TRUCKEE, Calif. – In alignment with the tourism authority’s Two Year Strategic Plan (FY 23/24-24/25), Visit Truckee-Tahoe has funded $17,500 to the Truckee River Watershed Council, representing the Donner Lake Interagency Partnership for Stewardship. The purpose of the study is to collect data for peak period recreational use on Donner Lake. The VTT Board decision was made in February 2023 as a precursor to the tourism authority’s official strategic plan published in November 2023 prioritizing destination management, protection, and stewardship.
“Whether it’s advocacy/lobbying, funding or staff time to convene multiple non profits, agencies and districts, the Visit Truckee-Tahoe strategic plan is structured to support long-term solutions for areas in greatest need” stated CEO Colleen Dalton.
To help develop Visit Truckee-Tahoe’s strategic plan, in spring 2023 the organization convened the first Truckee Stewardship Council, a leadership group with jurisdiction and authority to implement long term change on popular lands. Members of the Council span Truckee recreation nonprofits, districts, agencies, town and county governments, state parks and general managers for Palisades Tahoe, Sugar Bowl Resort and Northstar California.
Facilitated by the tourism authority and global consultants FutureIQ, the Council first defined boundaries for Truckee’s stewardship map as the Truckee River middle watershed, extending out to Northstar California, Olympic Valley and Alpine Meadows plus unincorporated Nevada and Placer County lands adjacent to Truckee. While Donner Summit is the headwaters for South Yuba watershed, the very popular and historically important area is also included in the Truckee Stewardship map.
After defining Truckee’s stewardship map, the Council published two Flashvote Surveys in summer 2023 that measured the community’s greatest areas and issues of concern in the Truckee stewardship map.
Within 48 hours of the first survey, 975 responses (including 669 Truckee Locals) resulted in a statistically valid data set identifying Donner Lake as the highest area of concern for protection and management out of four areas with 75% votes, followed by the Truckee River, Truckee’s Paved Paths and Historic Downtown Truckee.
The second Flashvote survey then measured the greatest issues of concern, in each of the top four areas of concern. For Donner lake, those issues ranked as lack of parking, crowded/degraded experiences, uneducated/irresponsible behavior and trash in that order. The Flashvote results validated the Board’s DIPS $17,500 survey funding decision made earlier in 2023, also aligning with the organization’s two year strategic plan.
Fast forward to March 28 2024 when a request for proposal (RFP) for the DIPS intercept survey funded by VTT was issued by the Truckee River Watershed Council (TRWC). This summer, locals can expect to see intercept surveyors on Donner Lake conducting interviews with all user types. “The goal is to get data collection about user behavior needed to direct future stewardship and management at Donner Lake ” said Michele Prestowitz of TRWC. “Visit Truckee-Tahoe’s investment fulfills an action item in the DIPS 2023 State of Donner Lake report. With these types of partnerships, our community and visitors all benefit from results of the data that will help drive management and infrastructure decisions needed to protect the Truckee watershed” she continued.
For more information about Visit Truckee-Tahoe’s two year strategic plan, the Truckee Stewardship Council, and the two Flashvote Surveys, please contact the official tourism authority at https://www.visittruckeetahoe.com/contact.
To review the DIPS intercept survey RFP, please contact the Truckee River Watershed Council. Michele Prestowitz, (530) 550-8760 x 4, [email protected].
