Draft:Save Martis Valley

The campaign to Save Martis Valley is why Sierra Watch was started. In the year 2000, landowners and officials from Martis published plans for a huge development slated to subdivide both sides of Highway 267 with more than 6,000 new housing units from Brockway Summit down to Truckee. Sierra Watch organized a grassroots campaign and achieved a positive vison for the valley with a team of planning experts and donors. The development plan was cut in half, and today (in 2024) Save Martis Valley has protected over 5,000 acres of land - but the work continues. Now, the campaign is focused on securing a conservation outcome for the Sierra Pacific Industries. The landowner, SPI has had a proposal on the table to split the property into 3 parcels: Eastern Martis Peak, Martis Valley West, and the Tahoe Basin. Martis Peak is proposed for permanent conservation, Martis Valley West is proposed for 760 new houses, and the Tahoe Basin portion- originally supposed to be a new resort and campground - was put under conservation easement at the end of 2020. The fight to conserve Martis is ongoing and slow moving but there is progress.