Dwight Steele, 88; Labor Lawyer Turned Environmental Activist

Dwight Steele, 88, a lawyer and environmental activist who played a leading role in efforts to protect Lake Tahoe, died July 11 of injuries suffered in a fall at his home near the lake.

A native of Alameda, Steele earned his undergraduate and law degrees from UC Berkeley. In the late 1930s, he hitchhiked around the world.

During World War II, he was a member of President Roosevelt’s War Labor Board and War Manpower Commission. Steele also served on the National Wage Stabilization Board in 1952-53.

A resident of Hawaii from 1946 to 1959, he gave up much of his work as a successful labor lawyer in the 1960s to tackle environmental issues.

In the 1970s, he led the opposition to plans for the so-called Southern Crossing bridge, which would have connected San Francisco and Alameda south of the Bay Bridge.

He was general counsel for the League to Save Lake Tahoe at the time of his death.