fuel reduction

If ever there was a time to draw on the healing powers of Lake Tahoe, it’s now. The COVID crisis, complete with loss of life and wide-ranging financial impacts, is being compounded by human struggle and a wellspring of social justice demonstrations that are gripping the nation. One of our core values at the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) is collaboration -- building collaborative relationships to protect Lake Tahoe. I can tell you that Tahoe's successes have not ever come from reinforcing divisions. The imagined “us vs them" simply creates false divides.

As the Fire Chief serving the north and west shores of Lake Tahoe, I am acutely aware and concerned about the potential for catastrophic wildfire here.

North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District and California State Parks may continue prescribed fire operations over the next several weeks in the Tahoe Basin, if weather and conditions permit.

- West side of Third Creek drainage, above Jennifer Dr. by the North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District. 38 acres of understory 10/21 - 10/27/19. Duration of Ignition and Smoke Production: 1-2 days of ignition and 2 days of burn down time
Estimated Direction of Smoke Travel: North/Northeast/East. Smoke may be visible throughout the Tahoe Basin and surrounding communities

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Those of us living in Lake Tahoe know all too well the dangers of wildfire, but we also know the positive outcome a collaborative effort to be better prepared can do.

Residents across the West have been given their "wake up call" over the past few years as record-breaking fires have burned through communities, leaving devastation and death in their wake.

Nearly 25 years ago, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and dozens of partners embarked on an unprecedented mission to conserve and restore the Lake Tahoe Basin’s treasured natural resources through the Lake Tahoe Environmental Improvement Program (EIP).

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Fuels on 3,737 acres of South Lake Tahoe area National Forest lands will be reduced by thinning forest stands and removing forest biomass vegetation, prescribed burning, and reforestation.

The U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit (LTBMU) announced the the final decision on the project last week. This project helps decrease the risk of wildland fires and complements defensible space treatments implemented by local municipal fire districts on adjacent non-federal lands.

Natural disasters can occur at any given time and in any given area. The size, duration and damages are usually unpredictable. The devastation, destruction and cost of California wildfires are increasing annually.

Residents of South Lake Tahoe, El Dorado county, Fallen Leaf Lake and Alpine County are encouraged to take advantage of the free curbside chipping service offered by the Lake Valley Fire Protection District (LVFPD).

The free service will be offered through October, weather permitting.

Homeowners can work on their defensible space by removing limbs and slash on their property, then the chipping crew will come by and collect it, then convert into wood chips.

This action reduces flammable vegetation and helps homeowners protect their property from the threat of wildfire.

The U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit (LTBMU) released the final decision to reduce hazardous fuels on the West Shore of Lake Tahoe. The West Shore Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) Fuels Reduction and Forest Health Project will treat approximately 4,875 acres extending from Emerald Bay to Burton Creek State Park.

Twenty-five years ago, I finished my graduate work in Oregon and moved to Northern Nevada for a planning position at TRPA. Having spent a large part of my youth hiking and camping at Tahoe and in the Sierra, the move felt like coming home.

Vail Resorts has called on the United States Congress to approve the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act of 2015. This Act provides $415 million in funding and reauthorizes important Lake Tahoe restoration activities that began in 1997 and refocuses federal, state and local efforts toward reducing wildfire threats, improving water quality and clarity, and combating invasive species. All of these are important to the local economy at one of the most visited lakes in the world.

Homeowners in the Lake Valley Fire Protection District (LVFPD) area are encouraged to take advantage of their free curbside chipping service through the month of October.

The chipping crew is still actively responding to requests and will be available through the month as long as conditions permit.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE - To reduce fuels in the forest, as well as to promote forest health, the thinning of trees will resume between Fallen Leaf Lake and Camp Richardson Corral this week. Crews will also be working in the Spring Creek Homeowners Tract.

Whole tree and mechanical cut-to-length (CTL) tree removal will take place in these areas over the next several months, weather permitting and some areas will be closed for public safety as they do the cutting.

The Lake Tahoe Restoration Act of 2015, a bipartisan bill sponsored by Nevada Sen. Dean Heller, passed the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works on Wednesday.

The legislation, created alongside senators Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Harry Reid, D-Nevada and Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., provides federal, state, and local partners important tools to reduce wildfire threats, improve water clarity, jumpstart innovative infrastructure projects, and combat invasive species.

