aberry, Author at Tahoe Fund

Take Care Tahoe & Kind Traveler Empower Explorers to Travel Responsibly to Lake Tahoe

October 23, 2019 by aberry

Travelers are rewarded for their act of kindness in giving back to Take Care Tahoe with exclusive rates and perks from Kind Hotels on Kind Traveler

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. (Oct. 23, 2019) — Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority (LTVA) launched a sustainable travel initiative with Kind Traveler, the first socially conscious Give + Get hotel booking and sustainable travel education platform that empowers travelers to make a positive community and environmental impact to the destinations they visit.

How It Works: A Triple Win
Travelers can now access exclusive rates (that result in a significant savings) with curated South Lake Tahoe hotels upon a $10 nightly donation to Take Care Tahoe, an initiative that’s a collective group of more than 30 organizations that love Lake Tahoe and want to see more people connect with its beautiful natural environment. One hundred percent of the donation goes to charity, creating a triple win amongst the hotel, charity, and traveler.

Why Now?
In a recent 2019 sustainable travel report by Booking, it was revealed that 71% of travelers think that travel companies should offer consumers more sustainable travel choices. On the other hand, almost half (46%) of global travelers acknowledge that they find it harder to make sustainable choices on while on vacation than in everyday life.

Responsible Travel: Take Care Tahoe
Take Care Tahoe is a tool for ecotourism seekers developed by a collective group of 30+ organizations that love Lake Tahoe and want to make it easier for people to find fun and interesting ways to learn more about Tahoe.

Working together, the group has launched the newly redesigned and easy-to-use www.takecaretahoe.org to provide a single information source for all environmental education activities. Beach cleanups, wildflower hikes, insightful discussions, and environmentally friendly festivals are just a few of the opportunities people can find on the new site.

“The Take Care Tahoe program is a great way to let our visitors know all the options to help take care of Tahoe,” said Amy Berry, Tahoe Fund CEO and Take Care Tahoe partner. “We are thrilled to partner with Kind Traveler and our local hotels to help spread awareness of Take Care.”

Sustainable South Lake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe is the second deepest lake in the U.S. and one of the clearest large Alpine lakes in the world. Although many of its watersheds and aquatic habitats were degraded as a result of past human activities, a partnership of federal, state, local agencies, private interests, scientists and the Washoe Tribe are collaborating to protect and improve the extraordinary natural and recreational resources of the Lake Tahoe Basin.

Over the past 20 years, partners have worked to treat 74,000 acres of land to reduce fire threats, restore lake clarity and 1,700 acres of wetlands, enhanced fish and wildlife habitat, and added 3,195 feet of public shoreline for recreation of Lake Tahoe.

What Does a $10 Donation Do?
Not only will a $10 nightly donation allow travelers to access exclusive rates and perks from Kind Hotels in South Lake Tahoe as a reward for their act of kindness, it will also help create a significant positive impact.

For example, a $10 donation to Take Care Tahoe will:

Provide lunch for one trail building volunteer
Provide three new Take Care Tahoe signs, with friendly and amusing reminders to visitors and residents to Take Care of Tahoe

“Beyond empowering and educating travelers on the exact type of positive impact they can make through their donation, it’s proven in the biology of kindness that by donating or volunteering, it’s possible to create a chemical shift in your brain, leading one to feel happier and healthier. This is the perfect storm for the traveler looking to have a more memorable, meaningful, and values-aligned vacation experience,” said Jessica Blotter, CEO & Co-Founder of Kind Traveler.

Participating Kind Hotels

Edgewood Tahoe:
As the first Kind Hotel to join the sustainable travel initiative in Lake Tahoe, Edgewood Tahoe, a LEED silver certified eco-luxury alpine lodge, is offering exclusive hotel rates and perks as reward for a $10 nightly donation to Take Care Tahoe, or a charity of choice, on Kind Traveler’s Give + Get hotel booking and education platform. In addition to exclusive hotel rates, perks include 20 percent off spa services, a daily $20 dining credit, a complimentary glass of wine or cocktail at check-in, a welcome amenity, and more.

Hard Rock Hotel Lake Tahoe:
One of the most widely recognized brands worldwide, Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Lake Tahoe, has also joined initiative to empower travelers to support Take Care Tahoe. In addition to recently eliminating all plastic straws and transitioning to paper only to-go bags, Hard Rock will offer perks that include a $15 food & beverage credit, a $15 Free Play Voucher, and upon availability, a room upgrade and late check-in/check-out.

