August 16, 2008

Reno, NV– Nevada Senator Harry Reid today attended the 11^th Annual Lake Tahoe Summit at the Tallac Historic Site at Valhalla Estate. This year’s summit marked significant gains made in preserving Lake Tahoe and the surrounding Tahoe Basin. In addition, important new federal legislation was announced that is intended to protect the lake and basin in coming years.

"I am proud to have helped found the Tahoe Summit, and the health of Lake Tahoe and its surrounding areas is hugely important to me,” Reid said. “We have accomplished a lot in the past 11 years, but we need to continue work on lake clarity and restoration, and implementing the environmental improvement program so we can all enjoy Lake Tahoe for years to come. My thanks to all the parties for coming to the table to discuss where we are and where we need to go for the future of the lake."

At the first Lake Tahoe Summit in 1997, President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore unveiled a sweeping plan to protect Lake Tahoe and the Tahoe Basin. It included efforts to restore the lake’s steadily declining water clarity, and to reduce the risk of fire by thinning forests of dangerous fuels such as shrubs and dead trees.  

Following on this, Senator Reid co-sponsored the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act, in 2000, that began a cleanup effort resulting in $1.1 billion of investment in the Lake Tahoe Environmental Improvement Program.