TAHOE CITY, Calif. (Sept. 25, 2020) – Teens 4 Tahoe, an environmental stewardship group formed by six teens in collaboration with the nonprofit Tahoe Fund, will host a free virtual screening of the award-winning documentary Wilder Than Wild: Fire, Forests, and the Future on October 4, 2020 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. The virtual event, proposed by the teens living in Tahoe and around the Bay Area, will be the group’s first effort to help educate their peers about wildfire preparedness. It will include viewing of the one-hour long documentary followed by an online Q&A session with Kevin White, the film’s producer.
Concepted by 16-year-old Convent High School student Eliza Spaht of San Francisco, Teens 4 Tahoe was formed when Spaht decided she wanted to inspire others her age to help preserve Lake Tahoe and raise awareness of the environmental challenges the region faces. She connected with the Tahoe Fund to start Teens 4 Tahoe. The group will work together to encourage environmental stewardship of regional youth. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the group agreed a virtual event would be the right first step in their effort.
“I started the Teens 4 Tahoe group because I wanted a way to inspire kids my age to find ways to take action and help drive environmental change — particularly to help preserve Lake Tahoe,” said Eliza Spaht, founding member of Teens 4 Tahoe. “With the help of the Tahoe Fund, our intention is to help our peers learn what some of the challenges are that Tahoe faces and how we can become stewards of Tahoe and the broader environment.”
Wilder than Wild reveals how fire suppression and climate change have exposed Western landscapes to large, high-intensity wildfires. The sixty-minute film explores strategies that are being developed to help mitigate the impact of these fires.
“Part of living in a forest like we do in Tahoe means living with the threat of catastrophic wildfire,” said Amy Berry, Tahoe Fund CEO. “We are so inspired by the young people who feel compelled to align their efforts with our mission and encourage their peers to become involved in our work to support a sustainable future for Lake Tahoe. They truly are the next generation of stewards that Tahoe needs.”