Future Kind Hotels:
The initiative plans to on-board additional Kind Hotels in Lake Tahoe in further engaging all stakeholders in the sustainable travel campaign.

Destination Stewardship Through Education
Take Care has created a fun and youthful campaign that shares the message of responsible travel through downloadable posts for travelers to easily share in furthering the message that is critical in keeping Lake Tahoe sustainable for generations to come. As an education platform, Kind Traveler will champion and amplify the Take Care Tahoe campaign through its blog, newsletters, and social media to further the message of responsible travel to Lake Tahoe.

For more information on how travelers can #TravelKindly to South Lake Tahoe, visit www.kindtraveler.com.

ABOUT TAKE CARE TAHOE
Take Care Tahoe is a collective group of more than 30 organizations that love Lake Tahoe and want to see more people connect with this beautiful natural environment. Through a regional collaboration, the team has created a clever and engaging stewardship campaign that reminds residents and visitors to take care of Tahoe. The newly launched www.takecaretahoe.org is a one-stop resource for all things related to environmental education events, volunteer opportunities and messages in the Tahoe Region, with information on more than 30 organizations and more than 200 events. Tahoe Fund is the fiscal sponsor of Take Care Tahoe.

ABOUT KIND TRAVELER
Kind Traveler, a public benefit corporation (PBC), is the first socially conscious ‘Give + Get’ hotel booking and sustainable travel education platform that empowers travelers to make a positive community or environmental impact to the destinations they visit. Travelers access exclusive rates and special perks to book directly with curated hotels upon a $10 nightly donation to a local charity that positively impacts the visiting destination, or to charity of choice on Kind Traveler. 100 percent of the donations raised on the Kind Traveler platform go directly to charities. Kind Traveler currently represents 100+ hotels and 60 charities in 15 countries. All charities are poised to address the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at KindTraveler.com.

Bike Coalition and Tahoe Fund Add 350 New Bike Racks Around the Basin

September 30, 2019 by aberry

Second year of program supported by Squaw Valley’s $5 Fridays promotion

Year two of an initiative spearheaded by the Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition with grants from the Tahoe Fund and Squaw Valley’s $5 Fridays promotion resulted in the installation of 126 new bike racks at businesses in the Tahoe Basin this summer. In the past two years, over 340 new bike racks that provide security for nearly 700 bikes, two public repair stations that feature a permanent bike stand and tools for common repairs, and five public “fix-it” stations with tools and a pump have been installed at businesses and outdoor recreation locations in the Tahoe Basin.

Increasing the amount of bicycle parking and access to free repair stations region-wide encourages residents and visitors to bike which helps reduce vehicle emissions and roadway sediment associated with driving that impact the Lake. Every business that requested racks through the Bicycle Coalition’s short online survey received at least one.

“We have two coworking spaces in North Lake Tahoe—and both are right on the bike path, so promoting bike-to-work commuting for our users makes total sense,” said Megan Michelson, cofounder of Tahoe Mill Collective. “Once we added the bike racks from the Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition and Tahoe Fund, it made encouraging people to ride to work that much easier. They can lock up without dragging valuable bikes inside the office or leaving them outside in precarious places. For Tahoe’s businesses, having consistent, high quality racks out front sends a clear message: We love cyclists!”

“We’re excited to partner with the Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition to get more folks out of their cars and enjoying Tahoe on bikes,” said Amy Berry, CEO of the Tahoe Fund. “Improving transportation is a critical need in the Basin, so racks that allow people to safely store and lock up their bikes is a win-win.”

The Bike Coalition also upgraded their mobile bike parking (bike valet) equipment, purchased some much-needed supplies, and were able to provide parking for over 600 bikes at six events, including Earth Day, Lake Tahoe Summit, and other community and private events.

“It’s so nice to ride up somewhere and find a bike rack to lock to,” said Gavin Feiger, the president of the Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition. “We are excited to be able to provide bike racks and repair stations around the Lake as part of our mission to make Tahoe more bicycle-friendly. Huge thanks to the Tahoe Fund and Squaw Valley for the funds to make it happen.”

An interactive map highlighting where racks were installed this year can be found online at tahoebike.org/bike-parking.

About Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition

The Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition is an all-volunteer nonprofit organization with a mission to make Tahoe more bicycle friendly. LTBC promotes opportunities for more people to ride bikes in Tahoe, produces the most comprehensive printed and online bicycle maps for the Tahoe region, co-hosts the annual Lake Tahoe Bicycle Challenge each June, and advocates for bicycle safety. Learn more at tahoebike.org.

