Funds on way to Lake Tahoe to reduce fire fuels on California side

Funds in the amount of $6.8 million are headed to the California side of Lake Tahoe after the California Tahoe Conservancy Board accepted a federal grant on Thursday that will reduce wildfire risk. Fuel treatments on up to 1,800 acres of high fire risk areas of land owned by state and local jurisdictions as well as private property will occur over the next six years

An aged automobile repair shop and parking lot in Kings Beach will no longer greet those passing by the corner of SR28 and SR267 after the board awarded $1.2 million to Placer County to acquire the property during the same meeting. Over the next two years, the structures and asphalt will be removed and the site will be revegetated and stabilized.

“This acquisition will allow visitors to Kings Beach to be welcomed into the community by open space rather than an aging automobile shop and improve public access to the Griff Creek corridor,” said Larry Sevison, the Conservancy’s Chairman of the Board and Placer County representative. “It also complements the nearly $2 million in Conservancy investments in the Kings Beach Watershed Improvement Project and the recently-completed Kings Beach Commercial Core Improvement Project.

The Board also approved $30,000 to acquire a small environmentally sensitive parcel along Brockway Creek in Kings Beach and authorized a permanent easement to the Tahoe City Public Utility District (TCPUD) to facilitate a water tank replacement project in Tahoe City.

Established in 1984, the mission of the California Tahoe Conservancy is to lead California’s efforts to restore and enhance the extraordinary natural and recreational resources of the Lake Tahoe Basin. For more information, visit http://tahoe.ca.gov.