***VIDEO AVAILABLE***
FTPs for TV stations is available here.
“Without your voices, without your understanding and explaining to them truly what is happening on the ground, our firefighters who are in the audience right now are going to be stretched thin, and they are not going to be able to protect us, not just in fire suppression, but fire prevention and remediation. They all go together. And that’s why it’s crucial that we all stand together.”
South Lake Tahoe, Calif. – Today, U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) joined the 29th annual Lake Tahoe Summit. This year’s theme was “Protecting Lake Tahoe: Balancing Sustainable Recreation and Conservation,” and featured Lake Tahoe resident and Academy-Award nominated actor Jeremy Renner as the keynote speaker.
Senator Cortez Masto has long advocated for Lake Tahoe, leading congressional efforts to protect the lake. Last month, Cortez Masto pushed for the bipartisan EXPLORE Act to be utilized to benefit the Lake Tahoe Basin. Last year she passed the critical reauthorization of the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act and secured nearly $17 million in funding for the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, in addition to critical resources to address microplastic pollution in the Lake and to improve transportation options to and from Reno. Cortez Masto also helped pass the Great American Outdoors Act, which was signed into law to repair and maintain public lands nationwide.
Below are her remarks as delivered:
Well good afternoon. I’m battling a summer cold, unfortunately. And the only place I felt that would heal is right here, Lake Tahoe.
Excuse me if my voice is in and out. I have to say, it is always great to be here, in Lake Tahoe. And I don’t have to tell all of you that this is what it’s about, that you’ve heard from so many incredible leaders right now about finding that balance, how we all come together to work together to preserve this beautiful place. And it started years ago with the vision of Senator Dianne Feinstein and Senator Harry Reid, and we have kept that going. We have kept that going.
And why is this – I have to say – this is so important in this day and age. When this really should be the model for our country, when you have two states coming together. The federal delegation, the state delegation, all of the parties working together to preserve this lake. And we’ve done it over several years.
This is how it happens and there’s a public-private partnership that goes with it. I have to thank Senator Schiff for leading us today and the incredible the work that he has done, not only in the Senate now as he has joined us, but in the Congress. He’s a true leader.
We’re so grateful that he is joining us with our fight to preserve Lake Tahoe.
I also have an incredible partner in Jacky Rosen. This is someone who has stood fast, not afraid to fight for what is right and use her voice not just in Nevada but really in this partnership together for Lake Tahoe. So thank you.
And then, not here today, and you may miss his unique voice, is Congressman Amodei, who has also been there with us. I can’t tell you how many times, fighting and talking about how we preserve Lake Tahoe.
But that includes those as well as Senator Alex Padilla who sits with me on Energy and Natural Resources. Together we have been fighting together to protect our public lands, but also fighting for the resources we need.
And Congressman Kiley. Who also cannot be here. Who is a true – who is a true force to reckon with when it comes to protecting Lake Tahoe. I point this out because it’s not just the federal delegation in both states, but it is the partnership with the states.
You heard about how in the late 1990s, the Tahoe Summit came together. But what you don’t know is that the state governors were part of this partnership. I remember – I’m going to age myself – but I was working for the Governor at the time, Governor Miller, when we did this first Tahoe Summit, and we have been doing it over and over. And every year the Governors have been with us. So I’m so pleased that our Governor from Nevada, Lombardo, is here joining us. He’s always been in the fight.
We also have been joined by California’s lieutenant Governor Kounalakis. Thank you so much.
And Governor Newsom, who has been here time and time again to fight for Lake Tahoe. This is how it works when everybody comes together.
But – and I want to point this out – all partners are important, and that includes the Washoe Tribe. The Washoe Tribe from the beginning to now is a crucial piece of how we work together to preserve Lake Tahoe for so many reasons. So, Chairman Smokey, it’s always great to have you here and hear from you and what we can do together to preserve this incredible lake.
So I am– I am not going to go long here other than to say, Team Tahoe is what it’s about. And there’s a reason why Dianne Feinstein coined us “Team Tahoe”, because it takes that collaboration. It requires all of us to come together. Nobody has an ego. It is about how we work together to preserve this lake. So, you know, we are.
