Environmental Stewardship and Tourism Impact Mitigation

As an active partner in the collaborative development of the Basin-wide Lake Tahoe Destination Stewardship Plan, the NTCA is activating the plan’s vision and actions in its efforts to better manage outdoor recreation and tourism. The robust plan’s goals also include ensuring the sustainability and preservation of an iconic natural treasure and our local community.

Here are a few of the ways we’ve taken action:

• Off-Peak & Mid-week! The NTCA’s continued efforts to build long-term economic health in our region includes working to attract visitors when there is both capacity and need within the business community.

• We continue our outreach to highly targeted visitor populations who are receptive to our messaging around stewardship and sustainability of Lake Tahoe. These guests stay longer, spend more, and have a lighter environmental impact because they are using the infrastructure that was built to accommodate them. They are also more likely to take advantage of public and micro-transit systems, eat in restaurants, stay in resorts & hotels, and explore our shops.

• Sponsorships of the Lake Tahoe Water Trail and Take Care Tahoe billboards on I-80, as well as Tahoe City Public Utility District’s solar trash compactors help educate visitors to our region as well as mitigate their impact on our environment. 

• We hire local youth as Lake Tahoe Ambassadors to directly engage the public at heavily trafficked beaches and trailheads throughout the summer with messaging about how to take care of Tahoe. Supported via a partnership with the Sierra Nevada Alliance, the Ambassadors speak to and model stewardship behaviors designed to help everyone Make A Clear Difference by mitigating their own impact on the environment.

• The traditional fireworks celebrations in North Lake Tahoe have been upgraded to spectacular drone shows that light up the night sky on July 4th and Labor Day in a responsible way. Drone shows have less impact on the environment, reduce the risk of wildfire, and are better for people, pets, and wildlife who are adversely affected by the noise of pyrotechnics. Produced by the North Tahoe Business Association and the Tahoe City Downtown Association and sponsored by the NTCA, the drone shows are the perfect bookends to summertime in North Lake Tahoe.

• Special event funding is given partly in consideration to events that have an environmental impact mitigation strategy in place. Events that have an alternative transportation plan, eliminate the use of single-use plastic, and have a waste diversion program are given preferential consideration.