases, algae 
is taking over. In 10 years, the effects could be irreversible.
  Why the troubling decline? The answers are quite simple: air 
pollution and erosion. Algae is fed by nitrogen, a key component in car 
exhaust, and phosphorous, a key component of run-off that flows into 
Lake Tahoe from streams, paved roads, old logging roads, golf courses, 
and even private homes.
  Lake Tahoe was once ringed by wetlands that filtered out most of this 
harmful sediment and debris. But most of the wetlands have been filled 
in to provide more lakefront property. The lake's clarity continues to 
deteriorate.
  For nearly 20 years, the Forest Service has been slowing this 
deterioration by acquiring environmentally sensitive land at Lake 
Tahoe--land especially prone to the erosion that is slowly strangling 
the Lake--and protecting it from development. Since 1980, the Forest 
Service has purchased 11,000 acres at Lake Tahoe. This acquisition 
program has the wholehearted support of Lake Tahoe's elected officials, 
as well as both environmental and business groups.
  The $3 million for land acquisition contained in this bill will help 
buy parcels like the Wells property, an 18.5 acre site adjacent to a 
County park that includes some of the few remaining wetlands 
surrounding Lake Tahoe, as well as a stretch of Burke Creek that 
provides a vital wildlife corridor. If the Forest Service is not able 
to buy this property, it may end up being developed into 50 condominium 
units.
  Land acquisition funds may also be used for a phased-in purchase of 
High Meadows, a 2300-acre parcel that remains the largest private 
inholding in the Lake Tahoe Basin. The meadows include the headwaters 
for Cold Creek, one of Lake Tahoe's most sensitive watersheds. 
Protecting the property could dramatically reduce the amount of 
sediment and debris that flows currently flow into Lake Tahoe from Cold 
Creek.
  I commend the Committee for including these land acquisition funds 
for Lake Tahoe in this bill. I am disappointed that the House did not 
include any funds in its version of the bill. I intend to urge the 
Senate conferees on this legislation to protect the full $3 million in 
conference.
  Unfortunately, this $3 million barely scratches the surface of what 
is needed to restore the environment at Lake Tahoe. The region's 
environmental problems extend well beyond its famous azure lake.
  Insect infestations have killed over 25 percent of the trees in the 
forests surrounding Lake Tahoe, creating a severe risk of catastrophic 
wildfire that could destroy communities and have a devastating impact 
on water quality at the Lake. The millions of cars that visit the Lake 
Tahoe Basin each year worsen erosion problems from roads and produce 
nitrogen that ends up feeding algae in the Lake.
  The Federally-chartered Tahoe Regional Planning Agency estimates that 
preserving the Lake's water quality, restoring its fragile forest 
ecosystem, and establishing a public transportation system that would 
reduce air pollution and road run-off could cost $900 million in 
Federal, State, local, and private funds.
  The Federal government, through the United States Forest Service, 
owns nearly 80 percent of the land in the Lake Tahoe Basin. Therefore, 
we have a unique responsibility for protecting Lake Tahoe. Two 
important Federal reports that are currently pending will help 
determine what steps the Forest Service must take to stop the 
environmental decline at the Lake.
  One report is the Watershed Assessment, a study being conducted by an 
independent team of scientists, that will create a model of Lake 
Tahoe's ecosystem to help us determine the impact of proposed 
environmental restoration projects. Lake Tahoe is so fragile that we 
need to be sure prescribed burning to reduce the risk of

[[Page S10138]]

catastrophic fire at one end of the lake does not cause too much 
erosion or air pollution in another part of the Lake. The Watershed 
Assessment will provide the Forest Service with the tools to make those 
tough judgment calls.
  The other Federal effort underway is an interagency review of the 
Environmental Improvement Program, a list of more than 500 
environmental improvement projects that the Tahoe Regional Planning 
Agency proposes to implement at Lake Tahoe. The Environmental 
Improvement Program has the full support of Lake Tahoe's local 
governments, business leaders, and environmental groups. Now the 
Federal government is assessing which of the environmental projects on 
this list should have high priority for Federal funding, and whether 
new programs are needed to provide that funding.
  I plan to act upon the results of these studies as soon as they are 
complete in December 1998. I am hoping to offer legislation in the next 
session that would authorize a new Federal initiative, led by the U.S. 
Forest Service, to address Lake Tahoe's erosion and forest health 
problems. I am working with a bi-partisan group of Tahoe's business, 
environmental, and community leaders to develop a proposal, and I hope 
that the Forest Service will become an active player in the process as 
well.
  In 1997, President Clinton and Vice President Gore visited Lake 
Tahoe. I attended the Forum they sponsored, as did Senators Boxer, Reid 
and Bryan. We applauded the President as he announced an ambitious 
Tahoe initiative that included $50 million over two years for land 
acquisition, prescribed burning, watershed restoration, public 
transportation, upgrades to wastewater pipelines, erosion control, and 
scientific research at the Lake.
  Unfortunately, since then, Lake Tahoe seems to have dropped off the 
Administration's radar screen. The Administration never even fulfilled 
the $50 million in commitments the President made at Tahoe, let alone 
extend those commitments to fiscal year 1999.
  In his 1999 budget request, President Clinton did not make any 
specific requests for Tahoe, and the Forest Service will be lucky if 
they receive $5 million from the Administration next year for forest 
health and erosion control projects.
  Forest Service officials at Lake Tahoe are doing a heroic job of 
reducing fire risk in the forest while simultaneously protecting Lake 
Tahoe's water quality. They need more resources if they are going to 
reverse declining environmental quality at the Lake and its surrounding 
forests.
  Time is running out for Lake Tahoe. If we do not act quickly with a 
full commitment of Federal resources, the crown jewel of the Sierra 
could become permanently tarnished. I urge my colleagues in the Senate 
to join me in preserving this national treasure for generations to 
come. Let's look at this $3 million for land acquisition as a down 
payment, not the last word.

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