Proven Experience
SCA Principal, Steve Teshara, has nearly 40 years of proven experience working with and influencing regional agencies, local governments, and state and federal agencies engaged in the greater Lake Tahoe-Truckee region.
In the early and mid 1990s, Steve help organize Tahoe’s first-ever “Joint Federal Legislative Agenda” for presentation in Washington, D.C. to members of Tahoe’s Congressional Delegation. Recognizing his leadership, Steve was selected to be a member of the Steering Committee for the historic 1997 Lake Tahoe Presidential Forum.
Following this pivotal event, Steve led a two-year effort to secure support from the governors of California and Nevada and Tahoe’s local governments for establishing the Tahoe Metropolitan Planning Organization (TMPO). MPO is a federal transportation designation and the eligibility to establish an MPO at Tahoe was one of the Forum outcomes. At the state level, also in the mid- 90s, Steve spearheaded a legislative initiative in both Nevada and California to add one representative each from the Truckee-North Tahoe Transportation Management Association and the South Shore Transportation Management Association to the board of the Tahoe Transportation District (TTD).
Known then as the Lake Tahoe Transportation and Water Quality Coalition, Steve and many Tahoe partners were active in shaping and supporting the first Lake Tahoe Restoration Act (LTRA). Passed in 2000, Public Law 106-506 was bi-partisan legislation that authorized $300 million in federal funds for environmental restoration and related work in the Tahoe Basin. The next step was advocacy in support of amendments to the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act (SNPLMA). This became the source of the $300 million in federal EIP investments authorized by the LTRA. Steve was one of the Tahoe members appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture to serve on the Lake Tahoe Federal Advisory Committee, a formal panel which helped review and advise the Secretary concerning the expenditure of the federal funds in the region.
Another multi-year effort was advocacy in support of reauthorizing the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act. This was finally accomplished in 2016. Current advocacy is support for extending the 2016 LTRA for another ten years, through federal fiscal year 2034.
Steve is widely recognized for his work in communities throughout the Tahoe region, particularly in the areas of engaging and representing the business community in regional and local planning processes, advocating for community revitalization and workforce housing projects; also, for forest health, wildfire, and watershed restoration projects. As an example, Steve worked diligently to engage business organizations and their members to provide input to help shape development and adoption of the TRPA 2012 Regional Plan Update (RPU) and updated Regional Transportation Plan/Sustainable Communities Strategy (RTP/SCS). He remains one of the most consistent business community advocates in the region. For more than a decade, Steve has also served as a legislative advocate for the work of the Tahoe Fire & Fuels Team.
As an experienced advocate and community leader, Steve understands that private sector investment and active citizen stewardship, in partnership with governments, public agencies, and forward-thinking policies are essential to ensuring true regional sustainability.
