LAKE TAHOE, Calif./Nev. – With the arrival of spring, the Tahoe Fund launched its annual March Madness campaign, bringing a new twist to a community favorite. Sixteen impactful projects competed head-to-head in a bracket-style voting tournament. Thousands of Lake Tahoe community members voted for their favorite matchups and ultimately chose the ALERTWildfire Camera as the winner of the $10,000 prize.
In past years, the Tahoe Fund’s March Madness competition invited the public to vote on Tahoe favorites like trails, beaches, and peaks. This year, the focus shifted to spotlighting and supporting the incredible partner organizations working to improve the Lake Tahoe environment for all to enjoy.
“It was inspiring to see our community rally around their favorite projects, casting votes in record numbers week after week,” said Jaclyn Tain, outreach manager for the Tahoe Fund. “This winner is a powerful reflection of the community’s shared priority of reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfire and the critical role early detection plays in protecting Lake Tahoe.”
Over 100 Tahoe area fires have been stopped before reaching one acre thanks to the existing ALERTWildfire camera network, run by the University of Nevada, Reno’s Nevada Seismological Laboratory. Last summer, the Tahoe Fund and Tahoe Prosperity Center launched a fundraising campaign to install an ALERTWildfire camera on USFS lands in Blackwood Canyon to close a major detection gap on the West Shore and across the Lake in Incline Village.
After a successful campaign, a temporary camera was installed to provide immediate support during the last fire season. A permanent camera will be installed next year, thanks in part to the additional funding awarded through the Tahoe Project Madness competition.
“We are humbled and grateful for all the support from the community around the ALERTWildfire camera program,” said William Savran, director of the ALERTWildfire program. “This program owes much of its success to support from the community, going back to the first cameras installed in the Tahoe Basin almost 15 years ago. We are committed to constantly improving the network and providing the community with the best information available.”
While the winning project took home the $10,000 prize, all 16 featured projects received a combined $700,000 in funding from the Tahoe Fund during their last fiscal year.
To learn more about this project, visit tahoefund.org/wildfirecamera.
