Santini-Burton Modernization Act of 2026

Lake Tahoe land management and Tribe

If enacted, the bill would let the Forest Service use acquisition money for land management in the Lake Tahoe Basin. The Secretary would be able to transfer acquired land found unsuitable to States, local governments, or the Washoe Tribe. The Secretary would also be able to transfer acquisition funds to States, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, or the Washoe Tribe to carry out management and to buy culturally significant land. Funded activities would include forest health, wildland-urban interface work, water quality, reducing recreation damage, preserving cultural sites and Indigenous practices, and scientific research. The Forest Supervisor would make a spending plan by March 15 each year after consulting California, Nevada, the TRPA, the Washoe Tribe, and local governments. Funds given to non‑Federal groups would count as non‑Federal matching funds and must supplement, not supplant, other Tahoe Basin funding. The bill would define the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit as the land area the Forest Service created in 1973.