forest

The U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit will begin accepting reservations for the 2015 Winter Trek Conservation Education program on Monday, Dec. 15, 2014.

Teachers may reserve a spot by calling the Forest Service at 530-543-2694, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Winter Trek begins Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2015, and continues through March 26, 2015, weather permitting. Field trips are generally three hours long and are offered on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

The success of the pilot program for fire cameras at Lake Tahoe has prompted the University of Nevada, Reno’s Nevada Seismological Laboratory to pursue funding to build out its fire camera network that rings the majestic mile-high lake.

“We’ve seen the system avert potentially large fires this summer at Tahoe, even with its minimal presence,” Graham Kent, director of the Nevada Seismological Laboratory, said of the prototype system with its four cameras. “It makes sense to build this system out now to help protect the basin from devastating fires.”

Prescribed fire operations near Sugar Pine Point State Park, Pioneer Trail and Washoan Boulevard, Ski Run Boulevard near Heavenly, Luther Pass, Spooner Summit, and Lake Tahoe Nevada State Park in Slaughterhouse Canyon, the Tahoe Fire and Fuels Team announced Friday.

Here is this week's fishing report for rivers, lakes and streams in Nevada and Northern California. This report is for the week of Dec. 4, 2014.

By suspension vote, the U.S. House of Representatives on Monday passed the Nevada Native Nations Lands Act, legislation sponsored by Congressman Mark Amodei of Nevada's second district.

The legislation includes six tribal land measures, as well as a smaller conveyance to the City of Elko. The bill was amended to match the Senate version, which was reported out of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee in August.

Here is this week's fishing report for rivers, lakes and streams in Nevada and Northern California. This report is for the week of Nov. 26, 2014 and beyond.

Prescribed fire operations are planned around all four shores of the Lake Tahoe Basin beginning Sunday, according to the Tahoe Fire and Fuels Team.

Prescribed burns are planned near Incline Village, Tahoma, Meeks Bay, Sugar Pine Point State Park, Tahoe Mountain and Heavenly urban lot areas. A winter storm system is expected to arrive around the time the burning operations begin.

This week's It's Your City is with Carson City Mayor Bob Crowell. Before providing an update on the Board of Supervisors, Crowell takes time to update citizens about local happenings including the Dec. 3 open house and ribbon cutting at the Nevada Humane Society Carson Shelter. The event begins at 4:30 p.m. at 3770 Butti Way. The public is invited.

It didn't look good earlier this year for a 39 pound bear cub after being caught in a 400 square-mile forest fire this summer in Washington State. But thanks to the efforts of wildlife rehabilitation caregivers at Lake Tahoe, the bear has since made a sweeping recovery and will return to the wild this spring.

The Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District and the U.S. Forest Service will continue prescribed fire operations in the Van Sickle Park, McKinney Rubicon and Heavenly urban lot areas. Operations will last through the next several weeks as conditions allow.

Here is this week's fishing report for rivers, lakes and streams in Nevada and Northern California. This report is for the week of Nov. 19, 2014.

The public is invited to attend the Nevada State Museum's Frances Humphrey Lecture Series featuring The Mysterious Snow Plant, by Pat King, PhD, botanist, naturalist, and dedicated museum volunteer. November also marks the 22nd anniversary of the museum’s Frances Humphrey Lecture Series which began in 1992. The lecture runs from 6:30 - 7:30 pm; doors open at 6 pm.

Never before has such a grand combination of iconic ranch, lakefront and forestland been offered for sale at once in Lake Tahoe’s rich history. This rare offering includes: historic Shakespeare Ranch with 133 acres of lakefront ranchland; Squaw Valley Homestead, arguably the most coveted landholding in Squaw Valley; and High Canyon Ranch, encompassing 321 acres of one of the last remaining privately owned large acreage parcels in the Sierra Nevada mountains.

Washoe County Commissioners approved Wednesday a Federal Lands Access Program Memorandum of Agreement providing $12.5 million in federal funding for the design and construction of improvements along the state Route 28 corridor from Incline Village to the U.S. Highway 50 junction.

Christmas tree permits for cutting around the Lake Tahoe Basin will go on sale Monday, Nov. 24, the U.S. Forest Service announced Thursday.

