Keep Tahoe Blue is requesting greater specificity and transparency from the United States Forest Service about the proposed use of glyphosate as part of the Caldor Fire Restoration Project. The lack of publicly available information — beyond the broad strokes included in the project’s Environmental Assessment — has understandably raised concern and questions from groups like ours and the broader community.
The detailed information we’re requesting includes where herbicides would be applied, why they are necessary, what alternatives were considered, and what site-specific safeguards and monitoring would be used to protect Lake Tahoe’s water quality, streams, wetlands, and sensitive habitats.
Lake Tahoe is one of only two waterbodies across all of California and Nevada to earn the national designation as a Tier 3 Outstanding National Resource Water under the Federal Clean Water Act, because it is so clear and pure. That’s a distinction we must all protect.