Forest Service Provides $6 Million for Lake Tahoe Community Fire Protection Projects
Nevada Fire Safe Council to Coordinate Project Selection and Funding
South Lake Tahoe, CA.
--The United States Forest Service is providing more than $6 million in a grant to the Nevada Fire Safe Council (NVFSC)
to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire on private lands around the communities of the Lake Tahoe Basin.
The grant will support local projects that reduce fuels and mitigate wildfire risk in areas at high risk of
catastrophic wildfire due to population density and fuel loads, consistent with the Lake Tahoe Basin Multi-Jurisdictional
Comprehensive Fuels Reduction and Wildfire Prevention Strategy and Community Wildfire Protection Plans.
"This funding furthers the Forest Service commitment to reducing wildfire risk for our Lake Tahoe Basin communities,"
said Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit Forest Supervisor Terri Marceron. "We
expect the funds to be used for a variety of hazardous fuels reduction projects
and support the community chipping programs to enhance the efforts of the
community to provide defensible space and reduce the threat from catastrophic
wildfire."
The funding comes from an emergency supplemental appropriations bill approved by Congress in October 2008 to support
critical hazardous fuels treatments on federal, state and private lands. The funds, more than $6.2 million in total,
will go to the NVFSC, which will coordinate project selection and funding with the local fire protection districts.
The NVFSC will provide a 10% match in the form of additional funding and in-kind services.
"Funding provided by the United States Forest Service will help us move more quickly as we try to make the Tahoe Basin
fire safe," said Andrew List, Executive Director of the Nevada Fire Safe Council.
"This will allow residents and the fire protection districts and fire
departments in the Basin to implement mitigation measures identified in
community wildfire protection plans."
Chief Brown of the North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District said, "The local
fire protection districts continuously collaborate on fuels mitigation projects
around the Tahoe Basin. This additional funding will allow each of our districts
additional support to get the necessary work done in a more efficient manner and
to collectively be more productive as a region. We are very grateful to the
United States Forest Service and the Nevada Fire Safe Council for this
opportunity to continue our collaborative efforts and hope the spirit of
cooperation continues in the future."
"The Lake Tahoe Multi-Agency Coordinating Group (MAC) is very grateful for these funds and promises that each fire
district will use it wisely to help protect the lives, property and environment in this beautiful basin. We really
appreciate the Forest Service's support in helping us to fulfill our mission," said Meeks Bay Fire Chief John Pang.
The Forest Service is finalizing the grant award to the NVFSC with the hope to see project work with these funds
beginning this summer.
For more information on the Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit and the fuels reduction strategy for the
Lake Tahoe Basin, visit www.fs.fed.us/r5/ltbmu/fire/index.shtml
The Nevada Fire Safe Council is a 501c(3) non-profit corporation serving the entire Lake Tahoe Basin, including
communities in California. For more information, visit
www.nvfsc.org or call 530-543-FIRE.
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