Permits are $10 each, cash or check only, no credit cards, with a limit of two permits per family. Permits must be purchased in person, are not transferable and are sold on a first-come, first-served basis. Permit holders may choose from a variety of pine, fir or cedar in designated cutting areas. Permits are available for purchase until Dec. 19, but permits usually sell out before then. The last day to cut a tree is Dec. 25, 2014.

Here is this week's fishing report for rivers, lakes and streams in Nevada and Northern California. This report is for the week of Nov. 12 through Nov. 18, 2014.

University of Nevada Cooperative Extension’s Living With Fire Program introduced The Nevada Network of Fire Adapted Communities, or The Network, through The Network’s inaugural conference Friday, Oct. 24.

There were 80 Nevadans from 10 counties in attendance representing many stakeholders in Nevada’s wildland-urban interface fire issue, including members of wildfire-prone communities; local fire service representatives; local, state and federal agencies; and landscape partners.

The last day to purchase a fuelwood permit from the U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit is Friday, Nov. 14, 2014, and the last day to cut wood is Sunday, Nov. 16, 2014. Fuelwood permits cost $20 per cord, with a two-cord minimum purchase and a limit of 10 cords per household.

Here is this week's fishing report for rivers, lakes and streams in Nevada and Northern California. This report is for the week of Nov. 5-11, 2014.

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

Visitors are being asked by the Forest Service 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.

A Forest Service prescribed burn around Spooner Summit has left some smoky skies Thursday afternoon. Breezy conditions have made for good smoke dispersal around the fire area, with smoke creeping into Carson City and Carson Valley, said U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Cheva Gabor.
The controlled pile burning stretches to about eight acres. Burning will continue on Friday, said Gabor.

Environmental groups and the U.S. Forest Service signed a settlement agreement earlier this month that ends a decade-long legal battle over the 2004 Sierra Nevada Framework Forest Plan Amendment, which affects management of the Sierra Nevada national forests in California.

Last week, Rob Buonamici of Carson City and I spent a fun-filled day, "supposedly" scouting for buck mule deer.
I say supposedly, because we actually spent the day, having a ton of fun, enjoying the scenery and my taking a whole bunch of photos (over 60!) We were in Nevada's Big Game Management Area 192.

That Management Area is bounded by U.S. 50 on the north side, the California state line on the south side, U.S. 395 on the east side and Lake Tahoe on the west side.

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.

The Forest Service is seeking public input on a proposal submitted by Homewood Mountain Resort at Lake Tahoe to offer guided snowcat skiing and snowboarding tours in the Ellis Peak are during winter 2014-2015.

The proposed area of operation is identified in the current Lake Tahoe Basin Management Snowmobile Guide as open for motorized use. The resort hopes to provide six to eight trips per day, three days per week depending on weather and snow conditions.

PLACERVILLE, CA – The Wrights Lake Recreation Area on the Eldorado National Forest will be open to free public fire wood gathering Oct. 25-26, 2014 and Nov. 1-2 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Portions of the recreation area will be open to the public for woodcutting on both weekends and woodcutters will be issued a free permit on site.

“The Forest Service is looking forward to a safe and successful wood cutting event. Please help us clean up this popular recreation area,” stated Richard Thornburgh, Pacific Ranger District Ranger.

Last weekend we got up to South Lake Tahoe to check out some of the trails they’ve been building up there. To get to the trailhead, we headed south on Pioneer Trail road just past the Casinos, then east on Oneidas Street near Meyers. We followed Oneidas Street until it became a narrow Forest Service road known as Fountain Place Road. We parked just past the creek crossing at a trailhead parking area.

The U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit will begin the fall and winter prescribed fire program this week. Operations may take place Thursday, Oct. 16, 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.

Several recreational facilities around the Lake Tahoe Basin have closed for the season this week, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
Seasonal closures apply to many recreation sites including beaches, campgrounds, and picnic areas, which traditionally close in mid-October. Forest roads close around mid-November for soil protection and public safety. For specific forest road closing dates, consult the Motor Vehicle Use Map by going here.

Western Nevada College’s baseball program isn’t about to let the San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Baltimore Orioles and Kansas City Royals have all of the October fun on the diamond.

The Wildcats are holding their annual Intrasquad Player World Series Wednesday through Saturday at John L. Harvey Field on WNC’s Carson City campus. Game times are 1 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, 12:30 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. Saturday. The public is invited to attend at no charge.