Tahoe Conservancy gives funds to Forest Service for bridge
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — The California Tahoe Conservancy on Thursday agreed to provide $150,000 to the USDA Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit to construct a bridge across Griff Creek in Placer County.
Along with funding from California State Parks’ Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Division, LTBMU will use the Conservancy funds to build a new bridge along Gas Line Road across Griff Creek. The new bridge will replace one that collapsed in 2013.
The creek crossing is located on the Conservancy’s 642-acre Griff Creek property, north of Kings Beach. The new bridge will protect the creek and re-establishes a safe connection for recreational visitors and emergency personnel.
“The Conservancy’s Griff Creek property and surrounding National Forest properties are popular recreation lands with locals and visitors alike,” said Placer County Supervisor and Conservancy Board Vice Chair Cindy Gustafson in a press release. “It’s exciting to see progress on an important connection that will protect the creek’s habitat.”
Replacing the bridge will reduce environmental harm to Griff Creek. Along with the bridge construction, the LTBMU and Conservancy will stabilize the creek bank and perform restoration activities to increase fish habitat, decrease sediment loss, improve water quality, and protect sensitive environmental resources in the area.
The new bridge will also be large enough to allow access for wildland emergency vehicles. By enabling emergency personnel to respond faster to incidents in the area, the bridge will enhance public safety and wildfire protection.
The Conservancy funding serves as a match to a grant State Parks’ awarded to the LTBMU to construct the bridge.
At the same meeting, the board authorized the Conservancy to acquire 3.3 acres of environmentally sensitive land within the Upper Truckee River floodplain in El Dorado County.
The property, located at 1450 Boca Raton Drive, contains mountain meadow and wetland habitat. Conservancy-owned land surrounds the parcel. The acquisition will allow the Conservancy to preserve this parcel in its natural and open space condition, and protect its scenic and watershed resources.
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