Film will chronicle efforts to save Tahoe

Sue Pearson-Atkinson portrays efforts to restore Lake Tahoe's clarity in an upcoming documentary called "Fate of the Jewel."

Pearson-Atkinson, a Shingle Springs independent producer, hopes to

finish editing this week with a chance that "Fate of the Jewel" could air on KNPB Channel 5 in late January. The documentary, funded by the Water Education Foundation, will likely be distributed nationwide to PBS stations.

The one-hour documentary, narrated by actor Bruce Dern, details Tahoe's history along with the cooperation of federal, state, local and private people following President Clinton's summit at the lake in summer 1997.

Pearson-Atkinson tapped into the post-summit cooperation as an ideal subject for a documentary.

"It seems like a real natural after the presidential summit in 1997," she said.

"Things were changing. Stakeholders who had a history up there were not arguing anymore."

Pearson-Atkinson has produced at least a dozen documentaries for the "Water in the West" series. These include flood problems in Northern California, the Klamath River basin and what's ahead for the Sacramento Delta.

Pearson-Atkinson lives near Placerville, just an hour or so away from Lake Tahoe, but she said she learned so much that she didn't know about the lake.

"Making the documentary changed me like almost every production does," she said. "Tahoe belongs to me now. Now it's part of my backyard. I have to take care of it."

She learned - and the documentary shows - how several of the early, rich families exploited the Tahoe basin by clearcutting nearly all the forest. Then they ultimately set aside land that became today's state parks.

"From the early settlers, who did damage, we also have some benefits," she said.

Nevada state archivist Guy Rocha co-hosts the documentary, supplying many of the historical tidbits. He and Pearson-Atkinson worked together in 1997 for her documentary about Pyramid Lake, "Healing the Water."

"He is the kind of person a producer seeks out because he needs no direction," Pearson-Atkinson said. "He is our bridge to every point of history in our program."

Rocha has watched the lake's clarity diminish for 25 years. But his concern does not stop there.

"What strikes me is what I see at night: light pollution," Rocha said. "The night sky is lighted by artificial light. It's taking away the feeling of the clear Nevada sky. You have to leave South Lake Tahoe to get a good feel of what Tahoe may have looked like to John C. Fremont and Mark Twain. Tahoe looks more like Lake Erie today."

Pearson-Atkinson asked for Dern, not expecting to get him. As a student, Dern trained at Lake Tahoe for long-distance running and he has long owned property at Tahoe. Dern married his wife in Carson City in 1969.

"Bruce Dern adds the passion," Pearson-Atkinson said. "I swear he knows every stone and harbor. He knows the place so intimately. He was a joy to work with."

Dern filmed for one day at Lake Tahoe just before Labor Day and then did an hour or so of voice-over work at the studio in Los Angeles. His passionate reading in the audio room mesmerized Pearson-Atkinson and the sound engineer.

"He's just reading, but the sound engineer came out and said 'I haven't seen a picture but the way you read it, I have to see the documentary,'" Pearson-Atkinson said. "There is a sincerity that comes across with his narration."

Pearson-Atkinson has worked on "Fate of the Jewel" for two years with much of the on-location video work done the past two summers - most of it this summer.

Along with Dern and Rocha, the documentary also features the most acclaimed expert on Tahoe's declining clarity: Charles Goldman, a professor at UC Davis and director of the Tahoe Research Group. Goldman has watched clarity drop from 100 feet deep to 70 feet in 30 years.

"Everybody gives him the credit for giving the warning (about decreasing clarity)," Pearson-Atkinson said.

The documentary showcases Goldman on boats with President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore during the 1997 summit.

At the end of "Fate of the Jewel," Rocha says, "It isn't time to celebrate yet. Many questions remain. Will all the restoration projects be done? Will they be done with care? And will the effort pay off? the verdict is still out."

Does Pearson-Atkinson see promise to restoring the pristine clarity of Lake Tahoe?

"I would say the conclusion is yes," she said. "Everybody knows what the problem is and what needs to be fixed. But if they don't stay committed with funding, it all falls apart."