Lake Tahoe and its surrounding basin is a unique and treasured natural resource. The Lake has been designated an Outstanding National Resource Water by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and at one time an effort was underway to designate the entire Basin as a National Park. Over the past 10 million years, geologic forces followed by volcanic activity and active glaciations have combined to create the amazing Lake Tahoe Basin we know today.

Tahoe is the third deepest lake in North America and the tenth deepest in the world. Its greatest measured depth is 1,645 feet and averages 1,000 feet. The Lake is 22 miles long and 12 miles wide and is famed for its outstanding clarity. In addition to the Lake, the Basin consists of mountains reaching over 10,000 feet in elevation and magnificent forest stands made up primarily of pines and firs.

Although the Lake Tahoe Basin is a national treasure it is not an alpine wilderness. The past 150 years have seen dramatic anthropogenic impacts and the associated natural resource pressures. The basin continues to be a place of developing communities and a vacation destination area. Thoughtful foresight and cooperative management will be required in order to deal with the continued pressure placed on the natural resources of the Basin.

NTCD in cooperation with its partners will continue to work on developing sustainable conservation plans and implementing effective natural resource science in the Basin in a continued effort to balance anthropogenic needs with sound natural resource conservation.