The League and our partners the Tahoe Partnership remember Senator Dianne Feinstein, a true champion for Lake Tahoe’s preservation and protection.
“Lake Tahoe and the nation lost an irreplaceable leader today with the passing of U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein. On behalf of the partnership of Lake Tahoe organizations who the Senator dubbed ‘Team Tahoe,’ we send our heartfelt condolences to her family, colleagues, and staff.
Senator Feinstein was a stalwart protector of Lake Tahoe and a key architect of the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act, which launched the Lake Tahoe Environmental Improvement Program, one of the most comprehensive landscape-scale conservation programs in the nation. Throughout the last 25 years of her storied career, Senator Feinstein championed Lake Tahoe’s core environmental restoration initiatives, especially forest health, wildfire preparedness, and aquatic invasive species protections.
Feinstein was instrumental in passing the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act of 2000, landmark legislation that delivered $300 million in federal support for Environmental Improvement Program projects in the Tahoe Basin. She also spearheaded renewal of the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act in 2016, which since enactment has provided an additional $110 million for further environmental projects. She also helped secure $17 million for the Lake Tahoe Aquatic Invasive Species Program through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Senator Feinstein’s tireless work on behalf of the Tahoe partnership has ensured future generations are able to enjoy the same beautiful lake where she spent many of her childhood days. Alongside her compatriot in Lake Tahoe’s preservation, the late U.S. Senator Harry Reid, Senator Feinstein holds a place of honor in Lake Tahoe’s conservation success story. The two leaders have passed their passion for Tahoe’s preservation on to U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen of Nevada, and their colleague Alex Padilla of California.
Team Tahoe expresses our deep gratitude for Senator Feinstein’s leadership, friendship, and dedication to this national treasure which she believed so strongly in protecting.
Under the collaborative Lake Tahoe Environmental Improvement Program, federal, state, local, and private funds have led to completion of more than 92,000 acres of forest health projects, 107,000 aquatic invasive species watercraft inspections, and 198 miles of bike path improvements as well as hundreds of watershed restoration, water quality, and transportation improvement projects.”
The Tahoe Partnership, or “Team Tahoe” as Senator Feinstein called it, includes representatives from federal agencies, including the USDA Forest Service, the states of Nevada and California, the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California, local governments, nonprofits, and representatives from the private sector.
Image: Tahoe leaders in 2017 representing the broader “Team Tahoe” partnership. Pictured above with the Senator from left to right: Dr. Darcie Goodman Collins, League to Save Lake Tahoe; Julie Regan, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency; Steve Teshara, Sustainable Community Advocates; and Andrew Strain, Vail Resorts.