From the Desks of Perry & John

Despite the challenges we all faced, 2020 ended-up being a good year for conservation. If nothing else, the year reaffirmed how important open space is. Often we at the Land Trust think about open space in the Sierra in terms of natural resources (protecting California’s drinking water, preserving critical habitat, sequestering carbon in healthy forests), or for recreation opportunities we enjoy so much (hiking, running, skiing, riding and camping) – but this year brought the intrinsic importance of open space for our wellbeing to the forefront.

We saw more people on area trails, in the region’s campgrounds, and generally out enjoying nature this year, and we are grateful that the Truckee Donner Land Trust is able to contribute to that vital need. We’re proud of our staff and volunteers for quickly opening our lands and trails in the spring, for safely operating the Webber Lake Campground all summer, and we’re excited to have new trails built and nearly 3,000 acres more of open space preserved in 2020. 

Things went well on a national, state and local level for conservation this year too. Nationally the Great American Outdoors Act was miraculously signed into law fully funding the Land Conservation Fund at $900 million a year for the next five years. Past LWCF funding has been important to a number of Land Trust projects, including Frog Lake, Carpenter Ridge, and Van Norden Meadow – part of the Royal Gorge acquisition. It’s a highly competitive national process, but we’ve been lucky enough to have our little old local projects consistently score in the top three – kudos to our partners at Tahoe National Forest as well.

At the risk of being a tease, we’re hustling to get a good-sized piece of the LWCF pie once again. We can’t go public on the project just yet, but – fingers crossed – we’re pretty sure it will rank as a national priority. Stay tuned for when we’re able to say more about this incredibly important conservation opportunity.

And in California, Governor Newson issued a truly landmark executive order to conserve California’s rich biodiversity and readying the state for climate change. Called “30 by 30,” the order aims to protect 30 percent of the State’s lands and waters by 2030.

Closer to home, voters in Truckee overwhelmingly passed Measure K, providing $15 million for housing, open space protection and forestry – thank you Truckee voters!

Internally, 2020 was also a year of change at the Land Trust – the two of us – Perry and John are now Co-Executive Directors; we are thrilled with how it’s going so far. We moved offices (once things are safe and open again you’ll have to swing by at 11073 Donner Pass Road), welcomed new members to our Board of Directors, and took on new projects. We always seem to perform best when we bite off a little more than we can chew.

So on behalf of our staff and our board of directors, thanks for your ongoing support, happy holidays and stay tuned for an exciting 2021.