Draft Environmental Impact Report to Increase the Pace and Scale of Fuels Treatments is Available for Public Review
May 28th, 2020
Erin Holland - Public Information Officer
North Tahoe Fire
holland@ntfire.net - 530-308-1158
Draft Environmental Impact Report to Increase the Pace and Scale of Fuels Treatments is Available for Public Review
Tahoe City, Calif. May 27, 2020 – The Tahoe Program Timberland Environmental Impact Report (Tahoe PTEIR) is available for public input until July 6, 2020. The program, which covers approximately 17,490 acres of Wildland Urban Interface on the California side of the Tahoe Basin, is anticipated to result in the treatment of approximately 1,250 acres of forest annually.
The objectives of the program are to implement a landscape level approach to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires and the potential damage to Lake Tahoe Basin forests, watersheds, habitats and communities. Treatments will also increase forest resiliency to the effects of climate change; including prolonged drought, pest and disease outbreaks and increased tree mortality.
The report addresses a long-term program of forest management and fuel reduction across private, local jurisdiction, federal, and California Tahoe Conservancy (Conservancy) land. The report, prepared by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CALFIRE), includes numerous forest treatment activities including mechanical thinning, manual/hand thinning, prescribed understory burning, pile burning, sale and transport of merchantable timber, and the transport and use of biomass for energy generation and wood pulp products. Herbicide treatment is not proposed.
The report identified significant or potentially significant effects associated with aesthetics, air quality, biological resources; cultural resources; greenhouse gases and climate change; recreation; and transportation.
The majority of impacts would be mitigated to a less-than-significant level. However, even with the application of feasible mitigation measures, there would be significant and unavoidable impacts related to air quality, greenhouse gas emissions, and transportation. The Draft PTEIR is available for public review, and the deadline for public input is 5:00 p.m. on July 6, 2020. Copies of the Draft PTEIR are available for download at www.ntfire.net. To prevent the spread of COVID-19, printed copies will not be available for review at public buildings. Individuals that are unable to access the Draft PTEIR at the website listed above should contact the North Tahoe Fire Protection District by email at TahoePTEIR@ntfire.net or 530-584-2344 to obtain a copy. Written comments may be submitted by email (TahoePTEIR@ntfire.net) or by postal mail to North Tahoe Fire Protection District, c/o Tahoe PTEIR, PO Box 5879, Tahoe City, CA 96145.
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