How Tahoe became the exception to our political divide

The bright-hot sun was rising high in the sky above Sand Harbor in Lake Tahoe on Wednesday when all four of the U.S. senators from California and Nevada and two representatives joined the governor of Nevada, the leader of the Washoe Tribe and a self-described “dirtbag” professional climber onstage at the 30th annual Lake Tahoe Summit. 

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Every year, Lake Tahoe’s elected leaders, public servants, environmental advocates and community leaders come together to celebrate the work that’s being done to protect Lake Tahoe. This year, the region’s hope and pride was tinged with concern about the Trump administration’s continued efforts to dismantle protections for public lands. 

The day before the summit, the Trump administration moved forward in its plan to repeal the Roadless Rule, which would open about 59 million acres of national forest land to logging and road construction, including more than 20 million acres in California and about .  

But Tahoe has overcome challenges and threats to its environment before — and the annual summit plays a central role to reinforce its protection. 

The Lake Tahoe Summit began when the late Sens. Harry Reid and Dianne Feinstein invited President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore to Lake Tahoe in 1997. Washoe Tribal Chairman Brian Wallace was also present, signifying the beginning of a new relationship between the tribe and the federal government. 

At that time, scientists who studied Lake Tahoe were alarmed by Tahoe’s declining water clarity. The impacts of development in the basin were manifesting in water quality that was clouding with runoff and erosion, while the forest continued to grow ever more dense and fire-prone and tourism was mounting. The two senators from California and Nevada saw the need to round up support for a vast, comprehensive environmental movement that would protect Tahoe and the communities that surround the basin. 

“They [Reid and Feinstein] created a forum 30 years ago where all of those voices could come together around that shared purpose, protecting Lake Tahoe for future generations,” said Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen of Nevada, who hosted this year’s summit. “And I just don’t think they could have imagined how successful it would be.”

That first summit led to the creation of Tahoe’s Environmental Improvement Program, which 30 years later, has funneled $3.2 billion into more than 900 projects that improve water quality, restore wetlands and forests, prevent aquatic invasive species like the golden mussel from reaching Tahoe, reduce wildfire risk, build trails and more. It’s a massive effort that’s made possible by the collaboration of some 80 government agencies and nonprofits; many of the people who have been leading that work were in the audience on Wednesday.

Tahoe’s bipartisan defenders in the Trump era

In many ways, Tahoe is a hopeful story of a place that was once destroyed by humans but has now made a comeback. In the late 1800s, white settlers violently forced the Washoe Tribe out of its homeland. Almost all of the basin was clear-cut. The timber was sent to Virginia City to build silver mines. Now, about 150 years later, the forests have grown back, and the Washoe Tribe is working with the Forest Service and the California Tahoe Conservancy on precedent-setting environmental projects to heal damaged lands.

Key to Tahoe’s success is the bipartisan support it receives from its elected officials who work together in Washington, D.C., to fund and advance environmental restoration work.

Tahoe’s bipartisanship is even more remarkable considering the current political divide that has become a deeply embedded feature of American life. Bipartisanship is increasingly important as the Trump administration continues to strip protections from public lands, restructure federal agencies and eliminate funding from critical research about climate change — all of which has an impact on Lake Tahoe. 

Tuesday’s move to roll back the Roadless Rule is a reminder of how reliant Tahoe is on its defenders.

Speaking with reporters at the summit, Rep. Kevin Kiley of California, who is running as an independent candidate in the election for his newly drawn district this fall, aligned with the Democratic senators in attendance when he said he’s concerned about the Trump administration’s actions to dismantle the Roadless Rule.

“I have real concerns about it,” Kiley, formerly a Republican, said. “And I think that protecting our public lands, protecting outdoor recreation is vital, certainly with the character of my district, the character of California as a whole. And so I think Congress needs to be centrally engaged on this.”

Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada agreed with Kiley that Congress needs to take action and stand up to Trump: “It is best left for Congress to actually weigh in and have this conversation,” she said. “And it’s unfortunate this administration always wants to play game and decide what every state [should do or] shouldn’t do.”

Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff of California told reporters he’s also concerned about the Trump administration’s attacks on science funding. 

“So much of the important work that’s done on the lake to try to understand what’s going to … comes out of really path-breaking federal-funded research,” Schiff said. “And some of that is under attack, and we want to make sure that that funding stream remains healthy and strong.”

