INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. and TAHOE CITY, Calif. – October 18, 2016 – The Tahoe Fund’s plans to bring innovation to the environmental challenges facing Lake Tahoe just got a big boost from the Robert and Dorothy Keyser Foundation with a $50,000 matching grant. The matching grant is for the Tahoe Fund’s new Environmental Venture Trust, a program designed to provide early stage seed funding to innovative projects around the Tahoe Basin.
Tahoe Fund is now actively seeking donations to secure the full matching grant so it can begin soliciting ideas for innovative pilot projects. The focus will be on the areas of highest concern in Tahoe, including the recent announcement of 66 million dead trees in the Sierra Nevada forests, the expansion of aquatic invasive species throughout the watershed, the continued challenge to maintain and improve the Lake’s famed water clarity, transportation challenges, outdoor recreation expansion and stewardship.
“The private sector can play a key role in driving innovation in any industry,” said Amy Berry, Tahoe Fund CEO. “With this amazing support from the Keyser Foundation, we will be able to work with our donors to kick start our efforts to bring innovation and new solutions to the challenges facing Tahoe’s environment.”
“The Tahoe Fund has done a wonderful job of inspiring the private community to join in the environmental restoration of Lake Tahoe in a very short timeframe,” said Blake Smith, Trustee of the Robert and Dorothy Keyser Foundation. “We are pleased to partner with them yet again on this new initiative to encourage new thinking and introduce the effort to new supporters.”
The Tahoe Fund launched the Environmental Venture Trust with a $5,000 grant to the Tahoe Resource Conservation District for a pilot project that will analyze the use of UV light to kill aquatic invasive weeds in Lake Tahoe. The Tahoe Fund’s grant will help the Tahoe Resource Conservation District secure more than $350,000 in public funding for the project. If successful, the technique could be deployed around Lake Tahoe and beyond.
Through the generosity of private donors, the Tahoe Fund has supported 18 projects in the Tahoe Basin since 2011, including more than $1 million for a new bike path from Incline to Sand Harbor that recently broke ground. For more information about how you can contribute to the Environmental Venture Trust to help meet the Keyser Foundation match, please visit www.tahoefund.org.
The UV light structure that will be used in the pilot project to eliminate aquatic invasive weeds.
