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Tahoe ski resort plans changes to adapt to climate change

Posted at 5:19 PM, Feb 21, 2018
and last updated 2018-02-21 20:19:22-05

A Lake Tahoe ski resort is developing plans to remove boulders and trees from several runs that make skiing more difficult during low-snow seasons, which are expected to become more common due to climate change.

Heavenly Mountain Resort's plans currently under review by the Forest Service would widen a dozen trails and remove potentially hundreds of trees.

The hope is to reduce skier and snowboard traffic bottlenecks on busy days at the South Lake Tahoe resort straddling the California-Nevada line.

Lewis Feldman of Zephyr Cove told the Reno Gazette-Journal he's witnessed first-hand over the past 40 years how climate change has reduced the reliability of ideal ski conditions at Tahoe.

The Forest Serve determined in a draft environmental assessment the plan would have no significant environmental impacts. The assessment is now subject to a 45-day public comment period.