Truckee Stewardship Plan

In October 2020, the first official tourism authority for Truckee, California was formed as Visit Truckee-Tahoe. A strategy for balancing tourism with protecting and preserving Truckee as an economically thriving, authentic mountain town was long overdue.

The Visit Truckee-Tahoe (VTT) Board of Directors voted to fund the development of a Truckee Stewardship Plan in order to take the lead on addressing population surges due to both peak period visitation (summer/winter) and new residency. About Us

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A Changing World

Rapid growth in travel and increased rural residency, has caused considerable friction between residents, governments, tourism organizations and visitors. If left unmanaged, this rise in usage for a beloved place will undermine everyone’s quality of life, which will in time, forever degrade a place and sense of community. Taking action with needed changes in infrastructure, programs and services is imperative.

Tourism & Visit Truckee-Tahoe's Responsibility

We believe all people have an inalienable right to feel safe, welcome and connected to our community while experiencing Truckee’s mountains, lakes, rivers, scenery and fresh air. Authentic, outdoor experiences should be accessible for everyone no matter who you are, where you live or where come from.

And while tourism is foundational to the fabric of Truckee’s community and locally-owned small business vitality, we must artfully balance economic results with impacts for both residents and visitors.

The goal is preserving local quality of life, visitor quality of experience, community character, and protection for our environment - keeping Truckee true to our roots, an authentic mountain town.

Sustainable Truckee

Also in 2020, Visit Truckee-Tahoe launched the Sustainable Truckee initiative which now includes 15 programs, services and major funding sponsorships designed to protect Truckee’s environment and community character. As the first tourism authority, we also laid a new foundation for how and when to invite and educate visitors to respect and Take Care while here.

Truckee Stewardship Plan - It Takes a Community

For Truckee, we have both the positive and negative impacts of tourism on the local economy and our residents. A Stewardship Plan focuses on an equitable approach that moves beyond business as usual to protect our core values and manage growth.

Visit Truckee-Tahoe is leading the development of a Truckee Stewardship Plan in 2023. The purpose of a Stewardship Plan is to agree upon a long-term roadmap with a high degree of citizen input that may require infrastructure improvements with metrics, accountability, and partnerships.

This will require community-feedback on which focus areas matter most as most negatively impacting quality of life (i.e. trash/toilets, transportation, trails degradation, etc.).

The Truckee Stewardship Plan will overlap and interconnect with the Lake Tahoe Stewardship Plan in key areas such as regional messaging. However, the two plans have distinctly different geographic boundaries. In general, the Truckee Stewardship Plan map shares similar boundaries to the Truckee River Watershed.

Truckee Resident Sentiment Surveys

Visit Truckee-Tahoe is using FlashVote to measure resident sentiment in 2023. Results will help inform the Truckee Stewardship Plan. The first of two resident surveys was released on June 7, 2023. The survey identified key issues and impact areas regarding summer recreation in Truckee. The second resident survey is planned for end of July 2023.

‍View Resident Survey #1 results and key insights.

Truckee Stewardship Plan – Advisory Council

The courage to change business as usual, build new bridges and think completely differently in a rapidly changing world is the only way a Stewardship Plan is going to be effective as a guiding roadmap. The Truckee Stewardship Plan Advisory Council, includes some of the most forward thinking leaders who are willing to take a completely different approach for the greater good of Truckee’s community.

The Truckee Stewardship Council has different geographic boundary oversight, jurisdiction, and authority than the Lake Tahoe Stewardship Council. In general, the Truckee Stewardship Plan map shares similar boundaries to the Truckee River Watershed.

Visit Truckee-Tahoe Partners

The effort to develop a Truckee Stewardship Plan is a multi year project that began in 2020. With the help of our VIP Partners, we are well underway in developing a strategy for a tourism evolution from extraction (take) to regeneration (give and grow). View Our Partners

Visit Truckee-Tahoe is also a funding partner of the Lake Tahoe Stewardship Plan, which is interdependent with Truckee’s plan. View Lake Tahoe Stewardship Plan.

CCC - Champion, Convene, Catalyze - Truckee Leadership Forum

Being Destination Stewards takes thoughtful outreach and careful listening to the individual voices of every stakeholder, especially those who oversee organizations greatly impacted by high usage time periods when our infrastructure breaks down.

In winter 2021, Nevada County Supervisor Hardy Bullock (District Five: Truckee + Unincorporated Areas) created the CCC - Champion, Convene, Catalyze roundtable for all leaders to come together for immediate solutions. Visit Truckee-Tahoe actively participates on monthly meeting planning and presentations.

The CCC provides a forum that keeps sustainability at the forefront of planning and engagement. This group is a cross section of destination, land-use and community leaders focused on the advancement of sustainable tourism for Truckee. The aim is to ensure that tourism preserves and even benefits the environment, locals' livelihood, and quality of life for our residents, and quality of place for our visitors.

Accountability and Sustainable Destination Certification

Thriving communities are not created in silos - they are created by working together. A Stewardship Plan provides our community with an unified approach toward a shared vision. To ensure that Truckee complies with the highest social and environmental standards, Visit Truckee-Tahoe is using the Mountain IDEAL Standard, a GSTC (Global Sustainable Tourism Council), a recognized framework for sustainable destinations in mountainous areas, as well as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).