Early in 2015, the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), as well as our partners at the National Weather Service, predicted 2015 to be a significant year for wildland fires throughout the Western States. A combination of a sustained period of drought, coupled with weather that is conducive to nearly perfect burning conditions, have challenged local firefighting resources. Those predictions have rang very true as we continue to hear about new fires occurring almost daily all over the Western States. This year will go down as one of the most hazardous years for wildland fire.

It’s Wildfire Awareness Month at Tahoe, and with the summer tourist season around the corner, we must all remember that drought has left our Region with severely dry forest conditions and an extreme risk of wildfire. This summer we need to think about “when” not “if” another fire will happen. All of us have important roles to play in preventing the next wildfire, and in making sure our homes, families, and communities are prepared for it.

South Lake Tahoe, Calif. - You've walked by them, biked past them, and maybe even seen them on empty lots - what are those random piles of wood? The piles are the first half of a two-step process used by Lake Tahoe Basin agencies to reduce hazardous fuels, provide community protection, and improve forest health.

With California and Nevada grappling with a third year of drought, one of the largest and most complex challenges we face over the long run at Lake Tahoe is adapting to a changing climate.

Climate change will affect the protection and restoration of our beautiful mountain lake as well as the expansive forests around it. And the health of our lake, forests, and communities are all intertwined.

Sixteen local, state and federal agencies were recognized during Tuesday's Lake Tahoe Summit.

A proclamation signed by by Senators Dianne Feinstein, Dean Heller and Harry Reid, Representatives Mark Amodei and Tom McClintock and Governors Jerry Brown and Brian Sandoval honored the release of the Multi-Jurisdiciont Fuel Reduction and Wildfire Prevention Strategy.

The original strategy, finalized in 2007, has successfully guided wildfire risk reduction projects in the Lake Tahoe Basin.

Fuels management operations will be held on Tuesday, just north of Zephyr Cove in the Skyland area. The U.S. Forest Service crew will be burning five acres on the east side of Hwy 50 and is expected to last one day.

People in the area should expect to see smoke.

Forest Service staff will post road signs around the areas affected by the prescribed fire, send email notifications, and update the local fire information line at 530-543-2600, #6. To receive prescribed fire notifications, send an email to pa_ltbmu@fs.fed.us.

Living in a forest gives great benefits, but it also carries with it the risk of forest fires.

A Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) for South Lake Tahoe is being developed jointly by the South Lake Tahoe Fire Department and Lake Valley Fire Protection District.

The community is being asked to complete a survey which will help the agencies prepare the CWPP. This will enable the creation of a plan on how the south shore will reduce it's risk of wildfire by identifying strategic sites and methods for fuel reduction projects.

Prescribed fire operations will continue around Lake Tahoe this week. Fuels management crews from the U.S. Forest Service will be in various locations around the Lake Tahoe Basin the week of March 30, 2014. Possible locations include Slaughterhouse Canyon on the East Shore, the Luther Pass Campground off of Highway 89 near South Lake Tahoe, the west side of Highway 89 near Tahoma, and near D.L. Bliss State Park on the West Shore.

Operations are ongoing and depend on weather, staffing, and conditions. Locations could vary due to changing conditions.

U.S. Forest Service fuels management crews will begin prescribed fire operations off of Highway 89 South near Luther Pass tomorrow, December 10, 2013. Crews will begin burning a 29 acre unit across the highway from the Luther Pass overflow campground and will burn as much as weather and conditions allow. Operations may continue through the week. In addition, crews will begin prescribed fire operations on a small unit off of Highway 28 on the East Shore of Lake Tahoe. Crews will burn approximately two acres on the east side of the highway between Secret and Skunk harbors near Bliss Pond.

Due to a lack of approved burn days by the California Air Resource Board, the US Forest Service has moves their planned burn operations from the Al Tahoe/Pioneer Trail side in South Lake Tahoe over to an area north of Zephyr Cove. Smoke will be visible from Highway 50.

Crews may begin prescribed fire operations this weekend, October 26 and 27, 2013 across U.S. Highway 50 from the Skyland subdivision. Weather and conditions permitting, crews will burn approximately one to five acres per day and expect to continue operations through the weekend and into next week.