U.S. Forest Service

Off-Highway Vehicles (OHV) are the focus of an upcoming open house hosted by the U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit (LTBMU) on February 25, 2016 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. They will be providing information and asking for public input on developing three preliminary applications for the OHV Cooperative Funds grants that will be submitted to the State of California Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Division (OHMVR).

NV Energy is proposing to replace the electrical transmission line that runs from Foothill Rad in the Carson Valley to Tramway Drive near Heavenly Mountain Resort, and a public comment period has been initiated.

The U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit is seeking public input on 634 Line Rebuild project. The draft Environmental Assessment (EA) analyzes the proposed replacement of the transmission line that serves the Kingsbury substation, which provides electricity to Heavenly Mountain Resort and the surrounding Kingsbury Grade area.

Two men trying to evade arrest on January 22, ended up calling 911 and telling officers they were freezing to death and in fear of dying.

Tristen Crossland and Derek Dion were the lone occupants of a car that was pulled over by a California Fish and Wildlife officer on the morning of Friday, January 22, near Highway 50 and Wrights Lake Road when they decided to flee on foot.

The latest round of funding through the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act (SNPLMA) includes more than $3 million for projects to help reduce wildfire risk in Lake Tahoe communities.

The funding award for Lake Tahoe is part of nearly $40 million going to projects around Nevada to reduce wildfire risk, conserve landscapes, restore wildlife habitat, and improve public recreation. U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell announced the funding awards this January.

Everyone is invited to "Ski with a Ranger" at Heavenly Mountain Resort beginning Friday, January 22, 2016. The popular program is offered by the U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit.

Tours will be held every Monday and Friday beginning at 1:00 p.m., last approximately one-hour and continue through April 1, 2016, weather permitting.

Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District, California State Parks and the U.S. Forest Service are planning to resume prescribed fire operations during the week of January 10-15, 2016.

They will be concentrating on six areas (matching with letters on the attached map):

A. Emerald Bay State Park - 38 acres. Ignite 1/11/16. Expected duration of ignition and smoke, one month.

B. Sugar Pine Point State Park - 26 acres. Ignite 1/11/16. Expected duration of ignition and smoke, one month.

In just a few days, the annual SnowGlobe Music Festival opens in South Lake Tahoe. The three-day music festival will once again be held at the Lake Tahoe Community College and Community Play Fields Tuesday, December 29 through December 31.

People at Lake Tahoe are working together like never before to restore our environment, revitalize our economy, and improve our communities. We saw significant progress all around the lake this year. And our progress is sustainable with continued partnership and collaboration, so critical to tackle the many challenges and important decisions on our horizon.

Joy Barney has dedicated her life to connecting youth to the land. In the process she has touched many lives, so it comes as no surprise that winning a national award for her, is all about inspiring others.

Local fifth grade teachers may reserve a spot for the the 2016 Winter Trek Conservation Education program starting on Monday, December 14, 2015.

Led by Forest Service rangers and community volunteers, the Winter Trek program offers fifth-graders an outdoor winter ecology learning experience that takes place at 9,100 feet via the Gondola at Heavenly Mountain Resort. The program includes a snowshoe physical education adventure, while learning about fire and forest ecology of the Lake Tahoe Basin.

Heavenly is proposing improvement to their existing skiing and snowboarding terrain near the top of the gondola, and the U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit wants input from the public.

Improvements would include construction of a permanent ticket sales kiosk, relocation of the Red Fir handle tow lift, installation of a Magic Carpet surface lift, obstacle removal and widening of the Tamarack Return Trail and tree removal under the Blue Streak Zipline.

Joy Barney was recently honored for her dedication to the U.S. Forest Service's educational programs in the Lake Tahoe basin.

The U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit (LTBMU) Conservation Education Program Specialist was awarded the Gifford Pinchot Pacific Southwest Region Interpreter and Conservation Educator of the Year Award. Named in honor of the first Chief of the Forest Service, the annual award is a national honor given to Forest Service employees for achievement in environmental interpretation and conservation education.

Who were the first residents of the Lake Tahoe basin? How do you convey the word "SOS" in Morse Code? What is the 1930's cabin tour? If you don't know the answers to these questions, ask a third grader.

In the month of October, 220 students from third grade classes in Lake Tahoe Unified School District took field trips to the Lake Tahoe History Museum where they spent a morning with hands on displays, singing and docent led museum tours.

The school tours started in 2010 when Jackie Dumin, the Tallac Site Director for the U.S. Forest Service, developed the program.

