forest service

With empty lots in the South Lake Tahoe area owned by various agencies and private owners, the public doesn't know who to report incidents or situations to unless they are marked.

In order to help the public, the California Tahoe Conservancy began posting property tags today to help the public better identify its lands on the South Shore.

If you've driven past South Tahoe High School in the last month you've most likely noticed a new bike trail heading from Lake Tahoe Blvd and Viking Way, through the forest to Sawmill Pond.

This new segment of bike trail, which is part of the Lake Tahoe Blvd Enhancement Project, will help to connect Meyers to the City of South Lake Tahoe.

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 U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit will continue prescribed fire operations in the Pioneer Trail and Slaughterhouse Canyon areas on Tuesday, November 4, and continuing as conditions allow.

Smoke will be visible from various locations around the lake due to prescribed burns of underbrush and wood piles starting Sunday.

The North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District, the Nevada Division of Forestry and the U.S. Forest Service will conduct prescribed fire operations in the Incline Village, Ponderosa Ranch, Tunnel Creek trailhead areas and on scattered urban lots around the Lake Tahoe Basin beginning, Sunday, November 2, 2014, and continuing as conditions allow.

The Forest Service may have to close the Taylor Creek Visitor Center area if visitors continue to disregard the warnings to keep away from the bears frequenting the area in search of salmon.

Visitors are being asked to keep their distance when encountering bears. The Visitor Center staff routinely encounter unsafe situations as guests ignore their instructions and get too close to bears to take photos and videos.

Environmental groups concerned that the 2004 Sierra Nevada Framework Forest Plan failed to protect old growth forests and associated wildlife species, was not consistent with national environmental laws so they filed suit.

A coalition of conservation organizations led by Sierra Forest Legacy and including the Center for Biological Diversity, Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club and The Wilderness Society have signed a settlement agreement with the U.S. Forest Service, ending the decade long battle.

September brought the reality of wildfires to the forefront in the Lake Tahoe Basin. The King Fire came within eight air miles of the U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit boundary, and as we all anxiously awaited its containment, the Cascade Fire broke out in the Desolation Wilderness.

A multi-agency prescribed fire operation begins on Saturday, October 18 as the Tahoe Fire and Fuels Team has crews from Tahoe Douglas Fire and the U.S. Forest Service at several locations around the lake.

Fall and winter bring cooler temperatures and precipitation, which favor prescribed burning. Each operation follows a prescribed fire burn plan, which considers temperature, humidity, wind, moisture of the vegetation, and conditions for the dispersal of smoke. This information is used to decide when and where to burn.

The U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit will begin the fall/winter prescribed fire program this week. Operations may take place tomorrow, October 16, 2014, on various urban lots around the Lake Tahoe Basin including Elizabeth Drive on the West Shore, Christmas Valley, Angora Creek, Elks Club Drive, Echo View Estates, and Bakersfield Avenue on the South Shore.

It's that time of year when recreation areas start to closed down for the season.

Nevada Beach, Fallen Leaf, Bayview, Meeks Bay, and Kaspian campgrounds, and Nevada, Pope, Baldwin, Meeks Bay, William Kent, and Kaspian beaches all closed for the season on Monday, October 13. The Tallac Historic Site closed at the end of September.

Camp Richardson and Zephyr Cove resorts remain open year-round.

The Taylor Creek Visitor Center will remain open on weekends through the end of October.

Highway 80 has been reopened to four lanes this evening as firefighters continue to fight the Applegate Fire which had caused three lanes to be closed since Wednesday.

It is still unknown how the fire started but it has been listed as suspicious in nature. The fire has burned 420 acres as of Thursday evening and is now 25% contained. Firefighters worked in steep and rugged terrain to get the containment line in place. There are 1,419 personnel on the scene with air tanker support from the U.S. Forest Service.

The U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit will lift fire restrictions on National Forest System lands beginning Friday, October 3, 2014.

“Although fire restrictions will be lifted on Friday, remember campfires are never allowed in the Desolation Wilderness,” said Forest Service fire management officer Kit Bailey.

The Forest Service announced today that they are re-opening some popular recreation areas near the King Fire area. The Rubicon Jeep Trail, Wrights Lake, Desolation Wilderness and the east side of Ice House Road are now open to the public.

