“Lake Tahoe’s beauty really hides its fragility and the threats that it faces,” said Chris Joseph, a communication director at Keep Tahoe Blue.
Keep Tahoe Blue is a privately-funded, non-profit organization with the mission to “…preserve and restore the environmental health and scenic beauty of the entire Lake Tahoe Basin.” It began in 1957 and its mission and core values continue today.
The team at Keep Tahoe Blue “proactively identifies problems and finds solutions.” They “…use science and innovation to take rapid action.” Lake Tahoe, is not just one of California and Nevada’s most famous natural features, but a home to an abundance of wildlife. This wildlife includes several species of trout, black bears, mountain beavers, coyotes, and more.
I interviewed Chris Joseph on Nov. 17th, 2025. I asked him what the most urgent threat was to the Tahoe Basin right now. His answer, “Climate change. It’s something that affects everywhere locally, but especially [Tahoe].”
The Environmental Defense Fund poses climate change as the cause for the growth in extreme weather conditions, something Tahoe is suffering from.
When Tahoe experiences climate change, each weather condition intensifies. So those hot California summers are turning into prolonged droughts, prolonged fire season and fire danger.
And the winter storms that the snowboarders and skiers of Tahoe love, well those larger storms are causing excess runoff that pollutes the lake.
Chris explained how the invasive aquatic plants and shellfish need “…a certain band of water temperature to be able to survive.” So, when the long-lasting warmer weather is in effect, “…the water will get warmer and there’s more habitat for invasive species to get in there and establish.”
Tahoe Blue Crew
So, how do they combat this? Well, Keep Tahoe Blue, although very successful in its efforts to preserve the ecosystems of Lake Tahoe, cannot do this on their own. Morgan Edwards, Tahoe Blue Crew Leader writes on their website, “The only way to keep Tahoe blue is if everyone pitches in and does their part.”
Not only is it important for organizations to team up, but community involvement is vital to really seal the deal with environmental health.
The organization teams up with many others in order to help restore the environmental health of Tahoe. Some of these organizations include the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, the U.S. Forest Service, the California Tahoe Conservancy, the Tahoe Resource Conservation District, the Tahoe Environmental Research Center, the Tahoe Fire & Fuels Team, and many more. The overall goal is a massive project, so a big team is essential to achieving the common goal.
As for community involvement, Keep Tahoe Blue offers many volunteering opportunities. Chris said that there is a program called “Eyes on the Lake,” where people in the community contribute. On the Keep Tahoe Blue website the program is described as “the League’s volunteer citizen science program to help prevent the spread of aquatic invasive plants in Lake Tahoe and surrounding waters.” Along with this, the organization offers many volunteer opportunities year-round where anyone can come help restore the area.
Now, being a donor-funded, non-profit, Keep Tahoe Blue relies predominantly on individual donations. Chris said that almost 95% of their funds come from individual donations. A small portion of funds come from foundation grants and an “eye drop” of funds comes from the federal government. So, the current government shutdown has not affected their organization directly in regards to funds.
Despite this, Chris said the shutdown has “…affected some of our partners who we rely heavily on,” with the Forest Service being one of them. Their crew, despite not getting paid, were still showing up for work and doing their part.
Although Keep Tahoe Blue may not be receiving much funding from the federal level, Chris said that the community support at the local, state, and federal levels is very inspiring. The collaboration among their partner organizations is something that Chris mentioned as well, touching on the fact that Keep Tahoe Blue could not do any of this alone.
Mission Critical
In addition to the partners, as previously stated, community involvement is crucial for the success of the organization as well. Chris goes on to say it is “…absolutely mission critical,” to put it into perspective. When posed with what the biggest obstacle Keep Tahoe Blue faces is, Chris answers with “outreach and education.”
The California Tahoe Conservancy states that Lake Tahoe “…draws 15 million visitors annually.” This is where education is key. When visiting, “…the vast majority of people want to do the right thing,” Chris said, “they probably just don’t know what it is.” And so the challenge here is the successful outreach to those people, ideally before they arrive.
So, how does Keep Tahoe Blue reach these people? Social media has played a significant role in reaching people and by extension, educating them. At one of their events where Keep Tahoe Blue co-funded a shuttle service to and from Emerald Bay, the volunteers were asked how they heard about it. And by no surprise, most of them got the information from social media. Chris urges any Tahoe-lovers or visitors to follow Keep Tahoe Blue on all social media platforms.
For the past 68 years, Keep Tahoe Blue has played a key role in preserving and restoring the Lake Tahoe Basin. Every person who has visited Lake Tahoe should appreciate this organization’s ongoing efforts, because if it weren’t for them, Lake Tahoe would not be what we know it as today.
Protecting Lake Tahoe is a shared responsibility, and every step counts. Keep Tahoe Blue has proven that their mission is achievable with a community committed to doing the right thing.
*Editor’s note: Photos shared and used with permission by Keep Tahoe Blue.
Reported and Written by Makena Lendahl
