The way forward for recreation, tourism at Lake Tahoe

While Lake Tahoe’s economy has facets – such as construction, healthcare, education, and a growing number of gig and remote workers, to name a few – it is the foundation of our region’s $ 5 billion economy undoubtedly tourism. It is equally evident that visits affect the Tahoe environment and our communities.

Joanne S. Marchetta

To be clear, amazing places like this can be “loved to death”.

After COVID significantly increased participation in outdoor recreation over the past year, national surveys show that more than 60% of new participants expect to continue their outdoor activities after the pandemic. As tourism grows worldwide and the populations of Northern California and Northern Nevada continue to grow, the way in which outdoor recreation and tourism is managed here must change.

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency learns and leads on that front. We became a founding signatory to the global Future of Tourism Coalition early last year to set guidelines for target communities to reduce the impact on tourism and protect the very assets that make places like Tahoe so special. When COVID hit, TRPA, the administrative unit of the USDA Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin, visitor authorities and dozens of recreation partners quickly teamed up to resolve the almost daily problems that arise from careless and impulsive outdoor recreation. We were united by COVID.

From this coalition we are drawing the future of recreation and tourism on Lake Tahoe. Behind the collaboration and partnership lies the understanding that the time has come for Tahoe to shift the focus from the quantity of tourism to the quality. This winter, with dozens of partners on board, we set a starting point for best practices to be broadcast to recreational businesses regionally during this summer’s peak and in the future.

For good reason, trash is the focus of new campaigns this summer. Trash has become a problem and symbol of the need for better management and responsible recreation. TRPA and our partners combine enforcement, awareness, reporting systems and additional infrastructure to reduce waste and keep beaches and hiking trails clean.

There are numerous ambassador programs throughout the area, from the Tahoe Rim Trail to community beaches, to help recreational travelers understand what responsible recreation is like. Additional garbage collection and capacity are planned for most recreational areas and trailheads, and reporting systems – including a free app available at Citizensciencetahoe.org – will improve responsiveness.

The way we attract and communicate with visitors is central to the change. The regional visitor authorities have launched a Traveler Responsibility Commitment campaign to help increase visitor respect for our environment and our communities. Tourism agencies are also shifting their marketing to attract fewer people on weekends and at peak times and to spread usage over periods of lower demand.

The environmental education cooperation Take Care Tahoe will once again be exhibited extensively this year: on ambassador uniforms, retail locations, through on-site signs and on digital billboards along the travel routes. The future of tourism involves integrating messages of responsibility into the overall visitor experience.

Traffic and parking are also on everyone’s lips as we prepare for summer. New sources of funding from Placer County and the North Lake Tahoe Resort Association will provide free microtransit and park-and-ride services on demand throughout North Lake Tahoe. Express transit is also expected to return along the east coast of Nevada, and Washoe County is operating a shuttle service from Reno to East Shore, available upon reservation.

And in the crowded corridor of Emerald Bay, the California Highway Patrol has filed for funding to improve traffic and enforcement of parking regulations. In each of these areas, more permanent solutions to parking and congestion are proposed under the new regional transport plan approved by the TRPA Board of Directors in April.

As we plan this new future, we cannot lose sight of the fact that Lake Tahoe is only ours. Ninety percent of the land in the Tahoe Basin is publicly owned and the lake is a national treasure and an international icon. Visitors come from far and wide to experience the incredible beauty and become part of our communities. Most of our livelihoods are linked to the joy and vitality that Lake Tahoe can bring to everyone. However, this does not mean that the adverse effects of tourism have to be accepted.

Through this new coalition, we are committed to managing Lake Tahoe tourism more responsibly and in a way that is based on mutual respect: respect for the residents, visitors, and the incredible natural beauty of Tahoe. We all play a part in this.

Joanne S. Marchetta is the executive director of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency.