SAND HARBOR, Nev. - The recent inclusion of Lake Tahoe in a prominent international travel guide's list of places to avoid due to the detrimental environmental impact of excessive tourism has left local tourism officials taken aback. The iconic lake, which lies on the border between California and Nevada, has seen a surge in visitors and new permanent residents amid the COVID-19 pandemic, reigniting longstanding concerns about overcrowding. The inclusion of Lake Tahoe in "Fodor’s No List 2023" may serve as a much-needed alarm bell, signaling the need for change.
Susan Daniels, a 70-year-old lifelong resident of Kings Beach, California, lamented, "I can't go to my own beaches anymore." She pointed out that even her favorite spot, Sand Harbor, known for its stunning turquoise water and rock formations, is now inaccessible unless she queues up from 7 in the morning.
Following Fodor’s announcement last November that "Lake Tahoe has a people problem," there has been a newfound readiness to contemplate taxes or fees on motorists, a proposal that was previously unthinkable. Concurrently, local business and tourism officials are rallying behind a new initiative to encourage people to explore less crowded areas of the lake and to visit during off-peak seasons.
The objective is to sustain the local economy, which is worth $5 billion and is heavily reliant on tourists who come to hike, camp, boat, bike, ski, and gamble. At the same time, the initiative aims to mitigate the environmental and community impact of these visitors. Despite being only a third of the size of the Sierra Nevada's crowded Yosemite National Park, the Lake Tahoe Basin receives about three times as many visitors, approximately 15 million each year.
Carol Chaplin, CEO of the Lake Tahoe Visitor’s Authority, stated, "We know that we really need to transition from the tourism marketing business to the tourism management business." This shift in focus was partly triggered by the Fodor’s article. "How are we managing our tourism?" she asked. "Not that it is overtourism — I think that was a little bit shocking. But we are not denying some of that."
This month, the Lake Tahoe Destination Stewardship Plan was unveiled. This 143-page document, supported by a wide coalition of over a dozen conservation, business, governmental, and private entities, prioritizes the sustainable preservation of Lake Tahoe's pristine cobalt waters, which turn blue-green near the lake’s 72 miles of shoreline. The plan, which has been two years in the making, is rich in ideas but lacks specifics. It emphasizes the need to alleviate traffic congestion, which not only causes parking issues but also increases air pollution and lake sedimentation.
Amy Berry, CEO of the nonprofit Tahoe Fund, clarified, "We’re not a national park. We don’t have gates. We’re not going to ever shut the door on folks." The document does not have the force of law, and there is no enforcement mechanism to ensure its goals are achieved.
Despite previous discussions on this topic, Tahoe officials insist that the situation is different this time. The traffic congestion has reached such a critical level that it's time to implement "user or roadway pricing to limit the vehicles in the basin and incentivize the use of public transit," said Alexis Hill, Chairwoman of the Washoe County Commission in Reno, Nevada.
Lake Tahoe is not alone in its struggle to manage visitors effectively. Earlier this year, Hawaii considered, but failed to pass, a measure that would have required tourists to pay to visit state parks and trails, with the revenue going towards maintenance and protection.
There is skepticism, however, about how easily tourists can be directed off the beaten path. Jason Kenneweg, a longtime Reno-Sparks resident who has spent over 25 years boating and snowmobiling at Tahoe, expressed his doubts. "I don’t think it will work. They don’t want to get out of their cars."
Daniels is among those who believe that some sort of user fee for motorists is inevitable. "If you hit people’s pocketbook, it usually has an effect," Daniels said. Despite the travel guide's suggestion that Lake Tahoe "could use a break in order to heal and rejuvenate," hotel occupancy between December and April, the peak of the ski season, was up 12% from last year, according to Chaplin.
The stakes are high for Tahoe’s ecosystem and way of life, with some longtime residents already having left, frustrated with the traffic jams, crowded supermarkets, and skyrocketing housing costs. Ellie Waller, who used to join Daniels at public meetings to advocate for the protection of the lake, finally had enough and moved to the Carson Valley, south of Reno. "This was my husband’s dream, to live and have this the rest of our lives," Waller said. "And at some point, we begrudgingly left it."
