Even this time of year, with snow crunching beneath our feet, Lake Tahoe’s forests are a place of beauty, fresh air, and solace. However, a century and a half of dramatic change in Tahoe’s forests makes the danger of wildfire an unsettling, ever-present concern on our minds. Past forest management practices have led to a forest that is unhealthy and out of balance, impacting Lake Tahoe’s water quality, community safety, and the health of the entire watershed.
For thousands of years, low-intensity fires and cultural burning practices by the waší∙šiw, or Washoe people, helped maintain a healthy mix of forest conditions across the Tahoe Basin. These forests supported a rich variety of plant and animal life, stabilized soils, and absorbed nutrients before they could reach the lake, helping keep Lake Tahoe incredibly clear. Importantly, fire could move through the landscape at a lower intensity, reducing the risk of severe wildfire.
In the 19th century, most of the basin’s forests were clear-cut to supply timber to the Comstock Lode mines. Regrowth was dominated by less fire- and drought-resistant trees. Later, decades of full fire suppression allowed the forest to become dense, increasing competition for water and sunlight and accumulating dead and dying vegetation.
More recently, hotter and drier conditions have been on the rise at Tahoe and across the globe, and we’ve seen fires impact every part of the basin. Since the Angora Fire of 2007, TRPA and more than 20 partner agencies on the Tahoe Fire and Fuels Team (TFFT) have worked diligently to improve safety and protect the lake. In fact, land managers have treated nearly 80,000 acres since Angora.
In support of this work, TRPA is currently updating the science-based standards that guide planning and environmental restoration across the region. The proposed forest health threshold standards aim to help TFFT partners align their work around shared regional goals and provide a consistent way to track progress and focus staff and financial resources where they are needed most.
Since the 1980s, TRPA threshold standards across ten categories, from fisheries and wildlife to soils and water quality, have tackled the most pressing issues facing Lake Tahoe’s environment and communities. The thresholds underpin the Lake Tahoe Environmental Improvement Program (EIP), one of the most successful conservation programs in the nation with more than 80 partner organizations working in unison to protect and restore Lake Tahoe. Since the EIP was formed in 1997, partners have retrofitted more than 800 miles of Tahoe’s roadways with stormwater improvements to protect lake clarity, rehabilitated 1,100 acres of wetlands, added or improved 200 miles of bike paths, and inspected 118,000 boats to prevent the introduction of aquatic invasive species.
Science-based environmental policies have made Tahoe a global leader in sustainability. The most recent threshold evaluation showed that, even amidst continuing challenges, nearly 80 percent of measurable standards are being met.
There is still more work to be done and the proposed forest health standards apply new science and Tahoe’s experience in past wildfires to address our changing forests. Some of the fuel reduction projects completed under the EIP helped save Lake Tahoe and our communities during the 2021 Caldor Fire. When the fire entered the Tahoe Basin, previously treated areas reduced the fire’s intensity, allowing firefighters to stop it from destroying neighborhoods.
Working with Tahoe Basin fire chiefs and emergency management agencies, TRPA and TFFT partners are also helping prioritize forest fuel reduction projects around power lines and along evacuation routes to reduce fire risk and improve evacuation safety. TRPA secured a $1.7-million federal PROTECT Grant to work with transportation partners on opportunities and projects that build resilience in our infrastructure to natural hazards like wildfire or floods.
We all have a stake in the long-term health of Tahoe’s forests. Like the waší∙šiw who have cared for Lake Tahoe for millennia, we must come together to protect the lake and our communities. I hope you will join us. The TRPA Governing Board will receive an informational presentation on the proposed forest health threshold standards on January 28, and possible action to adopt them is scheduled for February 25. You can review the proposed standards at tinyurl.com/ForestThresholds. A survey at the end of the summary is available to provide feedback to our team and the Governing Board.
-Julie Regan
Julie Regan is Executive Director of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency.