Tahoe City, CA…Placer County planning officials released plans for a new gated development on the White Wolf property between Tahoe’s Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows yesterday. New development would spread from Alpine Meadows Road north towards Squaw Valley and West to the Granite Chief Wilderness Area. Plans include a subdivision of 38 single-family custom home lots, 14 guest units and six employee lodging units; new roads and parking lots; as well as two private ski lifts, equestrian facilities, and tennis courts.

“Proposed development on White Wolf raises big questions about the future of our mountains,” says Tom Mooers, Executive Director of Sierra Watch. “When it comes to Sierra sprawl and Tahoe traffic, how much is too much?”

Conservationists are concerned with not only what the project would mean to the broader Tahoe region but, also, to the popular Five Lakes Trail and the federally protected Granite Chief Wilderness.

New development would border the Five Lakes Trail, which famed outdoors writer Tom Stienstra of the San Francisco Chronicle calls “gorgeous and pristine… one of the best short day hikes in California.” Subdivisions would spread towards the crest of the Sierra on land designated for national wilderness by the 1984 Wilderness Act, signed into law by Ronald Reagan.

“Wilderness protection is one of the great fundamental achievements of conservation in America,” says Mooers of Sierra Watch. “And the White Wolf proposal is a direct threat to that national commitment to our natural heritage.”

Details of the proposal were included in a 94-page “Notice of Preparation”, essentially the first step in Placer County’s state-mandated environmental review process, available here: https://www.placer.ca.gov/6187/White-Wolf-Subdivision

Initial planning documents identify the potential for “significant risk of loss, injury or death involving wildland fires;” the project would include a “shelter in place” facility.

Developer Troy Caldwell’s White Wolf proposal is the latest in a wave of development that could remake North Tahoe with a series of subdivisions and highrises.

Alterra Mountain Company, a ski conglomerate formed by KSL Capital Partners and Henry Crown & Company, proposes condos and hotels, an indoor waterpark, and a roller coaster in neighboring Squaw Valley.

A new gondola would connect the Alterra development with the White Wolf project. The gondola would run from Squaw to Alpine Meadows with a mid-station stop as a central feature of the White Wolf development.

In seeking entitlements, Caldwell is asking for major changes to Placer County’s current zoning and General Plan. All but roughly 3 of the property’s 275 acres are currently zoned either Open Space or Forest Recreation.

According to the County, members of the public are encouraged to submit written comments on the Notice of Preparation by December 5. And the County will hold public scoping meetings Tuesday, November 12, 2019 at 3:30 p.m. and at 5:30 p.m. at the Squaw Valley Public Service District, 305 Squaw Valley Road, in Squaw Valley.

About Sierra Watch

Sierra Watch works to protect great places in the Sierra Nevada. Founded in 2001, the Nevada City based non-profit has built a remarkable track record in land preservation in Tahoe’s Martis Valley, on Donner Summit, in Squaw Valley, and for other treasured Sierra landscapes. For more information, visit www.sierrawatch.org.