Darcie Goodman-Collins named executive director of League to Save Lake Tahoe

South Shore native Darcie Goodman-Collins has been named the new executive director of the League to Save Lake Tahoe, officials announced today. She replaces Rochelle Nason who resigned last September.
“I’m very excited to move back to Lake Tahoe. I grew up skiing, snowshoeing, hiking, and waterskiing on our beautiful lake. I am passionate about science, education, and the Lake. I will lead the League’s efforts to restore the Lake and work hand in hand with the local community to do so,” said Goodman-Collins in a news release.
Most recently, Dr. Goodman-Collins served as Habitat Restoration Director at Save The Bay, where she developed and implemented science, policy, and community-based strategies to ensure that 100,000 acres of San Francisco Bay wetland habitat will be restored by 2020.
Born and raised in South Lake Tahoe, Dr. Goodman-Collins, 32, first became involved with the League as a summer intern in 1996, as a public policy researcher and doing public information. In 1997, she was the Tahoe community’s youth representative at the first Tahoe Presidential Summit, where she served on a panel of 10 addressing President Clinton and Vice President Gore about environmental issues facing Lake Tahoe, according to a press statement.
Goodman-Collins went on to earn two bachelor’s degrees from the University of California at Santa Barbara in Biology and Political Science, each with High Honors and Distinction. She also earned her Ph.D. at UCSB’s Donald Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, where her dissertation topic explored how environmental restoration and science can integrate with community engagement and public policy, according to a statement released by the League
While Dr. Goodman-Collins went on to found and serve at several nonprofit organizations in Santa Barbara, she always remained close to the Lake Tahoe area. In her service to the region, she has worked with the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center, the Tahoe-Baikal Institute, and has served on the board of the League to Save Lake Tahoe since 2009.
The national search was considered thorough and competitive. Nason, who served as executive director for nearly 20 years, was criticized for not living full time at Lake Tahoe, spending much of her time in Berkeley. Goodman-Collins and her husband live in the Bay Area and plan to relocate.
“In many ways, Darcie has been preparing for this position for her entire life,” said Robert Damaschino, President of the League to Save Lake Tahoe. “She knows the organization inside and out, has a Ph.D. in environmental science and policy, and she is a Tahoe native. She embodies the spirit of community collaboration that will ensure the League succeeds in its work to preserve Lake clarity as a partner with advocates, homeowners, policymakers, and the broader Tahoe region,” he added.
She said she brings with her experience that she will put to work for the League, including efforts to strengthen its bond with residents in the Lake Tahoe community. In recent years several lawsuits has wedged a deep divide in the Lake Tahoe community regarding the League. Many League advocates have left the organization because of the economic divide the lawsuits have created, locals pitting locals against each other in a kind of class warfare among environmentalists. In recent years, the divide became even more hot after the League sued the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency's Shorezone plan. The case is now set to be appealed in the Ninth Circuit Court.
“There are two lessons that I’ll bring with me into this position. The first I learned at Save The Bay. It is that collaboration, both outside and inside the organization, is critical for success. The second I learned as a Board Member at the League. It is that sound science must play a crucial role in decision-making if we are to make wise choices on how we engage with and preserve our outdoor treasures for all of us,” said Goodman-Collins.
Upon her arrival, interim Executive Director Carl Young will return to his former role as League Program Director.
Geoff Schladow, Director of the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center and a former colleague of Goodman-Collins at that organization said, “I look forward to collaborating with the League under its new leadership. Darcie Collins has strong environmental science credentials, and we look forward to working with her to integrate science with sound environmental stewardship.”