League changes leadership

Longtime League to Save Lake Tahoe Executive Director Rochelle Nason announced her resignation this week.

The resignation will become effective in October, according to a Wednesday statement announcing the decision.

Nason did not return a request for comment Tuesday morning, but said in the statement her travel schedule contributed to her departure from the environmental group.

"I will always love Lake Tahoe and will return frequently as a visitor, but this summer my family and I decided to make our permanent home in the San Francisco Bay Area and I did not wish to continue my current schedule of travel between the Bay Area and Lake Tahoe during the coming winter," Nason said. "I am very pleased to be leaving the League in excellent condition financially and organizationally, and look forward to watching it continue to thrive and grow. It will also be satisfying to watch the public investment that the League worked so hard to secure over the years invested in projects that will help Keep Tahoe Blue."

Nason joined the environmental group as staff attorney in 1992 and became executive director in 1993.

Laurel Ames, the Tahoe Area Sierra Club Group's conservation co-chair, and a former League executive director, said Nason has been successful at protecting the lake during her tenure, especially when it comes to directing attention towards the importance of getting people out of their cars.

"Transportation is really the hardest nut to crack," Ames said.

Leading the League's efforts to establish urban boundaries, ban two-stroke engines and attract public funding to the lake were all listed as Nason's accomplishments in Wednesday's statement.

But some agencies have criticized the environmental group for tactics they consider obstructionist and overly litigious.

Most recently, South Lake Tahoe spokeswoman Nancy Kerry said the League has deliberately tried to mislead the public and the courts in a suit challenging the passage of the city's general plan.

Tahoe Regional Planning Agency spokeswoman, Kristi Boosman declined to comment in detail on Nason's decision, but said she was hopeful the decision would lead to fewer resources being spent in the court system.

The planning agency has been a defendant in a pair of federal lawsuits by the League in recent years, including a successful challenge to the agency's long-debated shorezone ordinances.

Last month a federal judge threw out the League's challenge to a TRPA-approved South Shore development known as Sierra Colina Village.

Boosman said the agency is hopeful Nason's resignation "ushers in a new era of cooperation" where more time and money is spent on getting environmentally and economically beneficial projects on the ground rather than conflict.

Robert Damaschino, chair of the League's board of directors, praised Nason's leadership in Wednesday's statement. The statement was released by a public relations firm and "will serve as the League's full comment on this story."

"Rochelle Nason has grown the League from a tiny organization with a single full-time employee into the substantial and influential group that it is today," Damaschino said. "The 'Keep Tahoe Blue' movement has flourished under her leadership and with it the level of public investment and attention to the conservation of the region. The entire Lake Tahoe Basin will continue to benefit for years to come from what she has accomplished over the past two decades."

While Damaschino lauded Nason Wednesday, the league president and executive director were split in their reactions to a proposed $35,000 fine from the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency regarding an illegal pier extension on the lake's west shore.

The pier, owned by Tahoe City resident Tamara Fritz, has been the site of the League's annual Oscar de la Renta Fashion Show fundraiser.

Nason defended Fritz when the proposed fine became public. Her statements prompted a response from Damaschino.

"Mrs. Fritz has done a great deal for Lake Tahoe and for the arts at Lake Tahoe," Nason said in response to the proposed fine. "We understand that she had no personal part in the environmental violations the TRPA pursued."

In a follow up statement, Damaschino said Nason's comments were not meant as a defense of the actions that took place on the property.

"The League to Save Lake Tahoe views the environmental violations that took place at the site of our fundraiser as a very serious matter," Damaschino said. "We support the efforts of TRPA and the landowner to correct them and assure they are not repeated."

"The league has long taken the position that every landowner in the Lake Tahoe Basin must be held accountable for what they allow to occur on their property, and, of course, contributions to the community do not excuse anyone from the obligation to follow environmental laws," Damaschino added. "We have every confidence that the agency and the landowner will address the violation satisfactorily."

League Program Director Carl Young will serve as interim executive director until a new executive director has been selected. Nason will serve as a senior advisor to the League.

Young "will work with the League's board to assure a smooth leadership transition," according to Wednesday's statement. "Carl has a strong background in science and in League programs. He has served as program director since 2007 and played an integral role in all the League's advocacy activities."

• Lake Tahoe Bonanza reporter Matthew Renda and the Associated Press contributed to this story.