About Tahoe Fund

The Tahoe Fund was founded in 2010 to work with the private community to support environmental improvement projects that restore lake clarity, enhance outdoor recreation, promote healthier forests, improve transportation and inspire greater stewardship of the region. Through the generous support of private donors, the Tahoe Fund has leveraged more than $2 million in private funds to secure more than $40 million in public funds for more than 35 environmental projects. The projects include the new Tahoe East Shore Trail and other sections of the Lake Tahoe Bikeway, restoration of watersheds, removal of aquatic invasive species, forest health projects, public beach improvements, and stewardship programs. Learn more at www.tahoefund.org.

Former Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval Joins Tahoe Fund’s Council of Special Advisors

September 16, 2019 by aberry

Sandoval looks to further his legacy of support for Lake Tahoe in new role

INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. (Sept. 17, 2019) – The nonprofit Tahoe Fund announced today that former Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval has joined its Council of Special Advisors. Sandoval has a history of supporting Tahoe through his work as Governor of Nevada and as a past board member of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency. In addition, in his role as Chair of the Nevada Department of Transportation, he played a critical role in bringing the Tahoe East Shore Trail to fruition; a project in which the Tahoe Fund was one of 13 participating agencies. While serving in the Nevada legislature, Sandoval was on the TRPA Oversight Committee and was a member of the Natural Resources, Mining and Agriculture Committee for two terms, each of which had jurisdiction over Tahoe related bills. Sandoval is the second to be appointed to the new advisory council, joining former Tahoe Fund board member and long-time Tahoe advocate Steven Merrill.

“On behalf of the Tahoe Fund board of directors, we are excited to have Governor Sandoval join our Council of Special Advisors,” said Tim Cashman, former Tahoe Fund board chair. “He has an impressive resume and is someone who has been a champion of Tahoe for many years. We’re thrilled he has agreed to join our efforts to build a sustainable future for Lake Tahoe.”

The Tahoe Fund’s Council of Special Advisors was created to encourage the involvement of influencers who have demonstrated care and concern for Lake Tahoe and are willing to help advise and provide assistance to the Board of Directors. Specifically, members nominated to this advisory group will weigh in on the organization’s strategic direction, provide counsel on issues facing Lake Tahoe and help introduce other supporters and partners to the Tahoe Fund.

“I’ve long been a supporter of the work the Tahoe Fund has done on behalf of the environment and to encourage stewardship of the Tahoe Basin. Joining the Council of Special Advisors will allow me to continue to contribute to the ongoing work and success of the organization,” said former Governor Sandoval. “I look forward to jumping right in and lending my time and experience to the Tahoe Fund.”

The Tahoe Fund is a nonprofit organization that supports environmental improvement projects that restore lake clarity, expand sustainable recreation, promote healthier forests, improve transportation and inspire greater stewardship of the region. Learn more about the Tahoe Fund at www.tahoefund.org.

Tahoe Fund Launches ‘Smartest Forest Fund’ to Accelerate the Pace and Scale of Forest Restoration

August 19, 2019 by aberry

New initiative will provide seed funding to public and private sector ideas for rapidly improving forest health in the Tahoe Basin

TAHOE CITY, Calif. (Aug. 20, 2019) – The Sierra Nevada forest is home to over 100 million dead trees, and in the Tahoe Basin, tree mortality has exploded to 160,000 in the past few years. At a dinner event attended last night by California and Nevada Governors Newsom and Sisolak, and Senators Cortez-Masto and Feinstein, the nonprofit Tahoe Fund launched the Smartest Forest Fund. Designed to use philanthropy to drive innovation through seed funding, the Smartest Forest Fund will invest seed funding in new ideas and pilot projects that will significantly increase the pace and scale of forest restoration, bolstering the great work already underway by the US Forest Service, California and Nevada.

“Many people believe it is not a matter of if, but when we will face a catastrophic wildfire in the Tahoe Basin,” said John Jones, Tahoe Fund Board Member who is leading the initiative. “We know the devastation that occurred with the Camp Fire in Paradise, California could happen here. For this reason, the Tahoe Fund has identified forest health as our number one priority.”

