Appropriate Management Practices
The standard ensures that forest management activities comply with all Tahoe Regional Plan policies and ordinances adopted to achieve multiple threshold standards. Forest management activities have the potential for substantial impacts on the environment. However, the forests of the Tahoe Region need active management to maintain forest health and reduce the threat of wildfire. TRPA and other agencies have incorporated appropriate forest management policies into their respective planning documents to ensure their application during the implementation of forestry projects. The vast majority of forest management work in the Tahoe Region is completed using either hand crews or low-impact ground-based equipment; however, helicopters and cable yarding have been used. Low-impact ground-based equipment is typically rubber-tired machines that exert low ground pressure, and therefore cause less ground disturbance and soil compaction than traditional forest management equipment.
A picture of a treated stand after the completion of the Montreal project around neighborhoods in South Lake Tahoe. (Photo courtesy of Amy Jirka, The Great Basin Institute)
Status
Acres treated for forest health per treatment zone in the Tahoe Basin.
Evaluation Map
Forest Health Treatments 2020-2023
2023 Evaluation
- Status
- Implemented
Applicable Standard
VP2: Increase plant and structural diversity of forest communities through appropriate management practices as measured by diversity indices of species richness, relative abundance, and pattern.
Key Points
- Forest management policies that offset the potential for substantial impacts on the environment have been adopted and are being implemented to maintain forest health and reduce the threat of wildfire.
- A 2024 Tahoe Science Advisory Council Review of the effectiveness of Caldor Fire fuel treatment projects found trees were three times more likely to survive fire in treated areas. The review also found that the presence of unburned fuel piles led to higher-than-expected fire severity and tree mortality.
- To increase the pace and scale of forestry work in the Lake Tahoe Region to reduce the threat of catastrophic wildfire, TRPA approved the expanded use of mechanized equipment on steep slopes in 2022. The amendments also so enabled additional winter operations including over-snow and over frozen ground tree removal.
- Since 2007 Tahoe Fire and Fuels Team (TFFT) partners have treated more than 68,000 acres for fuels.
About the Threshold
- Forest management activities have the potential for substantial impacts on the environment. However, the forests of Lake Tahoe are in need of active management to maintain forest health and reduce the threat of wildfire. The importance of appropriate low-impact forest management cannot be overstated, and this policy statement was intended to ensure that forest management activities comply with all TRPA Regional Plan policies and ordinances adopted to achieve multiple TRPA threshold standards.
- Not applicable.
Delivering and Measuring Success
Rationale Details
- Implemented. Based on the evaluation criteria, it was determined that TRPA and other agencies have sufficiently incorporated the appropriate forest management policies into their respective planning documents, and ensure their application during the implementation of forestry projects.
Additional Figures and Resources
No photos available.
No documents available.