"Every Kid in a Park" is a program offered by the U.S. Forest Service to all fourth grade students in the country.

It is very easy to be part of the free program. First step is to log onto www.everykidinapark.gov and get a free pass.

President Barack Obama created Every Kid in a Park so fourth graders and their families could discover our wildlife, resources, and history for free!

All participants are also eligible to cut down a free Christmas Tree in Lake Tahoe.

All six vehicles pulled out of Kiowa Ponds by volunteers from the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office HASTY Team on Make A Difference Day, October 24 were reported as stolen according to the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office.

Five of the cars were reported stolen between 1996 and 1998, the sixth in 2007. Three of the vehicles were reported stolen in Reno, two from Sparks and one from Sacramento, CA. All agencies involved have been notified of the recovery.

North Lake Tahoe and Tahoe Douglas fire protection districts and the U.S. Forest Service will continue prescribed fire operations over the next few weeks in various locations around the Lake Tahoe Basin.

Depending on daily weather forecasts, operations are planned in the following areas:

East Side of Second Creek Drainage - 3 acres
East Side of Third Creek Drainage - 10 acres
Douglas County - Zephyr Cove Park near Warrior Way - 8 acres
Hwy 89/ Grass Lake Rd - 122 acres
Meeks Bay/Meeks Meadow - 285 acres

Lake Tahoe has been recognized for another important conservation success. Our region’s proactive, collaborative strategy to protect Tahoe yellow cress, begun almost 15 years ago, is working so well that the plant does not need additional protections under the federal Endangered Species Act.

The California Transportation Commission announced this week that it will award nearly $9 million in Active Transportation Program (ATP) grant funding to help complete three major bike and pedestrian projects in the City of South Lake Tahoe and Tahoe City.

Members of the Lake Tahoe Bikeway Partnership applied for the grants. The partnership formed several years ago to secure funding for critical trail segments to improve bicyclist and pedestrian safety and complete the Lake Tahoe Bikeway, a comprehensive multi-use trail network for the Lake Tahoe Region.

The three "Super Scoopers" that called South lake Tahoe home this summer left the airport on Tuesday, October 20. One plane is still under contract with the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and headed to Oklahoma for the winter while the other two Bombardier CL415 firefighting plans are now off contract with the USFS and flew off to unknown destinations.

The company that owns the planes, Aero-Flite, Inc is located in Spokane, Wash.

Expect to see smoke in the Christmas Valley and Meyers areas of the South Shore as the U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit begins prescribed fire operations on Saturday, October 17. They plan to start the season by burning 122 acres of hand piles near Grass Lake Road off southbound Highway 89. They will continue on the project over the next several weeks as conditions allow.

Expect to see smoke travel in a north/northeast direction.

Successful conservation actions from a collaborative Lake Tahoe partnership spanning the past 15 years have helped the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decide today that Tahoe yellow cress (Rorippa subumbellata), a flowering perennial plant in the mustard family found only along the lake’s sandy shoreline, does not warrant federal protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

The Tahoe Fire and Fuels Team (TFFT), which includes numerous fire and land management agencies in the Lake Tahoe Basin, will begin fall prescribed fire operations as soon as weather conditions are favorable.

“Prescribed fire is an important tool used to maintain forest health and reduce the build-up of hazardous fuels,” said U.S. Forest Service Fire Management Officer, Kit Bailey. “Cooler, wetter fall weather is an ideal time to carry out these projects that help reduce the chance of wildfire and provide added protection to communities in the Lake Tahoe Basin.”

Tallac Historic Site, Kiva Beach, Valhalla and the Taylor Creek Visitor Center will all be closed on Wednesday so the U.S. Forest Service can conduct pesticide treatments to reduce the risk of plague. The Pope-Baldwin Bike Trail will remain open, but signs will be posted where the trail crosses closed sites.

The gates to these areas will close on Tuesday evening, September 15 at 7 p.m. and likely reopen on Thursday morning, September 17.

Thousands flock to the Sierra Nevada every fall to watch the color changes of the aspen trees along with the annual upstream migration of the Kokanee Salmon in Taylor Creek to lay their eggs and complete their life cycle.

The bright yellows, oranges and reds of the aspen are emblematic of fall in Lake Tahoe, but this year that will not happen in the typical fashion that people have become accustomed to.

In a stroll through many of the aspen groves on the South Shore it looks like fall has already happened with dried leaves leaving the branches and making their way to the forest floor.