Dennis Machida, 58; State Official Headed Tahoe Conservancy

Dennis Machida, 58, the executive director of the California Tahoe Conservancy since its inception two decades ago, died March 4 of a heart attack while speaking at a conference in Montana.

Machida, a native of Sacramento, helped create the South Lake Tahoe-based conservancy when he was assistant secretary for legal affairs of the California Resources Agency. The conservancy, established by law in 1984, was formed the following year as a land acquisition and preservation agency with Machida as its leader.

Since that time he had directed the purchase of 7,400 acres of environmentally sensitive land on the California side of Lake Tahoe and the funding of about 600 projects to improve water quality, wildlife habitat, public access and recreation. The work is supported by bond issues passed by voters that have raised $290 million.

Machida, while lobbying the Legislature on behalf of conservancy projects, also worked to establish the Sierra Nevada Conservancy. That agency, signed into law by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last fall, will develop environmental preservation projects in 25 million acres of the mountain range from the Oregon border to Bakersfield.