Yet again a sunshine and rainbows report from Executive Director Julie Regan of TRPA – “Column: Tahoe is Not Tahoe Without Public Lands”.

Ms. Regan highly regards the Santini-Burton Act for the USFS to purchase lands in the Tahoe Basin. She states, “Thanks to the visionary foresight of Congressmembers James Santini of Nevada and Phillip Burton of California, the USFS used funds from federal land sales in the Las Vegas area to buy land in Tahoe to protect the basin from overdevelopment.” Isn’t the primary job of TRPA to “protect the basin from overdevelopment”? Ms. Regan states, “The modernization of the Santini-Burton law would unlock funds to allow the USFS to manage these lands and protect our irreplaceable natural resources.” She doesn’t define how these lands would be managed, nor does she state how they have been managed in the past or currently. Manage how? What would change?

We are not “fortunate to have a bipartisan, bi-state congressional delegation elevating the needs of Tahoe in Washington.” The public does not vote on its board, and it is self-regulating. 

Since the passage of the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act, over $1 billion has been authorized. There is still approximately $290 million from 2016 that has not been appropriated. Numerous non-profits ask for donations each year for their projects. The Tahoe Keys residents have paid over $3 million for their aquatic invasive species problem, an environmental disaster that should have seen the lagoons sealed off from the lake proper and not allowed to fester for 40+ years.

Lack of law enforcement personnel to patrol and enforce rules and regulations, trash on beaches, tourists parking and walking along roads creating a hazardous situation and many other activities that occur throughout the year that are not mitigated could benefit from those unappropriated funds. 

If the TRPA is going to be the gatekeeper of Federal funds, the judge and jury of who what and where can be developed, they need to start answering to the public and common residents who have no persuasion on them. I can’t conceive that the TRPA has no idea how much they are not respected by the public and common residents. Public comment, written and in person at their meetings, as well as opinion articles over the years, have sent this message. Yet every article from Ms. Regan is written as bliss.

As far as lake clarity, maybe the over 36,000 pounds of trash removed in and around the lake since 2018 has something to do with it. Then there are the wealthy individuals who can pay any fee the TRPA comes up with to demolish and/or build what they want, illegal piers, sewage spills and dog feces left on beaches and trails.

The swelling number of tourists who visit Tahoe in winter and summer needs managing. There is no comprehensive public transportation system where tourists wouldn’t need a vehicle to travel around the lake. TRPA has claimed that this is because of the numerous counties, yet they have no problem regulating building and parking across those counties. TRPA cherry picks what it chooses to impose as rules and regulations. Before any more money is spent on new trails or extending the East Shore Trail, public transportation needs to be built to service the entire lake.

“Environmental redevelopment by private property owners requires installation and maintenance of best management practices to prevent erosion and reduce stormwater runoff.” Barton comes to mind, where this was not followed. Sure they got fined, but did that count toward any demerits for their quest to build on property that the public deems inappropriate for their project?

How can the TRPA tout their environmental projects when they allow building like the Tahoe Beach Club and most likely Barton’s hospital project as well as wealthy land owners building McMansions? The Tahoe Basin as an environment doesn’t keep score of one area being improved and another area being developed. The entire Basin and the lake are affected by developments and restorations regardless of where they take place. It can’t be chopped up into numerous sections or parcels and be treated like “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas”. The Basin and Lake are fluid.

-A. Stephens