On Valhalla Tahoe’s lawn, surrounded by pines and overlooking Lake Tahoe, California and Nevada lawmakers, organizations, agencies, tribe members, residents and visitors gathered to renew their commitment to Lake Tahoe at the 29th annual Tahoe Summit on Wednesday.
This year’s theme in protecting Lake Tahoe was “Balancing Sustainable Recreation and Conservation.”
Actor and keynote speaker Jeremy Renner embodied the summit’s recreation theme, having come from the middle of his camp for at-risk youth.
He discussed two causes in which he’s invested and that are inseparable — protecting the environment and supporting the youth who will inherit it.
“Conservation and advocacy are not separate missions here,” he said. “They are deeply connected. A healthy environment supports healthy communities. A community that invests in children creates a future worth preserving.”
The summit honored two members of Renner’s Camp RennerVation, Gene Marr and Parker Hubbard, as future stewards of Lake Tahoe. With their excitement and energy bursting from the stage, the two youths received their Lake Tahoe Stewardship Certificates.
The Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California offered an invocation and blessing for the summit.
Washoe Tribe Chairman, Serrell Smokey covered the Washoe’s history, presence, and government’s intervention on tribal lands in his remarks.
“It’s actually quoted that there’s no point in giving land to Washoe people because they’re all going to die anyway,” he said. “But we’re still here and we’re still here now.”
He honored the partnerships working to reestablish the Washoe presence and stewardship, highlighting conservation corps teachings, the start of the Meeks Meadow Restoration Project, and bringing back cultural burning.
In discussing the fragile balance of all the factors within Lake Tahoe, he emphasized the unity in partnerships it takes to maintain that balance. He noted responsibility does not end at Lake Tahoe’s shoreline, but continues to the people, especially the often overlooked disadvantaged youth.
U.S. senators Adam Schiff, R-Calif., Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev. and Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., as well as California Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, all honored the summit’s creator in their remarks, the late U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein. Cortez Masto recalled Feinstein riding her bike around Lake Tahoe as a young girl.
“Everybody has a story,” she said, “and that’s why this is so important for all of us.”
Schiff, who hosted the event, experienced the lake by kayak the day before.
“Just being out there on the water, seeing the magnificent blue, the breathtaking mountains,” he said, “the biggest problems in the world can seem very small.”
Schiff discussed the ongoing threat of wildfire and the Tahoe Basin’s partnerships, such as the Tahoe Fire and Fuels Team, working to mitigate that threat. He promised his dedication to fighting for public lands and the agencies that manage them.
Cortez Masto pointed to the partnerships in Lake Tahoe—California and Nevada, state and federal, private and public—as a model for the country.
“There’s a reason why Dianne Feinstein coined us Team Tahoe, because it takes that collaboration. It requires all of us to come together.”
She also emphasized the fight for public lands and how she and Rep. Kevin Kiley of California pushed the reauthorization of the Lake Tahoe Act through both houses, allocating $300 million to Lake Tahoe over the next 10 years.
She called everyone to action in that fight for Lake Tahoe and highlighted the importance of their voice and action.
Rosen argued that Lake Tahoe is a contender for the most beautiful place in the country, yet it faces multiple threats.
Those include worsening wildfires, extreme weather, invasive species, and aging infrastructure, but she recognized the continued collaboration across both political party lines that has preserved Tahoe.
“It’s a reminder that when we have a common goal,” she said, “we can achieve great things.”
Rosen highlighted Lake Tahoe Environmental Improvement Program accomplishments over nearly three decades and joined the other senators in encouraging people to use their voice, work and passion to protect Lake Tahoe.
Feinstein and Reid were instrumental in bringing leaders together for the first Lake Tahoe Summit 1997 to bolster federal government support in preserving Lake Tahoe.
Feinstein also helped direct significant funding to the Lake Tahoe Environmental Improvement Program, a key program in restoring and preserving the lake.
The Tahoe advocate coined the term “Team Tahoe,” which was repeated and embraced throughout the summit.