Challenges facing Lake Tahoe

It used to be possible to see 100 feet down into Lake Tahoe on a regular basis, but as development progressed in the 20th century, Lake Tahoe’s clarity diminished, threatening the lake’s water quality and health. Gaining back Tahoe’s clarity is arguably the top-most goal of local officials.

Now, after decades of work to restore the lake, Tahoe’s clarity has stabilized and is holding steady. Last year, clarity averaged 69.2 feet, according to the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center, which has been measuring clarity in Lake Tahoe for nearly 60 years. Clarity is not getting any worse, but that measurement hasn’t made any notable improvements toward that 100-foot goalpost in recent years, either. 

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Climate change is also showing up in Lake Tahoe. The UC Davis center’s most recent State of the Lake report showed that air temperatures are rising. In the winter, more precipitation is falling as rain instead of snow. And come spring, the snowpack is melting earlier. That warming is influencing some of the vital systems in the lake, including water temperatures and lake mixing — a phenomenon that occurs when water from the top of the lake sinks to the bottom and pushes up colder water to the surface. 

Tahoe is also challenged by the rising cost of housing, wildfires and the impacts of tourism, Cortez Masto said. 

“We need to balance our ability to welcome visitors with maintaining a livable community and environment for our residents,” she said.

And yet, for all the challenges it continues to face, Tahoe’s track record of success is hopeful. Sen. Rosen noted several of those accomplishments in the past 30 years: 100,000 acres of forests have been treated with hazardous fuels removal, making communities safer from wildfire. Inspectors have taken a close look at more than 123,000 boats, working diligently to prevent new aquatic invasive species — including the golden mussel — from entering Lake Tahoe. 

Last year, projects to restore wetlands and improve the roads in the basin helped capture 737,000 pounds of fine sediment and pollutants before they entered the lake, safe-guarding the progress that’s been made on clarity. 

“These actions just haven’t saved Lake Tahoe; they’ve reinvigorated the local economy,” Rosen said, noting that, for every $1 million invested in Lake Tahoe, approximately $1.6 million in economic output is generated.

‘This is a lifetime of work’

Is bipartisanship still happening in the halls of the United States Capitol? 

Before the delegation walked onstage, professional climber and keynote speaker Tommy Caldwell posed that question to Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla of California. From the podium, Padilla shared what he told Caldwell: “More than people would think. Not as much as we need.”

Still, Padilla recognizes the intense, divisive politics that are impacting public discourse — and public lands across the country.

“When the values that have brought us together for the last 30 years are under strain by an administration that has slashed agency budgets and workforces, while attacking fundamental science and undermining scientific institutions, we know we have even more work to do,” Padilla said. 

In his speech, Washoe Tribal Chairman Serrell Smokey also spoke to the work that’s been done — the tribe is wrapping up a landmark project to restore the meadows near Meeks Bay, a place the tribe calls Máyala Wáta — and how much more there is still to do. 

“This is a lifetime of work, but we’re getting there,” Smokey said.

Caldwell, a professional climber who recently moved to Lake Tahoe, had a cautionary tale to share with Tahoe’s leaders and advocates, highlighting the need for continued support across political lines. Based on his own experiences and travels, he’s realized that places that enjoy environmental protections are increasingly becoming small pockets surrounded by development or land that’s been devastated by industry and resource extraction. 

He spoke about a trip he took several years ago with his friend and fellow professional climber Alex Honnold. They rode bikes from Colorado to Alaska to raise awareness for the Tongass National Forest, where the old-growth forest has long been protected by the Roadless Rule, underscoring that: “It’s now an issue here in the basin, and it’s just been repealed.”

Along the way, he expected to be pedaling through lush and verdant forests in Canada. Instead, he found vast swaths of land that had been clear-cut for logging and communities that were economically depressed and experiencing violence and trauma. 

“Our last 100 miles of biking before reaching the ocean was along a highway nicknamed the Highway of Tears for the Indigenous women that have been kidnapped and gone missing there,” Caldwell said. “I went on that trip hoping to be inspired by nature. Instead, I was heartbroken, broken by its destruction.” 

Tahoe is lucky because it has people who care about it and fight for it, he said. 

“In Lake Tahoe, people are a part of the landscape, and that gives people the chance to be inspired by nature, by the natural beauty around them,” Caldwell said. 

He added: “Let the story of Lake Tahoe remind the world that while humans have the power to destroy, we also have the power to restore.”