On Friday, July 7, the Sierra Nevada Alliance hosted 18 of the Take Care Tahoe Ambassadors for a training field trip near the Mt. Rose Summit. Rebecca Williams, Sierra Nevada AmeriCorps Partnership (SNAP) program director, covered a variety of topics, including bear awareness, leave-no-trace principles, forestry health, and local environmental knowledge.

During the training, the ambassadors deconstructed and restored six illegal fire rings, conducted a thorough trash cleanup of the area, and visited a beaver dam and pond. The trash clean-up included working to fill a microplastic challenge bucket provided by the Tahoe Water Suppliers Association, who also presented on Tahoe Tap, the microplastics challenge, and supplied Drink Tahoe Tap Bottles to the Ambassadors.

The training provided the Ambassadors with a broad range of knowledge to share with the visitors they educate this summer throughout the Tahoe-Truckee region, and made the community safer by deconstructing illegal fire rings. The Ambassadors now have the proper training to carry out similar tasks this summer and beyond.

Every weekend throughout the summer, up to 50 ambassadors will be positioned at popular recreation sites to provide information to Tahoe-Truckee area visitors about the importance of proper trash disposal, trail and wildlife etiquette, wildfire safety, and other Leave No Trace principles. The Take Care Tahoe Ambassador program is a partnership between the following organizations and funded through the Tahoe Fund’s grant program: Tahoe Rim Trail Association, Sierra Nevada Alliance, Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition, Visit Truckee-Tahoe, the Town of Truckee, City of South Lake Tahoe, Truckee Trails Foundation, North Lake Tahoe Resort Association, El Dorado Community Foundation, and the Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority.