Commentary - September 2007

Tahoe Regional Planning Agency

Tried in the Fire

by Lyle Brennan

The June 2007 Angora Fire at Lake Tahoe burned 3,100 acres, destroyed 254 homes and caused more than $150 million in property damage. Many local residents are now blaming the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) for creating conditions that made the fire damage worse. PA was created to address valid concerns, but it has grown into what former Nevada Assemblywoman Sharron Angle called the “most egregious bureaucratic mess in the state.” In the 1960s, the area was growing and developing rapidly, and people who valued the beautiful alpine lake were concerned about predictions that the area would eventually contain 850,000 residents, a freeway around the lake and a bridge spanning Emerald Bay.

In 1969, Nevada and California got together with the federal government to create TRPA to “cooperatively lead the effort to preserve, restore and enhance the unique natural and human environment of the Lake Tahoe region now and in the future.” The board is made up of seven representatives from each state, plus one non-voting member appointed by the U.S. President.

Because of the way it’s structured, it literally takes an Act of Congress to change any TRPA provision or restrict its authority. “TRPA is probably the most powerful government entity in America,” declared former California state Sen. Tim Leslie. “TRPA trumps citizens, it trumps local government, and it even trumps the federal government. No one can move at Lake Tahoe without the approval of TRPA.”

When Angle was representing the Lake Tahoe region in the Nevada Legislature, her constituents asked her to help change TRPA regulations about clear space and cutting trees. After realizing how difficult that would be, she introduced a bill in the 2003 session withdrawing Nevada from the Tahoe Regional Planning Compact. The measure faced so much opposition from high-ranking politicians that it never even got a hearing. Apparently, no one wanted to risk angering the powerful environmental lobby. And so TRPA continued to grow and expand.

A Bureaucratic Nightmare

Today, TRPA controls all planning decisions in the Lake Tahoe Basin, regulating everything from the height of buildings, to the depth of pine needles on the ground, to the color you may paint your house. Its regulations fill more than 60 printed volumes. Many are designed to address environmental and aesthetic concerns, such as reaching a 100-foot clarity goal for the lake or preserving views. But often, policies work against each other. For example, rules were created to regulate removing trees, brush and pine needles because they keep down soil erosion that will muddy the lake. However, these same materials provide the perfect fuel for a forest fire.

Like the IRS, TRPA has developed a body of regulations so complex the average person can’t understand them. To see the magnitude of the problem, look at all the application forms, permits, etc. posted on the TRPA Web site (www.trpa.org). As with the IRS, residents live in fear of an audit by a powerful agency that can assess huge fines without giving them any recourse.

Although TRPA has declared “forest health and reduction of forest fuels” as the agency’s No. 1 priority for the past several years, residents have been afraid to clear the area around their homes because doing so may generate harsh fines. Jessica Mahnken, defensible space coordinator with California’s Lake Valley Fire Protection District, noted, “People are scared to death to do anything on their own property because they are afraid of retribution; it’s created this huge paralysis.”

Issues and Questions

The Tahoe area is not a national park; it is private owned land on which people live and work. As Gov. Gibbons recently remarked, “Environmental protection of this precious resource is vital, but the property rights and protection of human life are paramount. I do not believe that what former Govs. Ronald Reagan and Paul Laxalt envisioned and created in 1969 was ever intended to put the life and well-being of residents of the Lake Tahoe area at risk in order to ensure the scenic beauty of the area.”

The governors of Nevada and California have created a Blue Ribbon Fire Commission “to conduct a comprehensive overview of forest management in the Lake Tahoe Basin.” The commission must take a serious look at TRPA. Its recommendations should include reducing bureaucratic red tape, improving communications between the agency and local residents, and using common sense to balance the demands of environmental groups against the concerns of property owners. If TRPA cannot be streamlined and made more responsive to the concerns of the citizens who live at the lake, then we should revisit the idea of withdrawing from the compact.

Lyle Brennan Publisher
COMMENTS? email: lyle@nbj.com