The following article was sponsored in partnership with our friends at the North Tahoe Community Alliance.

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We are changing seasons in the Tahoe basin from Summer to Fall, and soon to our Winter season. That means lots of work ahead for me and the rest of our winter snow forecasting team. It also means looking forward to ski season which puts a smile on the faces of many skiers and winter enthusiasts residing in, working in, or visiting the Tahoe Basin!

Summer is also one of our busiest seasons for tourism in and around the lake and basin. It takes a lot of work from the community to sustain the economic health, community vitality, and environmental stewardship through the busy summer and winter seasons, and through the just beautiful but quieter shoulder seasons of Fall and Spring.

Living & Working in the Tahoe Basin:

I personally enjoy the beaches and swimming around the lake during the summer months with my family, as well as camping, hiking, and other activities. We love hiking through the fall, especially when the aspens are in full gold along the trails! We see firsthand the number of people also enjoying these activities in our beautiful region, along with the positive and sometimes negative impacts that can have on the economy, community, and environment.

When it comes to the Winter season my wife and I are no strangers to living and working in the Tahoe Basin. We both have worked in the ski and hospitality industries, and as an original partner and forecaster at OpenSnow, and long-time snow forecast for the Tahoe Basin, I know firsthand what it takes for the community to survive and thrive through the best and worst snow seasons. Both have their positives and negatives when it comes to living, working, recreating, or visiting the area.

Overall, everyone I know or meet loves the beauty and everything our amazing mountain region has to offer for both the local community and visitors!

Meet My Friends at the NTCA!

Living, recreating, working, and running a business in the Tahoe Basin over the past 17 years, I've experienced the importance of everyone working together to sustain everything we love about the Tahoe Basin. I've had the privilege of working with and watching the important work done by the North Tahoe Community Alliance.

There are several people currently leading the group that I worked with in the ski industry over the years. They are using their vast and similar experiences living and working in the Tahoe Basin to do everything they can to achieve the best for the economy, community, and environment around us.

Here is a quick video about their work if you are more of a visual person like I am.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1k96Q4C9qQcJ7Mj2pSNwCw 

Some of Their Recent Projects: 

• They are a leading partner of the Destination Stewardship Plan – a shared vision for the region’s recreation and tourism system that identifies 32 actions across four strategic pillars. The plan outlines a comprehensive framework and sets in motion action priorities to better manage outdoor recreation and tourism and to ensure the sustainability and preservation of an iconic natural treasure and its local community.

• This summer, they sponsored the Lake Tahoe Ambassadors – a program that engages local youth to interact directly with the public at highly impacted beaches and trailheads by both encouraging and modeling stewardship behaviors.

• They were also major sponsors of the Lake Tahoe Water Trail which this summer was focused on bringing the message of Clean, Drain, Dry to the inflatable paddleboard community in an effort to reduce the introduction of invasive species into Lake Tahoe.

• Their messaging to visitors focuses heavily on the six tenets of the Traveler Responsibility Pledge, which are designed to educate visitors about how to be responsible travelers. Really though, they are behaviors that every human being in Lake Tahoe needs to do if we are going to mitigate human impact.

• Their marketing campaigns focus exclusively on off-peak, mid-week business and target guests who can stay longer with a lighter impact on local infrastructure, and they all include stewardship messaging.

The Heart of the Organization:

Economic Health and Community Vitality Investment Program – This is really the heart of the organization, it’s completely new so not a lot of people understand it, and it’s how they are putting all of the TOT and TBID dollars back into the community.

https://www.northtahoecommunityalliance.com/our-investments/community-vitality-and-economic-health-investment-program/

• The Community Vitality and Economic Health Program aims to invest in programs, projects, services, and limited maintenance activities to achieve economic health, community vitality, and environmental sustainability that benefits residents, businesses, and visitors.

• The purpose is to provide a clear and strategic approach to allocate Transient Occupancy Tax (“TOT”) and North Lake Tahoe Tourism Business Improvement District (“NLT-TBID”) assessment funds to promote community well-being and economic growth in the North Lake Tahoe region.

• There are four phases: Sponsorship and multi-year, Annual Grants, Out-of-cycle, and Flex Funding Reserve.

• The Sponsorship and Multi-year investment program just wrapped up. In all 17 projects were funded over three years to the tune of $20m. When you include matching funds, the North Lake Tahoe community will feel an overall investment of $55m. Projects range from robotic litter retrieval to multi-use trails and pathways to transportation and workforce housing.

• Coming in early winter, the NTCA Annual Grant Program will open and will support priority projects, programs, services, or maintenance activities (“Investment Opportunities”) that may not be eligible for Sponsorship or do not require multi-year funding support. Available funding sources include Transient Occupancy Tax and assessments from the NLTTBID.

 https://www.northtahoecommunityalliance.com/what-we-do/promote-responsible-travel/

Come and Meet Them:

They are hosting a Community Investment Showcase in North Lake Tahoe on October 17 for the public to come get to know the organization and learn about the 17 projects that were just funded through the Sponsorship & Multi-year Investment Program. Learn more at www.northtahoecommunityalliance.com.

Stay Informed:

The best way to stay informed is to sign up for their newsletter:

https://www.northtahoecommunityalliance.com/stay-informed/sign-up-for-our-newsletter/

Thank you for checking out this great organization my friends at the NTCA are running. They are making a huge impact on the sustainability and success of our region!

I'm looking forward to another great ski season of forecasting and I'll see you on the slopes!

BA

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This article was sponsored in partnership with our friends at the North Tahoe Community Alliance.