Volunteers sought to clean trashed Tahoe beaches after Fourth of July

LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — As thousands of visitors look to ring in the Fourth of July at Lake Tahoe, hundreds of volunteers will hit area beaches on Sunday, July 5, from 8:30 a.m. to noon to remove trash they will undoubtedly leave behind.

In what the League to Save Lake Tahoe bills as “the largest beach cleanup of the year for Lake Tahoe,” volunteers will scour the sand at Commons Beach and the Kings Beach State Recreation Area beach on the North Shore, and Nevada, Regan and Kiva beaches to the south.

“After Tahoe’s famous Independence Day celebrations, the lake’s beaches are thrashed with trash, which can hurt wildlife and lake clarity,” League officials said. “Many beaches have land managers who start early to remove trash after the festivities, but they still appreciate volunteer help, as many beaches have too much to manage.”

Residents can look to last year for an example of the damage; on July 5, 2014, League volunteers and staff collected and sorted nearly 2,300 pounds of debris — including more than 3,000 cigarette butts, 1,200 cans, 800 glass and plastic bottles, and 320 plastic bags.

Despite the efforts last year of more than 120 volunteers, the beaches cleaned represented less than 5 percent of Lake Tahoe’s total shoreline.

Considering that, visitors and residents are invited to pitch in next weekend. Volunteers may RSVP at keeptahoeblue.org/rsvp. Raffle prizes, refreshments and cleanup supplies will be provided during the clean-up.

This year’s partners include Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority, U.S. Forest Service, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, South Tahoe Refuse, Tahoe City Public Utility District, California State Parks, California Conservation Corps, and the city of South Lake Tahoe.