Tahoe Basin Fire Chiefs

May 27, 2008

NEWS RELEASE

Contacts: Andrew List, NV Fire Safe Council, 775-220-8967

Norb Szczurek, North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District, 775-831-0351

Julie Regan, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, 775-589-5237

LAKE TAHOE, NV/CA – The Tahoe Basin Fire Chiefs announced a host of recent accomplishments today following proclamations Tuesday by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Nevada Governor Jim Gibbons regarding wildfire at Lake Tahoe.

Both states issued proclamations and declared Lake Tahoe Basin counties in a state of emergency following the publication of the final report of the Bi-State Tahoe Basin Fire Commission. The Tahoe Basin fire chiefs, who are working collaboratively in a Multi-Agency Coordinating Committee (MAC) are taking a regional approach to reducing the threat of catastrophic wildfire at Lake Tahoe. Work underway includes the following:

• Approximately $4.4 million derived through the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act (SNPLMA) is being used to jump start the efforts of the newly formed Tahoe Fire & Fuels Team, which has an operational plan underway this fire season. Currently, six projects are in progress to treat nearly 500 acres for fuels reduction purposes. These projects around the Lake Tahoe Basin are actively underway by fire protection district personnel (in addition to other projects underway by state and federal agency agencies).

• Approximately $1 million of the $4.4 million in federal funds is being invested in a new defensible space rebate program for private property owners who voluntarily comply with defensible space requirements. Remaining funds will go towards strategic fuel breaks and residential chipping programs.

• A new, coordinated message has been developed to help homeowners better understand the integration of fire defensible space and erosion control measures on their properties. The “Living With Fire” publication produced by the University of Nevada Reno Cooperative Extension is a collaboration between Tahoe fire agencies and other agencies such as the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency. Conflicts between erosion control practices and fire safety measures have been resolved and education efforts are in the works to explain how both are compatible at Tahoe.

• TRPA regulations have been changed to increase from 6 to 14 inches the diameter size of trees property owners may remove without a permit for defensible space purposes. This change gives property owners enhanced abilities to protect their homes from wildfire. Another code change cleared the way for fire agencies to dramatically increase the amount of trained personnel conducting defensible space inspections.

2-2-2

Update on Tahoe Fire Agencies’ Actions

The Tahoe Fire and Fuels Team consists of representatives of Tahoe Basin fire agencies, CalFire, Nevada Division of Forestry and related state agencies, the Nevada Fire Safe Council, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, the USDA Forest Service, conservation districts from both states, and the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board.

The group has been collaborating for several years on developing community wildfire protection plans for the Tahoe Basin, said Jeff Michael, Fire Chief at Lake Valley Fire Protection District. The group’s goal is to accelerate basin-wide fuels reduction efforts by improving interagency coordination and by streamlining the permitting, planning and funding of vegetation management projects.

“Tahoe fire agencies are working together alongside TRPA and other regulatory agencies to speed up the permitting processes and get work done this season,” Michael said. “We’re moving full steam ahead to implement the Fire Commission’s report and the attention brought about by the two governors and Senator Dianne Feinstein is an enormous help to spread the word to the public,” he said.

The SNPLMA funds for the Tahoe fire agencies will be coordinated and distributed by the Nevada Fire Safe Council, according to Andrew List, Executive Director of the Council. The $4.4 million will help the Tahoe Fire and Fuels Team implement projects identified in the Tahoe Basin’s 10-year fuels reduction plan beginning this spring even as the group finalizes a strategic plan for permitting and completing work in high priority areas.

“This is what collaboration is all about,” said John Singlaub, Executive Director of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency. “Reducing the threat of catastrophic wildfire is TRPA’s number one priority and we’re pleased to be working so closely with fire professionals and the Nevada Fire Safe Council.”

SNPLMA was created to apply funds generated from the sale of surplus U.S. public lands in the Las Vegas Valley to various public and environmental causes. For the first time, funds designated for hazardous fuels reduction work may be used on federal as well as other lands in both California and Nevada. The forest fuels reduction money is part of a broader package for Nevada conservation and restoration initiatives to receive funds in the latest round of SNPLMA allocations.

U.S. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne and Nevada Congressional representatives announced the distribution of funds in February at a ceremony in Las Vegas.

###