LAKE TAHOE — Agencies around Lake Tahoe are encouraging social distancing in response to traffic increases in the outdoors.

Take Care Tahoe is using humor to encourage people to follow sheltering in place guidelines, such as “It’s a beautiful day to stay in your neighborhood,” and, “No germs left behind.”

“In light of the current situation, getting outside is important for mental and physical health,” Crew Stover, program and outreach coordinator at the Tahoe Fund, a Take Care Tahoe partner, said in a press release. “But as we know going outside can create safety issues. We hope this approach gets people’s attention and has an impact. With direction from our federal and state agencies, these messages are not intended to promote outdoor recreation, but instead to educate and encourage responsible behavior. Now is not the time to go big.”

The messages are meant to combine the Leave No Trace mentality with the COVID-19 public health recommendations, as well as highlighting the decreased clean-up capacity at parks and trails.

These messages can be found through Take Care Tahoe’s social media account and are available in printable versions for land managers to place at trailheads.

Visit the Take Care Tahoe facebook page to see the full campaign.

Washoe County is also taking on a similar message. They are providing signage to Nevada State Parks to post along the East Shore Trail to encourage people using the trail to practice proper social distancing; staying six-feet apart and warning people before passing them.

“With the weather turning nice later this week, we need to make sure those who get out to enjoy the weather also do their part to flatten the curve,” said David Solaro, Assistant County Manager for Washoe County in an email.

The Tahoe Daily Tribune is a sister publication to the Sierra Sun.