Forest thinning project resumes near Fallen Leaf Lake

The South Shore Hazardous Fuels Reduction and Healthy Forest Restoration project on 10,000 acres near Fallen Leaf Lake has resumed.

Crews with the U.S. Forest Service will be mechanically removing whole trees off Fallen Leaf Road near the campground over the next several months and the area will be closed for public safety.

The goal of the project is to reduce the risk of severe wildfire and create healthier forests.

They will be cutting the entire tree and moving it to a landing area to remove the limbs and cut it into sections. This type of mechanical operation requires closure of the area during operations due to the hazards posed by heavy equipment and falling trees. The Forest Service has issued a forest order closing the project area (unit 1) to pedestrians from 7:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. daily from until August 15, 2016.

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 is posted under the heading South Shore Fuels Reduction Project at http://www.fs.usda.gov/goto/ltbmu/ForestOrders.

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.

A link to the map: MAP