TAHOMA, Calif. (KCRA) --New video shows an injured biker being hoisted to safety after crashing Saturday near Tahoma.
Saturday afternoon, a 60-year-old mountain biker crashed and broke bones on the General Creek Trail, according to the California Highway Patrol.
An area fire department helped treat the man's injuries. Because he was injured in a remote area, however, a CHP helicopter was requested to assist.
The helicopter hoisted the injured biker from the trail.
He was then taken to Lake Tahoe Airport, where he was driven to a local hospital.

To see the original article in KCRA News, CLICK HERE.

PLACER COUNTY, CA (MPG) - The Placer County Board of Supervisors today approved $4.9 million in funding for trail planning and construction as well as other capital projects in eastern Placer County recommended by the Capital Projects Advisory Committee.

The Capital Projects Advisory Committee – a 13-member group representing the broad economic and geographic interests throughout eastern Placer County – evaluates project proposals based on how well they advance key priorities outlined in the county’s Tourism Master Plan for the region.

The committee makes recommendations to the county Board of Supervisors on which projects should receive funding allocated from transient occupancy tax collected from lodging guests in eastern Placer County.
This year, the Capital Projects Advisory Committee, co-chaired by the county and North Lake Resort Association, reviewed and evaluated 29 grant applications totaling over $36 million in TOT funding requests.
“The submitted projects are diverse and truly reflect the different needs and interests of our North Lake Tahoe residents and visitors,” said Placer County District 5 Supervisor Jennifer Montgomery. “I applaud the Capital Projects Advisory Committee for the hard work and dedication to the goals outlined in the Tourism Master Plan.”
The committee recommended to the board 18 proposed projects that met the criteria of the grant program and are high priorities within the Tourism Master Plan. The remaining projects are still being considered by the committee and will be brought before the board later this year.
Over 70 percent of the approved TOT funds will go to projects that focus on trail planning and construction. Several trail projects are part of the Resort Triangle Trail System, which connects the North Lake Tahoe town centers Tahoe City and Kings Beach with nearby mountain resorts and Truckee through the state route 89, 28 and 267 corridors.
The remaining approved projects focus on transportation and visitor facilities, including a visitor center at Donner Summit, a performing arts center at Northstar and parking facilities and bike repair stations in Tahoe City. A full list of the approved projects is available here.
Staff will return to the board at a later date with agreements and budget revisions for the approved projects.
Acknowledging a $100 million funding gap for projects designated as Tourism Master Plan priorities in eastern Placer County, county staff also briefed the board on a series of efforts currently underway that could lead to more funding for future projects.
In recent months, the county worked with the North Lake Tahoe Resort Association to poll area voters about their support for possible local tax increases. Poll results showed solid backing for an increase in the transient occupancy tax rate and more moderate support for an increase in the sales tax rate.
County staff also worked to place a provision in a proposed state law that would re-authorize a local transportation district, which could lead to better funding flexibility for broader transportation initiatives like trails.
The board took no action on these initiatives but staff will continue to explore their feasibility and return to the board for consideration of any next steps needed to propose them.

CLICK HERE to see original article in the Placer Sentinel newspaper.

DENVER (AP) — (Photos of North American wolverine in the Tahoe National Forest and the Monarch butterfly, two of the animals targeted) The Trump administration on Thursday proposed ending automatic protections for threatened animals and plants and limiting habitat safeguards meant to shield recovering species from harm.

Administration officials said the new rules would advance conservation by simplifying and improving how the landmark Endangered Species Act is used. "These rules will be very protective," said U.S. Interior Department Deputy Secretary David Bernhardt, adding that the changes would reduce the "conflict and uncertainty" associated with many protected species.

The proposals drew immediate condemnation from Democrats and wildlife advocates.

Critics said the moves would speed extinctions in the name of furthering its anti-environment agenda. Species currently under consideration for protections are considered especially at risk, including the North American wolverine and the monarch butterfly, they said.

"It essentially turns every listing of a species into a negotiation," said Noah Greenwald with the Center for Biological Diversity. "They could decide that building in a species' habitat or logging in trees where birds nest doesn't constitute harm."

A number of conflicts have arisen in the decades since the 1973 passage of the Endangered Species Act, ranging from disruptions to logging to protect spotted owls in the Pacific Northwest, to attacks on livestock that have accompanied the restoration of gray wolves in the Rocky Mountains and upper Midwest. Some species including gray wolves and grizzly retained protection for years after meeting their original recovery goals, often due to court orders resulting from environmentalists' lawsuits.

The proposed changes include potential limits on the designation of "critical habitat" for imperiled plants and animals; an end to a regulatory provision that gives threatened plants and animals the same protections as species at greater risk of extinction; and streamlining inter-agency consultations when federal government actions could jeopardize a species.

Collin O'Mara, president of the National Wildlife Federation, welcomed the potential for the changes to spur greater collaboration between landowners, government officials and conservationists — even as he cautioned against ending automatic protections for threatened species. "This is not all good or all bad," he said.

O'Mara said crafting case by case species management plans is an appropriate alternative to the blanket protections now given automatically to threatened and endangered species. Until those plans are completed, he said, broad protections against harming plants and animals should stay in place.

More than 700 animals and almost 1,000 plants in the U.S. are shielded by the law. Hundreds more are under consideration for protections.

Fewer than 100 species have been taken off the threatened and endangered lists, either because they were deemed recovered or, in at least 10 cases, went extinct.

Trump and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke have been strong advocates for oil and gas drilling and other types of development, frequently criticizing environmental policies they say hinder economic activity. Zinke also has sought to portray himself as a conservationist in the vein of President Teddy Roosevelt who will protect the nation's natural resources. The administration's proposals follow longstanding criticism of the Endangered Species Act by business groups and some members of Congress. Republican lawmakers are pushing legislation to enact broad changes to the law, saying it hinders economic activities while doing little to restore species.

One of the chief architects of that effort, U.S. Sen. John Barrasso, a Republican from Wyoming who chairs the Environment and Public Works Committee, said the administration's proposals were "a good start" but indicated more work was needed.
"The administration is limited by an existing law that needs to be updated," Barrasso said. "The changes I have proposed will empower states, promote the recovery of species, and allow local economies to thrive."

The Pacific Legal Foundation, a conservative law firm headquartered in California, lobbied for some of the changes.

CLICK here to see the original Associated Press article and photos in The Bakersfield News.