Program areas at Sierra State Parks Foundation
Education/Interpretation: We supported welcoming and engaging experiences to over 1.5 million visitors to our Lake Tahoe and Donner Lake California State Parks in 2022. Through an agreement with our park partners, we operate two house museum tour operations, two visitor centers and five park stores that sell specially curated items to enhance the visitor experience. We provided guided tours to over 16,000 visitors, including over 1,000 free tours for school children. We fund free park educational programming to over 15,200 visitors annually to include campfire programs, nature hikes, Junior Ranger programs, virtual school trip programming, rafting experiences to underserved youth, snowshoe hikes, Donner Legacy Day and other community outreach programming.
Advocacy: We continue to bring attention for general support of our state parks and reduce the impact of increased visitation. Outreach programs include trash-pick up days, social media outreach, community tabling events and attendance at local and state-level meetings of interest. We continue to incorporate equity and inclusion efforts into all aspects of our work to enable a more welcoming park experience for all.
Cultural and Environmental Preservation: Our focus on preserving the unique and valuable cultural and natural resources found within our parks remains steadfast. The Vikinghsolm exterior wood restoration project saw the complete restoration of window sills and much of the lakeside faade. The complete contents of the house museum was removed as a precaution of the fast-moving Caldor Fire in 2021 and returned in 2022 after extensive cleaning. The Pioneer Monument at Donner Memorial State Park was fully restored after a 22-year effort with major investments by SSPF. The historic gardens at the Hellman-Ehrman Mansion were expanded, following the Historic Landscape Plan financed by SSPF. We invested in community outreach for the protection of our natural resources, including black bear management, forest and fire management and invasive species eradication.