“Although fire crews have nearly contained the King Fire, it is still active, and there are a lot of firefighting resources still in the area,” said Laurence Crabtree, the USFS Forest Supervisor. “I intend to open more of the Forest to the public as soon as it is safe to do so.”

9/29/14 8 p.m. update - The King Fire is now 92% contained and has remained at 97.099 acres burned. More personnel has been released and there are now 3,401 remaining on the fire.

Mop up and patrol continued. Continued the demobilization of excess resources. Continued to backhaul excess equipment and trash. Fire suppression repair is ongoing. Homes and damaged buildings on White Meadows Road are being evaluated for future damage from possible mud and debris flows caused by the last two days of rain. Some homes and buildings are being prepared with sand bags by crews.

9/29/14 update: Heavy precipitation over the weekend allowed firefighters to achieve 90 percent containment of the Cascade Fire near Snow Lake in the Desolation Wilderness. Crews will begin repairing impacts from fire suppression activities and will monitor the fire to detect any renewed activity later this week due to drier, warmer and windier conditions.

Bayview Trailhead and Campground and TaylorCreek Sno-Park on Hwy. 89 have reopened. The cause of the 20-acre fire is under investigation, but it has been determined to be human-caused.

The TRPA, U.S. Forest Service and the California Public Utilities Commission have released a final environmental impact report on the proposed electrical system upgrade in North Lake Tahoe by Liberty Utilities.

The proposed 625 and 650 Electrical Line Upgrade Project would consist primarily of an upgrade of Liberty Energy's existing 625 and 650 electrical power lines and associated substations from 60 kilovolt to 120 kV, to allow the entire North Lake Tahoe Transmission System to operate at 120 kV.

You may have noticed all of the trees missing from large areas of South Lake Tahoe recently. The U.S. Forest Service has had forest thinning projects going on in several locations around the South Shore in order to reduce forest fire fuels and improve forest health.

9/28/14 10:00 p.m. update: 4,420 firefighters and support staff are still on the scene of the 97.099 acre King Fire which is now 89% contained.

After 4 days of precipitation with accumulations of 1-3 inches, fire spread has been halted, however heat remains in the heavier fuels and in the heavy duff sheltered from the rain under the dense timber canopy. As the weather turns warm and dry over the next several days, expect to see an increase in fire activity and smoke production; however spread potential is extremely low, doe to the successful suppression efforts.

Two more vacant lots in South Lake Tahoe have been added to the increasing cache of land the U.S. Forest Service has accumulated to preserve for public use.

These two lots are 3.13 acres each and located on Tahoe Mountain. They purchased one with great lake views for $135,000 and a second one for $100,000. This second lot is adjacent to the new hiking and mountain biking trail that begins on Deveron Way.

9/8/14 6:45 p.m. update: The Meadow Fire in Yosemite grew considerably overnight and has burned about 2,582 acres so far. What started as a small fire after lightning on August 16 got out of control on Sunday.

According to Yosemite's website, it is burning within the Little Yosemite Valley on both sides of the Merced River. All trails in the area are closed. Earlier Monday, approximately 100 hikers and backpackers were evacuated from the fire area in LYV. The fire is burning in Yosemite Wilderness.

Quagga mussels have been getting all the press lately but today it was the river mussel's turn for notoriety.

Native to the western U.S., the river mussel is now a protected species due to their population being threatened by dams, habitat modification due to the disappearance of Lahontan Cutthroat Trout from the Upper Truckee and other river habitat changing occurrences.

Want to know more about the proposed Epic Discovery Project. at Heavenly Village?

The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) will hold an open house on Thursday, September 18, 2014, to explain and answer questions about its draft analysis of a proposal from Heavenly Mountain Resort. The resort has a 40 year lease to operate on national forest lands and now wants to expand year-round, non-skiing activities at the Lake Tahoe resort.

An environmental impact report on the Heavenly Epic Discovery Project is ready for public viewing. The new project, located at Heavenly Mountain Resort, will expand their summer activities to include more canopy tours, hiking and biking trails as well as interpretive activities.

Since 2011 the U.S. Forest Service has allowed more summer activities on national forest lands.

The following increase in activities are being proposed: