Nearly 3 tons of trash collected at Lake Tahoe beaches after July 4 holiday

As the sun came up over Lake Tahoe the day after the July 4 celebrations, scores of volunteers were headed to the beaches to help clean up the trash left behind on local beaches.

The League to Save Lake Tahoe reports 1,678.25 pounds was picked up by their 321 volunteers at 5.64 miles of beaches. Add that to the 4,000 pounds collected at El Dorado area beaches and there was 2.84 tons of trash picked up in one day.

For the 20th year, local contractor Ken "Ski Bum" Curtzwiler spearheaded the cleanup from the Tahoe Conservancy beaches west of Timber Cove Marina over to Regan Beach. He and his employees showed up at 6:00 a.m. and were joined by several volunteers.

"This was the best year yet for volunteers," said Curtzwiler. Because of this extra efforts on this stretch of beach they were done by 8:30 a.m.

He pays his staff of six to clean up and take everything to the dump where fees are now waived by South Tahoe Refuse.

This year he estimates the haul was about 4,000 pounds of trash.

Curtzwiler said they found the remnants of a large firework show held at a home on Lakeview Avenue. The rockets were sealed in cement and he even found a couple that hadn't been exploded that he'll turn over to law enforcement.

Along the beaches and in between rocks the group found plastic, bottles, cigarette butts, diapers, boxes and, aside from the rockets, the normal type of trash.

Over on five other Lake Tahoe beaches, the League to Save Lake Tahoe (Keep Tahoe Blue) coordinated volunteer clean up efforts.

At Nevada Beach volunteers had picked up 500 pounds of trash by 10:00 a.m. The trash picked up is sorted and weighed before being hauled off and included a lot of dirty diapers, floaties, chairs, grills, empty boxes that new equipment came in as well as smaller items like cigarette butts, bottles, styrofoam and paper. There were also full bottles of Gatorade and sunscreen.

"We saw more clothing like sandals and t-shirts this year," said Savannah Rudoff, Natural Resources Associate with the League. "We had a lot of trash out here this morning but it was matched with a number of volunteers who came to help clean."

Fritz Eriksen, one of the League's Core Volunteers, had a message for those who visit Lake Tahoe beaches. "Pack out your trash," he said. People entering Nevada Beach for the day's activities and fireworks are given a trash bag to encourage packing out their leftovers though not everyone does this.

MontBleu Director of Administration Michelle Bergstrom was at Nevada Beach for the second year in a row. She spent the day sorting trash for recycling and weighing. "It's good to give back," she said.

While Rudoff ran the Nevada Beach operations, other crews were at Regan Beach, Kiva Beach, Commons Beach and Kings Beach. Each location was sponsored by a local business who brought food, drink and raffle prizes for the volunteers.

Regan Beach had 29 volunteers show up, but after Curtwiler's team took out the big items their "take" wasn't as large. As of 10:30 a.m., 62.5 pounds of trash had been retrieved, with a large portion of that being plastic bottles and cigarette butts.

MontBleu sponsored Nevada Beach, RnR Vacation Rentals was at Kiva Beach, Alpenglow Sports at Commons and Brand Geek at Kings Beach.

Over at Lakeside Beach, staff and a few volunteers cleaned up Wednesday morning. Jim Rice, the manager at the beach, said the condition of the beach was a bit better than in years past. He said they still saw a lot of broken items left behind along with the normal trash. Volunteers received a Lakeside Beach towel for their efforts Rice said.

"It is always an ongoing effort," Rudoff said of keeping trash off Lake Tahoe beaches and trails. "Get involved and stay involved to keep Tahoe clean."

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