I’m going to actually pull you into this conversation. How many out there right now with a raise of hands, actually live and work in this Tahoe Basin. Raise your hand. Yeah, look at that. That’s what this is about. It is all of us. It is this public-private partnership. This is about all of us coming together and figuring out how we work together over the years to preserve this lake and work together to figure out how we preserve the ability to live near it, live around it, to have the transportation, the housing, and really responsibly recreate.
And there’s been a person who has been in this fight with us every single time. And he has shown up every single time. And that is Congressman Garamendi who’s right here in front of us.
And by the way, before I forget, Governor Sandoval, where’s Governor Sandoval, is here, and he is showing up every time.
I’m pointing this out because once you come to Lake Tahoe, and Adam Schiff, I don’t know what your history is, but whether the first time you’re here, you will never forget. Never forget what it was like when you first came here and experienced it. I was 18 years old. Dianne Feinstein, if you talked to her, was a young girl riding her bike around Lake. Everybody has a story. And it is – that’s why this is so important for all of us. Because these are great stories. This is positive. This is something positive that really this community can fight for and protect.
But I’ll tell you, the key partners, and this is why, as a member of Energy and Natural Resources and the Ranking Member on the Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests, that we have to fight for our federal partners. We have to fight to ensure they have the resources they need to be a part of this incredible balance that we’re fighting to protect this land. Now, you heard that Congressman Kiley and I were really pushing to do the reauthorization of the Lake Tahoe Act. We were able to push it through with the support of our federal delegation, both houses. So for the next ten years, there’s $300 million that are coming in to preserve and protect Lake Tahoe.
That’s a big deal. Ten years.
And Congress, with our federal delegation, we were able to do that. It is important we support Tahoe’s ecosystem, the water quality, the forest health, sustainable recreation, transportation, investments in science and stewardship. I can talk so much about this, but the federal partners are key. Here’s what is happening.
I know you know, but I’m going to throw it out there because without our voices, we are going to lose some of our federal partners. Right now, the funding for the Forest Service is being slashed. If we want to fight for mitigation control, fuels reduction, fighting these fires, healthy forest, protecting the quality of the lake, we need all of our partners. And that includes the Forest Service. And if it’s not slashing that funding, it is people that are taking deferred retirement or that were told from the very beginning that you are going to be terminated.
Right now, the Forest Service has reported 3,400 layoffs, 3,400 layoffs at the U.S. Forest Service. Now, I don’t know about all of you, but I remember all of these fires, including the Davis fire last year. The Palisades fire. We have fires going on right now in California. We have fires going on right now – the governor knows this better than anyone – in Elko, in Nevada. These things are happening.
And if we aren’t going to work together to preserve this, and protect against it, we could see a horrific fire right here in the Tahoe Basin. And we need our federal partners to be a part of that. That’s why it is important we use our voices, whether we’re here at a federal delegation, whether you’re in a state elected position or you’re out there in the audience and you live here, or you’re part of a nonprofit and you’re working to preserve this lake, or your part of the Washoe Tribe.
Our federal partners are so important. And right now, unfortunately, they are being thinned out. I’d rather see the forest being thinned out, to protect against fuels than our forest service, quite honestly.
So that’s what we’re up against. You have heard that there’s federal legislation. Adam talked about this. Last year, Congress passed the EXPLORE Act to improve outdoor recreation access on public lands. This year, we are all pushing to ensure that Lake Tahoe specifically benefits from that legislation. There’s so much opportunity that we have to fight for. We will do our job at the federal level, but we need that partnership, and we need to make sure your voices are being heard for our federal partners.
Because it is one thing for us to sit here and talk about it, it is another to show up, turn it into action and make that change occur.
I cannot stress this enough. As I sit on Energy and Natural Resources right now, there is a lack of understanding by some in Washington about what is happening here in our communities. Without your voices, without your understanding and explaining to them truly what is happening on the ground, our firefighters, who are in the audience right now, are going to be stretched thin. And they are not going to be able to protect us, not just in fire suppression, but fire prevention and remediation. They all go together. And that’s why it’s crucial that we all stand together.
This summit is an opportunity for us every year to recommit to use our voices, to the fight and to finding the balance where we can all live, recreate, and appreciate this incredible Jewel of the West: Lake Tahoe. Thank you for coming out today.
###