California Housing Secretary Visits Tahoe-Truckee Region to Explore Forest-to-Housing Innovations

Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation (TTCF) hosted the California Secretary of Business, Consumer Services and Housing, Tomiquia Moss for a two-day visit highlighting how forest stewardship and innovative housing solutions intersect in rural, forested communities. Organized in partnership with the League of California Community Foundations, the visit highlighted scalable, place-based solutions addressing California’s dual housing and forest health crises. Secretary Moss was joined by Deputy Secretary of External Affairs Annie Carney and Deputy Secretary of Housing Sasha Kergan.

“For so long, State leaders have recognized the significant impact that stable, safe housing can have on other spheres of life, including the workforce, health indicators, and local economies. It’s true that it goes the other way as well. The forest-to-housing solutions you’ve presented today and worked on here in Tahoe Truckee over the last decade can benefit other forest communities, they can be replicated,” said Secretary Tomiquia Moss. 

The visit included housing development tours as well as: 

● A Mountain Housing Council Legacy Partner Meeting featuring regional housing needs data and the collective impact of partners at Nevada County, Placer County, Tahoe Housing Hub, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA), Town of Truckee, and Truckee Tahoe Workforce Housing Agency; 

● TTCF Forest Futures Grantee Showcase with forest-to-housing solutions including taking our forests’ hazardous woody biomass out of the forest and transforming it into energy or fire-resistant building materials like Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) as well as connecting wildfire insurance to forest management practices. Speakers represented Alpenglow Timber, Northstar Community Services District, Sierra Institute for Communities and Environment, Tahoe Donner Homeowners Association, Truckee Fire Department, and United States Forest Service. 

Secretary Moss’s visit affirmed the vital role of local leadership in shaping sustainable, equitable housing solutions that respond to a broad spectrum of regional and statewide issues.