To get started, the Tahoe Fund announced it will support three projects:

A $30,000 grant will be provided to the US Forest Service to develop an acoustic monitoring protocol and system to more effectively determine the value of habitat and the occurrence of the California spotted owl in project areas. Combined with automated recording device deployment, this will more efficiently detect individual owls and thereby shorten the existing process from two years to one year.
A $35,000 grant will join the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation’s support of Salo Sciences and Planet’s efforts to build the California Forest Observatory, an interoperable, aggregated data platform that will support dynamic, real-time wildfire risk mapping. If successful, it could significantly reduce the time needed for forest restoration planning, and also support emergency operations.
A $35,000 grant to support the efforts of the Nevada Division of Forestry will be provided to begin the process of re-starting the Carson City Biomass facility. Once restarted, the facility will create a new off-taker of excess timber less than 20 miles from the Tahoe Basin.

Although significant barriers to forest restoration planning and implementation exist today, the intent of the Smartest Forest Fund is to remove those barriers through technology and innovation. Projects supported by the Smartest Forest Fund will:

Dramatically decrease the time it takes to plan and approve restoration work
Use technology to enhance wildlife studies and harvesting plans
Find new outlets for excess fuel in the forest
Prepare the community for wildfire evacuation
Find new financial tools to do more, quickly

“We know that some of the ideas and projects the Smarter Forest Fund supports will work, and some may not. Working together with our public agency partners, we believe there is an opportunity to harness the power of philanthropy and the private sector to help fix our forest,” continued Jones.

This fall, in partnership with Tahoe’s forest management agencies, the Tahoe Fund will launch a call for innovative project ideas that align with the goal of increasing the pace and scale of forest restoration. Public agencies and private sector organizations will be invited to submit their ideas for funding. Tahoe Fund will also provide opportunities to collaborate with the public agencies and an experimental forest in the Lake Tahoe Basin to test out the ideas that are brought forward.

Tahoe Fund and Nevada State Parks Team Up to Reimagine Spooner Lake State Park

August 15, 2019 by aberry

Naming Rights Available for New Educational Amphitheater

INCLINE VILLAGE, Nevada (Aug 15, 2019) – An incredibly popular place to hike, mountain bike, ride horses or simply enjoy nature, Spooner Lake sees 150,000 visitors annually. Building on the recent success of the new Tahoe East Shore Trail, the nonprofit Tahoe Fund and Nevada State Parks are pursuing a major renovation project to improve and modernize the over 35 year old facilities at Spooner Lake which will eventually be the bookend of the path when it is extended from Sand Harbor to Spooner Lake.

The Tahoe Fund is actively seeking $300,000 from private donors to name a new amphitheater that will be at the heart of the park renovations. These funds will help to unlock $2 million in public funding to complete significant improvement projects at the park. Designed to serve as a base for natural and cultural history programs, ranger-led hikes and tours, and an outdoor science venue for students, the Spooner Lake Amphitheater will be a key connector between the world-renowned backcountry trail systems and the developed area at Spooner Lake that provides recreation facilities to support backcountry activities.

“Connecting kids to the outdoors, and allowing for that special moment of discovery, is paramount to nurturing a lifelong love for the environment and an understanding of the need to protect important ecological areas,” said Jay Howard, project manager, Nevada State Parks. “Not only is it critical to update the existing facilities that are available at Spooner Lake, our goal is to provide education to visitors and locals so we can encourage more environmental stewardship within the Tahoe Basin.”

“As we experienced with the generosity of donors who contributed to the Tahoe East Shore Trail, private funds can help make significant public funds available to construct projects like this. In addition to being a bookend to the future extension of the Tahoe East Shore Trail itself, there is tremendous value to the community and those who visit Spooner Lake to modernize the area facilities and construct a new amphitheater,” said Tahoe Fund CEO Amy Berry. “The Tahoe Fund is committed to helping to ensure this project becomes reality.”

Once complete, the amphitheater will:

Provide a place for high quality interpretive programming, public outreach and environmental education
Act as a southern bookend to the planned Incline to Spooner section of the Tahoe East Shore Trail
Serve as a major portal to 60+ miles of paths and trails in 13,000 acres of spectacular non-motorized primitive wilderness

In addition, construction of the amphitheater will give Nevada State Parks the opportunity to expand its ecology and outdoor education programs with local elementary and middle schoolers through a rotating series of park field trips. The facility will also provide an outdoor study area for high school and college students.

A single gift of $300,000 will provide amphitheater naming recognition, while gifts of $50,000 or more are eligible for other recognition opportunities. Learn more or donate at www.tahoefund.org.