Friends of Independence Lake
Hi Everyone. My name is Julie Osburn and I am representing Friends of Independence Lake. If you don't know where we are, Independence Lake is located in the heart of the Sierras, north of Truckee, and south of Sierraville, near Jackson Meadows reservoir. Take a peek at our website at www.friendsofindependencelake.org .
Since May of 2010, we have been battling with The Nature Conservancy who has purchased over 2,300 acres completely surrounding Independence Lake. They have severely restricted access to the California-owned lake, and we have been utilizing all avenues to try and regain our public access. The Nature Conservancy's Project Manager has told us that one of their main goals is to have "quiet recreation." TNC purchased this land with over 98.5% of public funds - of a $15 million dollar purchase, over $7 million came from us, the State of California taxpayers through grants, and almost $9 million came from a Federal earmark through Harry Reid in Nevada. Yes, that is over $15 million - but some of it is for the management of the property. From what we can gather, TNC only provided $155,000 of funding for a $15 million purchase! And now it is their "private property" that they can restrict access to.
One of the issues that has come up is snowmobiling. If you look at the Truckee Donner Land Trust website, they have stated that they have "protected" over 17,000 acres in the Sierras, from Coldstream (in Truckee) all the way north to Independence Lake. We have questioned the Executive Director of the Truckee Donner Land Trust and he has stated that they cannot "enforce" snowmobile restrictions - which to me may mean that they intend to ban snowmobiling on these 17,000 acres but cannot enforce the ban. As of now, we don't know for sure, but we are trying to head off a potential closure, especially in the wake of multiple actions of the WWA, including a new lawsuit to try and restrict snowmobiling.
In trying to work with The Nature Conservancy, we have pressed their grant funders to make TNC perform on their grants and provide ADA access to the Lake and also to have a Recreation Management Plan. TNC has hired a consultant, Heidi Hill Drum from South Lake Tahoe, and she is providing a route to gather data. Attached is a survey for the use of this property. There will also be public meetings, one in Truckee on April 19th and one in Loyalton in the Sierra Valley April 18th at the Loyalton Social Hall at 6 p.m. Though Heidi is gathering the data, she is not writing the Recreation Management Plan and it appears she will just give the data to TNC and they will write it.
Could you please distribute this survey to your membership? Even if you do not use the lake for anything else, we need to keep our access for snowmobiling. The things that TNC have banned are: motor boats, sail boats, any trailerable boat, horseback riding, ohv use, camping, and possibly snowmobiles. They will not allow folks to drive directly down to the lake, which is what we have done historically in Sierra County for over 100 years.
Thank you for your assistance! We will keep you informed of what else is happening - Truckee Donner Land Trust is now in escrow for the Webber Lake area (take a look at their map of "preserved" areas and areas they want to purchase at www.tdlandtrust.org ) and they have already secured a grant for $1 million from the Sierra Nevada Conservancy. They are in negotiations with California Wildlife Conservation Board for a $4.4 million grant. Your members can contact the Wildlife Board at jdonnell@dfg.ca.gov for John Donnelly their Executive Director if they would like to notify the Board that we want to keep snowmobile uses at this neighboring property.
Here is a note from Heidi, the consultant, and the survey:
Here is the link to the
online survey about Independence Lake Preserve. It will be available for input
until April 30. Please let folks know that they will only be able to fill out
the survey one time - they are not able to go back and edit their answers once
they have completed the survey. Also, for security purposes, name, address,
phone and email are required but will only be seen by me. They will not be
posted, used in any way or released for any reason. I will list the respondents
name in the appendix of my final report, but that is all.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ILP2011
Please contact me if you have any questions or need any further information.
Thanks again - we need to stick together!
Julie Osburn
Friends of Independence Lake
530-993-4987