In the Lake Tahoe Basin, the letters "BMP" can bring about various reactions.

Short for "best management practices," BMPs are methods prescribed by the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency to help developed properties function more like natural, undisturbed forest and meadowland. The TRPA believes that water conveyed to a lake by an undisturbed watershed usually is quite pure, because the watershed's soils and plants act as a natural water-purification system.

BMPs prescribed for residential properties usually fall into the following categories: vegetating and mulching bare, disturbed soils; infiltrating stormwater runoff from impervious surfaces; paving dirt driveways and roads; and stabilizing or retaining steep slopes and loose soils.

But for some of the 38,000 property owners in the basin who have not retrofitted their land for BMPs, the requirements can be harsh and expensive.

Readers submit Louisiana feast

Then stir in the sherry (may substitute sherry with more chicken stock) Add Parmesan/Romano cheeses and stir till thickened. May need to add more flour if too thin. Very gently add crabmeat carefully so not to break up the jumbo lumps. Fold over two times. Place either rice or toast points on bottom of ramekins, pour Crab Newburg sauce over which ever and top with more Parmesan cheese. Bake 20 minutes or until bubbly and brown. Serves six small ramekins.

PITA BREAD BITES

Cut pita bread in halves, then fourths, then eighths. Lay triangles on cookie sheet in a single layer. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and dried rosemary. Bake for five minutes at 350 degrees. Serve with the casserole with a small green salad.

We will have a Louisiana Fig Cake for dessert.

Somerset Power gets OK to begin coal gasification

The Department of Environmental Protection on Thursday gave the green light to Somerset Power LLC's plan to begin coal gasification at its Riverside Avenue plant. Outraged environmentalists and community activists called the decision unacceptable and said it significantly undermined the state's global warming policy. Earlier this month, the state's Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs declined to order a Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act review of the plant. The Conservation Law Foundation, which lobbies on environmental issues in New England, asked for the review. "In a final permit issued by DEP, the commonwealth said it would allow the power plant to adopt experimental coal plasma gasification technology and continue releasing carbon dioxide at current levels," said the foundation's spokesman Colin Durrant.