Free Republic

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - The population of the Sierra Nevada could more than triple in the next 35 years, threatening many of the mountain range's Gold Rush-era towns with sprawl, gridlock and pollution, according to a report released Tuesday. Much of the 400-mile-long range is designated as national forest, park land or wilderness. It also holds plenty of private land where development could change the face and feel of the mountains, warns the Sierra Nevada Alliance, a 12-year-old coalition of more than 60 environmental organizations. About 600,000 people live in the 20 California and three Nevada counties that divide the...

RENO, Nev. - A judge has sided with conservationists trying to block construction of thousands of homes north of Lake Tahoe, saying a local development plan "builds in opportunities to create environmental mischief" and violates California law. The judge ordered Placer County to suspend all activities under the 2003 Martis Valley Community Plan and set aside the environmental reviews used to approve plans for construction of at least 6,000 homes in the valley southeast of Truckee, Calif. "Of particular concern is the impact which the project will have upon traffic and air quality impacts within the Tahoe Basin," California Superior...