forest health

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.

The New Year is getting off to a phenomenal start with snow falling at Lake Tahoe. It seems long ago since we’ve had snow around the lake, but as California and Nevada continue to grapple with four years of drought and water shortages, the snow couldn’t be falling at a better time.

The Tahoe Fire and Fuels Team, 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, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency this week announced and recognized award recipients for its 25th annual Best in the Basin program. The agency created the recognition program to showcase projects that demonstrate exceptional planning, design, and compatibility with Lake Tahoe’s environment and communities.

History shows time and time again our greatest accomplishments at Lake Tahoe are achieved when people work together. In the past, Tahoe was known as a place where unproductive interactions between stakeholders led to a stunning decay in our environment and our economic vitality, creating a region that seemed frozen in time.

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency on Thursday voiced its strong support for legislation to reauthorize the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act that has been introduced in Congress by Tahoe’s Senate delegation.

Sponsored by U.S. Senator Dean Heller, R-Nevada, along with Harry Reid, D-Nevada, Dianne Feinstein D-California, and Barbara Boxer, D-California, the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act would authorize up to $415 million in federal funding over 10 years to help continue critical environmental restoration work at Lake Tahoe.

Thinning of trees for fuels reduction and forest health has resumed on approximately 340 acres of National Forest System lands on the east side of Highway 267 north of Speckled Avenue above Kings Beach, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

The Nevada Division of Forestry will be conducting prescribed burns at Galena Forest Estates within an undeveloped common area, located off of Joy Lake Road, on Tuesday, April 28, and Wednesday, April 29, weather permitting.
Ten acres, with about 30 burn piles, will be burned over the next two days. Signs will be posted on Joy Lake Road and the junction of Joy Lake Road and Mount Rose Highway.

The fourth consecutive year of drought in California and Nevada emphasizes the need for communities to become fire adapted. The Tahoe Fire and Fuels Team implements forest thinning, prescribed fire and defensible space programs to reduce wildfire risk, but they need the public’s help to create Fire Adapted Communities at Lake Tahoe.

September brought the reality of wildfires to the forefront in the Lake Tahoe Basin. The King Fire came within 8 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.

Irene Davison, a 23-year veteran of the U.S. Forest Service, has been named Carson District Ranger of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest.

"Davison will be a tremendous addition to the Carson Ranger District,” said Bill Dunkelberger, Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest Supervisor. “She has an extensive resources management background, and is no stranger to tackling tough resource challenges in both rural and urban recreational areas.”

She began her duties June 2. The 368,3600-acre district straddles western Nevada and Eastern California.

With record drought conditions in the West, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Governing Board underscored its commitment to improving forest health and protecting Lake Tahoe communities from wildfire Wednesday by adopting a resolution supporting the 2014 Lake Tahoe Wildfire Awareness Month and giving special recognition to two departing Lake Tahoe fire chiefs at its meeting in Kings Beach, Calif.

The Clear Creek watershed that runs through Carson City and Douglas County and Franktown watershed at Washoe Lake are two of 10 areas within the Nevada's national forests to be picked as priority projects designed to combat damage from insects and disease that weakens forests and increases the risk of wildfire, U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell said Wednesday.

Responding to a provision in the new Farm Bill, Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval had asked Tidwell to designate the watersheds and eight other areas for forest health projects.

Tree thinning and brush removal efforts as part of the Healthy Forest Restoration Project will resume in around South Lake Tahoe beginning Monday, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

The project will thin trees and brush on National Forest System land to improve forest health and reduce the risk of severe wildfire on the South Shore of Lake Tahoe.

Eight individuals who display strong personal commitment to protecting and restoring Lake Tahoe were recognized Wednesday by the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency during the third annual Lake Spirit Awards ceremony at the Agency’s Governing Board meeting in Stateline.

Logs, stumps and limbs piled across 565 acres of public land in eight Carson Ranger District project areas of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest will be burned in the coming weeks, the U.S. Forest Service announced Monday.

Residents to the north, south, east and west of Carson City can expect heavy, dense smoke in the pile burn areas that will cause impacts, albeit short term, on air quality levels. Prescribed burn notices have been posted near homes and subdivisions, alerting occupants about the planned prescribed fire operations.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed Thursday a district court ruling upholding Lake Tahoe area environmental analysis for the Angora fire area fuels reduction project.
The Angora Restoration Project was designed to protect wildlife habitat as well as reduce long-term wildfire risk to Lake Tahoe area communities. Two environmental groups, Earth Island Institute and Center for Biological Diversity, tried to stop arguing it would harm the black-backed woodpecker.

South Tahoe High seniors Emily Barnett and Tyler Myers will travel to Russia to present their field research project, “The Effects of Fire and Forest Thinning on the Biodiversity of Understory Plants in the Lake Tahoe Basin,” at the 9th Annual International Junior Foresters’ Competition. Their project was selected by the U.S. Forest Service International Programs office in Washington DC to represent the U.S. in the upcoming competition.

Natural forces and human actions have affected the lake s clarity, physics, chemistry and biology since 1968, when UC Davis first began continuous monitoring of Lake Tahoe.

Lake Tahoe clarity improved in 2011, but overall has remained nearly stable since 2000, according to a summary issued by UC Davis scientists who study the lake. Data released today by the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center and the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency reported the average annual clarity level for 2011 at 68.9 feet, a 4.5-foot improvement over 2010, when average clarity levels were the second-worst on record.

The U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit is proposing to thin trees and brush on National Forest System lands near Incline, Nev., to reduce wildfire risk and restore forest health. The LTBMU is seeking public input on the Incline Fuels Reduction and Healthy Forest Restoration project by November 28.

The project area includes 3,927 acres of National Forest System lands on the northeast shore of Lake Tahoe, from the California-Nevada state line to Lake Tahoe-Nevada State Park.

By the U.S. Forest Service, Carson Ranger District
As part of the Carson Ranger District Hazardous Fuels Reduction Project, U.S. Forest Service fire crews will begin prescribed fire burning operations near Pleasant Valley Road, Hot Springs Road, and Grover’s Hot Spring State Park in the Markleeville area, located in Alpine County Calif., beginning around April 21, through May 21, weather and fuel conditions permitting.