In The News – Tahoe is not Tahoe without public lands
February 21, 2026 | Member Submitted
Originally published in the Tahoe Daily Tribune, 2/21/2026, Julie Regan of TRPA
There’s nowhere on Earth like Lake Tahoe, and the public lands that surround Big Blue are the heart and soul of life in our community. They are also integral to the plan to protect and restore the Tahoe Basin. Measurable progress is being made on environmental goals that were set at a time when many of these open spaces were still privately owned and subject to development.
Last week, I had the honor of testifying in Washington, D.C. before a congressional committee on preserving Lake Tahoe’s public lands at the invitation of U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto. As a leader in the partnership known as Team Tahoe, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) and many partners, including the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California, have been working for years on legislation to modernize a law called the Santini-Burton Act. Since its enactment in 1980, the law has provided funds for the USDA Forest Service (USFS) to acquire more than 16,000 acres of sensitive lands in the Tahoe Basin.