The Tahoe Basin can breathe a little easier after the Fourth of July holiday this year. I was thrilled to hear good news on July 5 from the beach cleanup crews around the Tahoe Basin. More than 50 volunteer teams reported that Tahoe’s beaches, trailheads, campsites, and other outdoor recreation sites had far less litter this year than in the past.
The report from Zephyr Cove/Shoals was particularly heartening. Last year on the Fourth, thousands of visitors clogged the beaches and rocky islands and left behind more than 6,000 pounds of trash, making national news. This year, 121 volunteers picked up just 164 pounds from the same area.
What’s changed? A lot. Team Tahoe’s collaboration paid off.
After the COVID pandemic of 2020 brought an unprecedented number of visitors to Tahoe and taxed our region’s traffic, businesses, and outdoor recreation sites, representatives from more than 20 organizations, including federal, tribal, state, local, private, and nonprofit entities, last year created the first Lake Tahoe Destination Stewardship Plan. The plan focuses on four areas:
- Fostering a tourism and recreation economy that improves quality of life and supports environmental stewardship.
- Creating a destination stewardship council to help fund and lead an agenda to improve the outdoor recreation experience for all.
- Developing a regional ethos of “taking care” of Tahoe. This includes clearly communicating how users should treat and behave at Tahoe’s natural attractions.
- Improving the Tahoe experience for everyone by improving infrastructure and enforcement to reduce litter, congestion, and traffic issues.
These goals were displayed Fourth of July week in places like Zephyr Cove/Shoals, owned by the U.S. Forest Service and managed by resort operator Aramark. In collaboration with the League to Save Lake Tahoe’s Blue Beaches program, site managers brought in additional trash receptacles and portable restrooms, added safety and security staff, and erected signs encouraging visitors to leave the beach cleaner than they found it. Elsewhere, the league’s Blue Crew teams visited beaches, parks, and hiking trails while Tahoe Fund’s Take Care Tahoe Ambassadors spread out to educate people about how to take care of Tahoe.
While traffic counts have remained steady for the last 20 years, the interests of visitors have shifted considerably, prompting more to disperse on hiking and biking trails to access remote mountains and shorelines. Often, the areas we seek aren’t prepared for us; parking is limited and facilities are scant. That’s why the stewardship plan aims to improve infrastructure and enforcement so litter, congestion, and traffic problems don’t worsen.
Summertime pressure on Tahoe is only likely to increase. Our summers are getting hotter, drier, and longer, encouraging people to flee warmer areas for a chance to dive into Tahoe’s chilly waters and cool off in the shade of its pine forests. According to one study, when it’s hot in the foothills and Central Valley of California, every additional 10-degree climb in temperature increases traffic flow over Echo Summit into the Tahoe Basin by 1,200 vehicles. Tahoe and other western mountain areas are becoming climate refuges.
The East Shore Trail, completed just five years ago, has already seen more than 1 million users with a single-day record of 3,700 people. The East Shore Express shuttle continues to run to Sand Harbor and up to Chimney Beach, where the Forest Service is expanding its parking lot while highway managers remove dangerous and environmentally damaging roadside parking spaces. Sand Harbor Nevada State Park is pioneering a parking reservation system that is the first at a Lake Tahoe public beach.
Meanwhile, in the Zephyr Cove/Shoals area, collaborative efforts over the past year between the Forest Service, Nevada Department of Transportation, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, Douglas County, the league, and Zephyr Cove Resort managers resulted in a safe drop-off area, a traffic light and pedestrian crossing, and a paid parking system. This year, dangerous roadside parking was banned.
Regular and reliable transit is expanding in other ways, too. TART Connect micro-transit service in North Lake Tahoe recently celebrated its millionth ride, and South Shore’s Lake Link is making progress and continues to expand its service area.
Destination stewardship principles are shaping a new ethos at Tahoe, but there is much more work to be done. Coming to Tahoe for a day, a week, or a lifetime can spark a culture of caring, but it’s up to each of us to ensure the spark lights the way for others. I hope you can join us in taking care of Tahoe this summer.
~ Cindy Gustafson is Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Governing Board chair and Placer County District 5 Supervisor. TRPA is aligned with and taking action to implement the Lake Tahoe Destination Stewardship Plan in collaboration with over 20 regional organizations. Visit stewardshiptahoe.org to learn more and read the plan.
