Martis Valley is a geographic area of in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, extending northward from the North Shore of

Lake Tahoe, California Lake Tahoe (; was, Dáʔaw, meaning "the lake") is a freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada of the United States. Lying at , it straddles the state line between California and Nevada, west of Carson City. Lake Tahoe is the largest alpine lake ...

, to the west of the California-Nevada border. It is located in Placer and

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

Counties and is bisected by

Martis Creek Martis Creek is a northward-flowing stream originating on Sawtooth Ridge, west of the peak of Mount Pluto in Placer County, California, United States.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National M ...

which flows north to the

Truckee River The Truckee River is a river in the U.S. states of California and Nevada. The river flows northeasterly and is long.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed October 20, 2012 The ...

Description

Located in the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

mountains north of Lake Tahoe, Martis Valley is largely rural and forested. Elevation ranges from approximately 5,800 to 8,600 feet above mean sea level. The area is roughly coextensive with the

Basin, which drains into the

. It includes Martis Creek, Donner Creek, and Prosser Creek, major tributaries to the Truckee River. There are several natural lakes, Dry Lake, and Gooseneck Lake,

Donner Lake Donner Lake is a freshwater lake in Northeast California on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada and about northwest of the much larger Lake Tahoe. A moraine serves as a natural dam for the lake. The lake is located in the town of Truckee, be ...

. The Prosser Creek Reservoir, a small manmade lake, was created in 1962. A larger lake, Martis Creek Reservoir, was built in 1972 by the

United States Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

as flood risk reduction for

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...

. The area also includes Martis Creek Lake Recreation Area, operated by the US Army Corps of Engineers, the northern portion of the Northstar at Tahoe ski resort, the Lahontan Golf Club, and the Truckee-Tahoe Airport.

California State Route 267 State Route 267 (SR 267), known as North Shore Boulevard, is a state highway in the U.S. state of California. It connects Interstate 80 in Truckee with State Route 28 in Kings Beach on Lake Tahoe's shoreline. It serves as an alternate route ...

, one of two main roads connecting Truckee and Lake Tahoe, runs through the valley.

History

In 2001 a

forest fire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire ...

burned of land.

Development

In the 2000s Martis Valley faced development pressure due to its proximity to Truckee, California and Northstar at Tahoe, a popular

ski resort A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In North ...

. Developers initially obtained approval to build 6,000 homes on of subdivisions, which would have more than doubled the population of Truckee, California. In response environmentalists, preservationists and other activists created an organization in 2000
Sierra Watch
that filed lawsuits to prevent the development. After a judge issued an injunction against development, the litigation was eventually settled via a series of agreements that resulted in scaled-back housing projects, as well as preserving and providing more than $100 million for various wildlife and historic preservation initiatives. Among the agreements, developers and conservationists agreed to establish the Martis Fund, in order to develop affordable workforce housing for people who worked in the area, and also to levy a real estate

transfer tax A transfer tax is a tax on the passing of title to property from one person (or entity) to another. In a narrow legal sense, a transfer tax is essentially a transaction fee imposed on the transfer of title to property from one entity to another. ...

to pay for conservation land acquisitions by the Truckee Donner Land Trust. One major result was the preservation of the historic Waddle Ranch, a property of property dating to the 1850s. Among the properties developed are hundreds of multimillion-dollar vacation homes, Old Greenwood (a golf course and resort), and a new Ritz-Carlton resort at Northstar. In 2016, Mountainside Partners and Sierra Pacific Industries submitted a final application for entitlements for its proposed Martis Valley West Parcel Specific Plan, a plan that prompted the Attorney General of California to write a letter of concern to Placer County. The plan would include 760 condominium units and luxury homes with 6.6 acres of commercial development on Brockway Summit ridgeline overlooking Lake Tahoe. According to the environmental review for the project, the new development would be built in a dangerous fire corridor, hamper evacuation paths in cases of fire for the North Lake Tahoe/Truckee Region along CA Hwy 267, and create traffic that would negatively impact the clarity of Lake Tahoe. In October 2016, the Placer County Board of Supervisors approved the controversial development proposal, in spite of wide-spread opposition from area residents and local conservation organizations, including Sierra Watch. Sierra Watch, along with the Tahoe-base
League to Save Lake Tahoe
and Truckee-base
Mountain Area Preservation
filed suit to overturn those approvals for violating the California Environmental Quality Act in November 2016.Rhoades, Amanda (November 10, 2016)
“League to Save Lake Tahoe, Sierra Watch, Mountain Area Preservation sue over Martis Valley West (updated)”
''The Sierra Sun/North Lake Tahoe Bonanza''.”

References

{{coord, 39, 20, 48, N, 120, 07, 06, W, display=title Valleys of Nevada County, California Valleys of Placer County, California Valleys of California