Friday, October 12, 2007

Fuel reduction projects in Tahoe

unedited oct. mt. news brief:

Forest becoming less crowded

Nearly 1,000 acres of Forest Service land on the Nevada side of the South Shore will be treated for fuels reduction in the coming months, while last month the agency began a three-week demonstration project to assess mechanically removing fuels in stream zones.
After a 30-day comment period with few people making any statements about the Nevada plan, Forest Supervisor Terri Marceron last month authorized 656 acres to be treated by hand and 296 by machine.
“The project includes ground based mechanical treatments wherever slope and road access allow and hand treatments where steep slopes and sensitive soils do not permit mechanical equipment or no road access exists,” according to a Forest Service statement. “Post thinning fuels reduction will include biomass removal, prescribed underburning, pile burning, chipping, and mastication.”
The areas to be treated are near Round Hill, Zephyr Cove, Kingsbury Grade, Chimney Rock, Skyland, Lakeridge and Logan Shoals.
The demonstration site is 23 acres of National Forest land near the intersection of Al Tahoe Boulevard and Pioneer Trail in the Heavenly Valley Creek area.
“The purpose is to demonstrate low impact mechanical treatments in sensitive soil areas; reduce hazardous fuels such as dead and down trees and fuel ladders like crowded small diameter tress and brush; and to improve forest health by re-establishing more natural vegetation structure,” according to a Forest Service statement.
In 2004 the area was chosen for a demonstration project utilizing low impact technology equipment. This is the same year TRPA amended its Code of Ordinances to allow for innovative techniques and vehicles within riparian areas for fuels management and forest restoration.
“This demonstration project has been in the planning stages long before the Angora Fire,” USFS spokesman Rex Norman said in a press release. “Our agency has been well aware of catastrophic wildfire risks associated with untreated SEZs (stream environmental zones), and this demo project is a step forward in addressing this risk.”

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