firewood

LAKE TAHOE, Calif./Nev. - The Tahoe Network of Fire Adapted Communities is presenting their eighth "Tip of the Week," an ongoing series for the public since they are unable to perform their normal community outreach services. All tips are ways people can prepare for wildfire while staying at home. They will be providing a total of ten tips.

Tip #8: Create Defensible Space

LAKE TAHOE, Calif./Nev. - The Tahoe Network of Fire Adapted Communities is presenting their fifth "Tip of the Week," an ongoing series for the public since they are unable to perform their normal community outreach services. All tips are ways people can prepare for wildfire while staying at home.

This Week's Tip: Create a Home Hardening Project Plan

Now that the snow has melted, it's time to start planning and implementing projects that harden your home from embers to increase the chance of it surviving a wildfire.

Dead and downed firewood cutting permits will be available starting April 1, on the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest’s Carson Ranger District. Forest officials stress that it is extremely important for firewood cutters to pay special attention to the terms and conditions of their permit.

During a wildfire, small hot embers can be carried miles ahead of a wildfire. When these embers land on something easily combustible on or near your home, it is in jeopardy of burning, even if it is not in the path of the flame front. Your home can survive when the embers arrive.

The Tahoe Network of Fire Adapted Communities is sharing a list of places homes are vulnerable to embers and how to prepare your homes along with an "Ember Awareness Checklist". The numbers match those in the photo:

1. Wood Roof

LAKE TAHOE, Calif./Nev. - Cooler temperatures and changing colors of the leaves remind us that autumn has arrived, but keep in mind that fire danger is very high this time of year. Vegetation that can feed a wildfire has had all summer to dry out and is ready to burn. Fall provides the perfect opportunity to check areas where burning embers might accumulate near your home or on your property during a wildfire. The places where pine needles and leaves pile up also tend to be where embers would accumulate during a fire.

The next meeting of the Board of Directors of Tahoe Paradise Recreation & Park District will be held on Thursday, July 5 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the park's meeting room. This meeting is rescheduled from June 28.

The board's agenda:

PARK RULES AND REGULATIONS Update
COMMITEE REPORTS - Committee Chairs
DISCUSSION AND ACTION
- Need for an additional dumpster
- Possible Reservation system for Tennis Court usage & cracks & Windscreen
- Consideration of increased use of lower Park for large Receptions
- Deck and pathway update
- Donation letter and Thank you letter Templates

The monthly meeting of the Tahoe Paradise Recreation & Park District Board will be on Thursday, May 31 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the park located at 1011 E. San Bernardino.

Agenda items include the following:

Availability of online forum from CSDA/Dane Waddle update from CSDA -
Consideration of covering park volunteers with Workers Comp.
Paddle Board Concession Request
Deck and pathway update
Donation letter and Thank you letter Templates
Interpretive signs update & Budget
Community Park Projects List
Forest thinning Project Update and firewood

There are now an estimated 102 million dead trees in California, creating unhealthy forests that are prone to major and catastrophic wildfires. Even though funds are being allocated to remove many of them, where will that timber go?
For now, there aren’t many options because of what has transpired from the government since 1968.

In that year the Secretaries of Agriculture and Interior issued orders restricting the volume of timber that could be harvested from Federal lands in the West. It was updated in 1969 to limit the total harvested to 350-million-board-feet.

Leave No Trace is a national program that teaches and inspires people to enjoy the outdoors while also helping to protect it.

While protecting the outdoor environment and keeping it clear and free of trash and debris should be commonplace, it isn't.

The Leave No Trace team was recently in South Lake Tahoe on a vacation but stopped by South Tahoe High to talk to members of Generation Green. Many may remember the team as community members who left last year to travel the country and teach and train along the way.

Ready to cut some firewood? Time is running out to do so on U.S. Forest Service land in the Lake Tahoe Basin. The last day to purchase fuelwood permit for the is on Friday, November 18 and the last day to cut wood is Sunday, November 20.

Permits cost $20 per cord, with a two-cord minimum purchase and a limit of 10 cords per household. Permits have specific conditions and complete information is provided when the permit is issued. Maps to designated cutting areas are also provided and must be in the permit holder’s possession along with the valid permit.

The following businesses took out business licenses with the City of South Lake Tahoe in the months of June and July, 2016.

June, 2016

06/01/2016 Anthony Caldera Rideshare
06/01/2016 Arizona Pipleine Company
06/01/2016 Cal Inc Training, LLC
06/01/2016 Marvin Buchmiller
06/02/2016 Mapes Enterprises
06/02/2016 Mike Fridley Builder
06/02/2016 Terri Jinken
06/06/2016 Avanti Builders, Inc.
06/06/2016 Tahoe Estate Watch
06/07/2016 Arastoo, Inc.
06/07/2016 Blue Lake Animal Care Center
06/07/2016 Down to the Bones Bodywork and Yoga
06/07/2016 Kaythan Koontz

The California Tahoe Conservancy today announced that free firewood gathering permits and firewood locations are now available online. Permits are valid until December 31 of the year printed or downloaded.

“The new online system will make our program more accessible to people throughout the Tahoe Basin and will save people time because they will no longer need to come into our office to obtain a firewood permit. The rest of the program remains unchanged,” said Milan Yeates, the Conservancy’s Community Firewood Program Coordinator.

In today’s world, the reasons for being prepared seem to be escalating. From threats of terrorist attacks to huge storms that could knock out the power supply, the only way you can make sure your family will survive is to take steps to ensure you are prepared. It’s not always going to be possible to count on the government or community resources in times of trouble, so taking some time to put together your own emergency provisions can be the determining factor in whether your family eats or even survives the emergency.

Closed since last fall's fire which burned over 97,000 acres near Pollock Pines, the King Fire area opens to the public on Saturday, April 25.

"I've decided to reopen the national forest lands in the King Fire area to the public beginning Saturday, April 25, in conjunction with the general opening of fishing season," said Forest Supervisor Laurence Crabtree. "Parts of the fire area are still hazardous, but that will continue to be true for years."

Free public fire wood gathering will again be available at the Wrights Lake Recreation Area on the Eldorado National Forest to this weekend, November 8-9. “This weekend’s weather forecast is favorable,” stated Richard Thornburgh, Pacific District Ranger. “We feel this is a perfect opportunity to continue cleaning up the area by allowing people to take home free firewood.” The Recreation Area was hit by a severe wind storm almost a year ago, causing more than 200 trees to fall.

The last day to purchase a firewood permit from the U.S. Forest Service in Lake Tahoe will be on Friday, November 22. 2013 and the last day to cut wood will be Sunday, November 24. Fuelwood permits are $20 per cord with a 2 cord minimum and a limit of 10 cords per household.

A tree thinning and fuels reduction project on about 100 acres in the Upper Echo Lakes area and portions of a roadless area could begin this year, according to a decision by the U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit.

The project would take up to six years to complete and includes the removal of trees up to 16 inches in diameter, which would be collected, put into piles and either burned or made available for firewood. There is a possibility of brief closures of areas adjacent to the Pacific Crest Trail, according to the Forest Service.