Thursday, April 23, 1998 | 10:40 a.m.
Plans call for the removal of a 210-foot pier at Lake Forest. A new 275-foot pier will be built to the west, along with a pier head to protect boats while launching and returning to shore during periods of high winds.
Members of the League to Save Lake Tahoe fear the project could further damage the ecological balance of an area that they say should never have been developed in the first place.
But the Tahoe City Public Utility District, which pushed for the project, said the improvements are needed to protect boaters and provide safe access to Lake Tahoe.
As many as 30,000 boaters a year use the pier, which is adjacent to Lake Tahoe's Coast Guard station.
John Upton, El Dorado County, Calif., appointee to the board, said it made little sense to kill a project when a pier already exists in the sensitive area.
The pier will be located near the mouth of Burton Creek at north Tahoe's largest wetlands area.
"There are so many problems and concerns, it's hard to know where to start," Jeff Cutler, the league's deputy director, told members of the TRPA Governing Board on Wednesday.
The TRPA is planning major improvements to the Burtan Creek watershed as part of its $900 million environmental improvement program.
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