Dear Friends of the Tahoe Fund,
We are proud to present our Fiscal Year 2024–2025 Annual Report. As you’ll see in this report, last year was full of transformational change for Lake Tahoe and for the Tahoe Fund.
Our Board of Directors and staff spent much of the year working on a refreshed Strategic Plan. After revisiting our goals to ensure we are responding to shifting needs in the region, we’ve honed our focus to three areas: The Forest, The Lake, and The Experience. We are prioritizing projects that reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire, improve the health of the lake, and make it easier to get around, enjoy, and take care of Lake Tahoe.
Within each of these three focus areas, we have made substantial progress on transformational projects, alongside our partners.
After providing funding to help the California Tahoe Conservancy acquire the former Motel 6 property and surrounding 31 acres within the Upper Truckee Marsh, we raised $200,000 to demolish the existing buildings on-site. We remain committed to transforming this sensitive wetland into a healthy filtration system for Lake Tahoe, and are excited to support the restoration phase of this project.
At the start of this last fiscal year, we demonstrated how BurnBot’s suite of remote-operated tools are helping remove excess fuel from our forests. Since then, we’ve been hard at work bringing together wildfire experts, technology companies, energy providers, and nonprofits to revolutionize the way we are creating wildfire-resilient communities, with the goal of replicating this approach across Tahoe and the West.
Work is also underway to expand the East Shore Trail, making it easier and safer to access recreation along State Route 28. In addition to new and expanded parking lots, we are collaborating with our partners to help design, fund and build the next eight miles of path to Spooner Summit, starting with the next two miles of trail from Sand Harbor to Secret Harbor.
Although these are our major projects, they are just a few examples of the work accomplished over the last year. In total, we granted over $1.7 million to 60-plus projects, and helped leverage nearly $52 million in public funds—that’s more than ever before.
The unwavering commitment of our Stewardship Circle members and project donors powers everything we do at the Tahoe Fund. It’s your support that enables us to be a catalyst for transformational change and ensure that Lake Tahoe is a place for all to enjoy.
Yours in gratitude,
Amy Berry,
Tahoe Fund CEO
Verdi DiSesa,
Tahoe Fund Board Chair, FY 24/25
