SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Keep Tahoe Blue had their south shore volunteer kickoff, with plenty of opportunities upcoming in the spring and summer—including expansions to volunteers on the north shore who want to protect and preserve the lake.
Volunteer and intern experience coordinator Julie Lytle, who started her position last spring, has had a successful calendar year. She reported that in 2025, Keep Tahoe Blue saw nearly 1,500 participating volunteers. “People felt like the volunteer work we had was just cleanup, but we actually offer a ton of opportunities,” Lytle told the Tribune. “The goal of my position is to expand those programs to all our departments—things like aquatic invasive species monitoring, restoration and even conducting surveys with people.”
Lytle credits the communications team for helping to get the word out about expanded programs and hoped to have more events to bring volunteers in. One of those events is taking place on the north shore, where Tahoe City will have its first Earth Day cleanup on April 22—the same day as the 11th annual Earth Day cleanup at Heavenly Village in Stateline.
Cleanups like those are what sustainable recreation manager Marilee Movius calls Keep Tahoe Blue’s signature events. But she also spoke about the Tahoe Blue Crew, where volunteers can get trained and “adopt” a spot for cleaning up. By using the Citizen Science app, the data they collect can also help Keep Tahoe Blue accurately track sources of trash and work with applicable land managers to maintain those spots.
“We’re hoping to get every spot adopted,” said Movius, who noted there is a training at the end of the month. “It’s great because you can do it anywhere around the lake, and volunteers are directly contributing to the data we look at for science to solutions.”
Other direct contributions to solutions include their policy volunteers. Last year, they collected information from people riding the Emerald Bay Pilot Shuttle program, which directly contributed to both continuing and improving the program. A new opportunity to volunteer also includes training to help volunteers speak with beachgoers about the Clean, Drain and Dry practice—even for non-motorized things like kayaks, paddleboards or even floaties that have been in another lake.
Volunteers have also helped with educating at the Evers/Spurlock Center on Lake Tahoe Boulevard, teaching hundreds of students about the work being done at the lake. Education manager Rosie Hackett even says she hopes they can expand to virtual lessons to help educate students across the state.
“Our volunteers are integral to what we do,” said Hackett. “I could not have had so many middle schoolers come through this center without them. We want this to be a community hub.”
Though Keep Tahoe Blue is located in South Lake Tahoe, they want to continue outreach and building their volunteer base in the north shore as well. Movius said that she sees the positive impacts of participating in citizen science and the connections that volunteers make with nature, themselves and their community.
Core volunteer Jonathan Lemus has volunteered for over 200 hours with Keep Tahoe Blue, along with other community organizations preserving the lake. “I was born in South Lake Tahoe and it’s really important to me to keep the environment clean,” said Lemus. “I care a lot about our lake, especially with plastic and the impacts of tourism.”
Lemus went on, “It’s really awesome to help out the community. And picking up garbage is one of my favorite things to do,” he said with a smile.
To find out more about Keep Tahoe Blue’s volunteering opportunities, you can visit https://www.keeptahoeblue.org/volunteer/
Volunteers in the north shore can attend a kick off event on April 7 at Alibi Ale Works in Incline Village.
