Fire officials seek to step up Tahoe forest thinning

Monday, Nov. 17, 2003 | 5:57 a.m.

RENO, Nev. - Citing Southern California's devastating blazes as a lesson, fire officials want to step up efforts to reduce the threat of catastrophic wildfires at Lake Tahoe.

But officials said they're concerned that Tahoe Regional Planning Agency rules will hamper projects to remove trees and brush in Tahoe's overgrown forests. The bistate agency is charged with protecting the Sierra lake's environment.

Jim Linardos, chief of the North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District, said rules designed to protect Tahoe's scenery by screening homes with vegetation could increase fire danger by restricting efforts to thin trees closest to homes.

"Quite frankly, I'm not in the mood to wait around that much longer," Linardos told the Reno Gazette-Journal. "I want to start doing some aggressive thinning."

Coe Swobe, Nevada's at-large appointee to the TRPA governing board, said a regulation prohibiting motorized vehicles from stream zones could impair efforts to reduce fuels in some of Tahoe's most fire-prone spots.

Any rules that stand in the way of reducing the fire risk should be changed before the 2004 fire season, he said.

"Just about everybody says there will be a big fire someday," Swobe said. "We can determine what type of fire it will be - catastrophic or controllable.

"The choice is ours and the time is now. Southern California's time is over," he added.

John Singlaub, who will take over as TRPA executive director in January, said he will make it a top priority to review agency regulations that affect fire protection efforts.

"I see it as a big challenge for everybody in the Tahoe Basin, including the TRPA," Singlaub said. "We need to do whatever we can."

Rochelle Nason of the League to Save Lake Tahoe environmental group said she supports the "careful review" of TRPA regulations affecting fire safety as long as any resulting thinning occurs next to communities.

Recent federal legislation providing $300 million toward restoration projects at Tahoe could fund much of the work, she said.

"There is a great deal of agreement about what needs to be done at Lake Tahoe, but in the past we have lacked the resources to do it," Nason said.

Some residents said they're concerned by the similarities between Southern California and Tahoe, including the presence of drought- and insect-ravaged forests next to communities.

"After all those fires, sure we're concerned," Michael Joe of Incline Village said. "When you drive around, you can see a lot of dead trees."

Information from: Reno Gazette-Journal