TAHOE CITY, Calif. and INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. – November 1, 2017 Ski season is almost here, and with it returns the popular “Plates for Powder” program. Individuals who purchase a new Lake Tahoe license plate in either California or Nevada can receive free lift tickets to one of nine Tahoe resorts participating in the program. With snow in the forecast for this weekend, now is the time to buy a Tahoe license plate so you can ski for free in Tahoe.

“It is great to see the ski resorts come together to offer free tickets to help raise funds for important environmental improvement projects,” said Amy Berry, CEO of the Tahoe Fund. “You can ski for free and help make a big difference for Tahoe.”

Plate sales and renewal fees generate proceeds that go directly to the California Tahoe Conservancy and Nevada Division of State Lands to fund hiking and biking trails and watershed restoration projects. The Tahoe Fund, a nonprofit dedicated to raising money for environmental improvement projects that support lake clarity, recreation and stewardship in the Tahoe Basin, is organizing the program on behalf of the public agencies.

The resorts participating in the promotion include Diamond Peak, Heavenly Valley, Homewood Mountain Resort, Kirkwood Mountain Resort, Northstar California, Sierra at Tahoe, Squaw Valley|Alpine Meadows, Tahoe Cross Country, and Tahoe City Winter Sports Park.

Information on how to purchase a plate and redeem free tickets is available at http://www.tahoeplates.org. The promotion is available from now until April 1. Some restrictions apply.

Tahoe Fund Launches “Venture Philanthropy” Effort to Tackle Climate Change Adaptation  

“A new type of philanthropy to invest in game-changing, climate change adaptation solutions.”

INCLINE VILLAGE Nev. (8/16/2017) —Today, the Tahoe Fund announced the Environmental Venture Trust, a new “venture philanthropy” approach to climate change adaptation in Tahoe. While much of traditional philanthropy is focused on established solutions, the Venture Trust will help fill a critical funding gap. Like a venture capital fund, the Venture Trust will support innovative, early-stage projects—but in this case projects that tackle the  challenges associated with global warming facing Lake Tahoe. Risk is inherent to venture funding, but the rewards can be dramatic. And the easy solutions to Tahoe’s environmental challenges are gone. By providing early stage seed capital, the Tahoe Fund will kick start innovative projects to improve lake clarity, outdoor recreation, transportation and forest health—projects that would otherwise not receive funding.

The Tahoe Fund recently began the first pilot program funded by the Enviornmental Venture Trust. The pilot tests the use of UV light to fight aquatic invasive weeds in Lake Tahoe, weeds that are the result of a warming lake. A UV light boat has now been deployed near the Lakeside Marina and the surrounding waters in South Lake Tahoe. The boat has begun using  UV light that is completely safe to most life forms, but lethal to aquatic invasive weeds. Within the first week of the pilot study, the boat destroyed half of the weeds in the Marina.

Click here to watch a brief video of the dramatic results.

If proven successful, the light can be deployed in other infested areas of Lake Tahoe and lakes around the world. “By providing early stage funding through our Environmental Venture Trust, the Tahoe Fund was able to help secure more than $260,000 in public funds to jumpstart this project. This is just the first of many venture stage environmental improvement projects around the Lake that the Tahoe Fund can help kick-start,”  said Amy Berry, Tahoe Fund CEO.

The Tahoe Fund seeks solicitations from organizations and individuals with proposals for suitable, Venture Trust projects to environmental challenges in Lake Tahoe.

The Venture Trust was launched with the support of a $50,000 matching grant from the Robert and Dorothy Keyser Foundation. The UV Light Pilot Project is a partnership among Tahoe Resource Conservation District, Inventive Resources, Inc., The California Tahoe Conservancy and the Tahoe Fund.

INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. and TAHOE CITY, Calif.  – June 20, 2016 – The nonprofit Tahoe Fund announced the appointment of John B. Jones Jr. to the Tahoe Fund Board of Directors. Jones, a member of the Truckee Tahoe Airport District and President of North Tahoe Real Estate Corporation, joins the organization as it prepares to expand its reach and private support of environmental improvement projects.

“We are thrilled to welcome JJ to the Tahoe Fund board,” said Art Chapman, chair of the Tahoe Fund board. “A true outdoorsman, he brings an excellent combination of business acumen and passion for Tahoe to our work.”

“As major supporters of the Tahoe Fund, my wife and I have watched the organization do wonderful work in the Tahoe Basin,” said Jones. “It is an honor to join the board and help continue to grow the organization’s impact with greater private support of environmental projects.”

Jones and his wife Glennis have had a home in the Lake Tahoe region for more than 40 years. He is an active outdoors person and very involved in the local Tahoe communities. He has been a Board member of the Truckee Tahoe Airport District since 2010 and served as its President in 2014 and 2015. John is the President of the North Tahoe Commercial real estate corporation and the President of his own investment management company, Triley Ventures. Prior to retirement in 2004, John was a securities analyst on Wall Street for 20 years where he followed the high tech sector for Montgomery Securities, Salomon Brothers, Salomon Smith Barney and Citibank. John began his technology pursuits at IBM in 1969. This led to his transition to Wall Street in 1985 as a technology analyst.

The Tahoe Fund is a nonprofit charged with inspiring the private community to support environmental improvement projects in the Tahoe Basin that will restore lake clarity, enhance outdoor recreation, and inspire greater stewardship of the natural environment. The Tahoe Fund has raised private funds for 15 projects in the Tahoe Basin, including a new bike path from Incline to Sand Harbor that will break ground this year. The organization will launch fundraising campaigns for its 2016 projects in early summer. They will feature the acquisition of 200 acres in South Lake Tahoe on the area’s highest priority watershed, a new overlook at Taylor Creek to help improve the visitor experience during the popular salmon run, a restored section of hiking trail on the famed Rubicon Trail on the West Shore, and a new section of Lake Tahoe Bikeway near Dollar Point. For more information please visit www.tahoefund.org.