Forest thinning resumes on the South Shore of Lake Tahoe

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE - To reduce fuels in the forest, as well as to promote forest health, the thinning of trees will resume between Fallen Leaf Lake and Camp Richardson Corral this week. Crews will also be working in the Spring Creek Homeowners Tract.

Whole tree and mechanical cut-to-length (CTL) tree removal will take place in these areas over the next several months, weather permitting and some areas will be closed for public safety as they do the cutting.

CTL thinning involves using a harvester to cut the tree down, remove the limbs and cut the tree into sections in the cutting area. Mechanical whole tree removal involves cutting the entire tree and moving it to the landing area to remove the limbs and cut it into sections. These types of mechanical operations require closure of the area during operations due to the hazards posed by heavy equipment and falling trees. The Forest Service will issue a forest order closing the project area across from Fallen Leaf Campground (Unit 148) to pedestrians from 7 a.m. until 6 p.m. daily for the next several months. Hazards may be present even when operations have ceased for the day and the closure is not in effect. The Forest Service will post closure signs in the area and the forest order will be posted at http://www.fs.usda.gov/goto/ltbmu/ForestOrders when it becomes available.

The forest thinning is part of the South Shore Hazardous Fuels Reduction and Healthy Forest Restoration Project, which will treat approximately 10,000 acres on the South Shore of Lake Tahoe to reduce the risk of severe wildfire, improve forest health, and provide defensible space to neighboring communities.

In addition to temporary closures of recreational areas, other short-term impacts from fuels reduction projects include changes to the appearance of basin forests. Treated areas look disturbed at first, but recover visually within a few years. Overall benefits to forests in treated areas include reducing fuel for wildfires and providing the remaining trees with less competition for resources such as water, sunlight and nutrients, which allow the trees to grow larger and become more resistant to drought, insects and disease.

For more information about the project, visit http://www.fs.usda.gov/goto/ltbmu/SouthShoreFuelReduction.