BOARD REPORT
C O V I D - 1 9 PA N D E M I C A N D T H E TA H O E R I M T R A I L A S S O C I AT I O N
A Message from the President of TRTA’s Board of Directors
T
he Tahoe Rim Trail Association and the Tahoe Rim Trail have faced the occasional challenge over the years since the loop was completed in 2001. But none may by Dave Schnake prove as formidable Board President as the impacts of the current pandemic. Every non-profit, business (large or small), government agency, family, and individual is asking the same questions : When will the pandemic end? What will the medical and financial recovery be like? While some have been venturing answers to these questions, we are in, to use a term used frequently lately, uncharted territory. We probably won’t have definitive answers for some time.
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Starting in early March the TRTA Board of Directors has been holding regular video conference meetings to compile and discuss information as it seems to flood in. States, counties, local municipalities, tourism boards, government agencies, and other trail organizations are releasing a variety of edicts, laws, recommendations, and requests. Some have stated end dates, some will continually re-evaluate how long it will be in effect, while others are left open-ended. The Board is constantly tracking those that could have an impact on TRT users, trail construction and maintenance, guided hikes, youth programs, and fundraising. Examples of these impact questions are: Will TRTA be able to resume its trail maintenance/construction activities this summer? Delayed start? What about working with larger groups such as our backcountry camps or National Trails day? Will our agency partners at Nevada State Parks and the Forest
TRAIL BLAZER | Spring 2020 | Tahoe Rim Trail Association
Service see significant budget cuts to trails and recreation programs as our economy rebuilds? These are just a few of the numerous questions we are seeking to answer. There remain too many unknowns to make predictions. Instead the Board has been working on a list of scenarios ranging from best case to worst imaginable case. Discussing and building on these various scenarios is not a pleasant task for the Board, who tend to be hard-core optimists! But by doing so we are much better situated to avoid crises or, at least, respond to them quickly. The focus of these discussions tends to revolve around four main points, our volunteers, expenses, revenue, and institutional memory. Our volunteers are sure to be impacted by either the pandemic or its economic consequences. For the immediate future, their
