Member-only story
Tahoe agency seeks state funds to advance development agenda couched as environmentalism
A sobering Lake Tahoe investigative journalism series by CalMatters arrived at an inopportune time for the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA). The deep dive into how public monies are used at Lake Tahoe landed as the agency comes before Nevada and California legislatures seeking millions of dollars for its operating budget. TRPA will be in Carson City on April 2.
As explained in an NPR CapRadio interview, a team of reporters spent months requesting and analyzing documents from the agency and submitting public records requests to federal, state and county sources. What came to light is that the Tahoe agency and a “myriad” of funders from both states and the five counties in the Tahoe basin along with deep-pocketed private interests (which include resort executives and developers on non-profit boards) have established a closed loop system for advancing pet projects. Items include: a consultant-generated rebranding of tourism as ‘sustainable’; photo opp summits; trail construction into once pristine shorelines and forests; and, despite a court order to cease and desist: poisoning water in the Tahoe Keys to ease boat access.
As one of the investigative journalists noted (audio time stamp 25.58) “they’re all giving money to each other through grants or what have you —…
