Lake Tahoe Wildfire Summit

Over 100 people attended the Lake Tahoe Basin Wildfire Summit on June 24th, 2011 at Granlibakken Resort in Tahoe City, CA.The goal of the summit was to provide information and tools to assist residents to reduce wildfire risks to their homes and communities in the Tahoe Basin and to develop recommendations for each Tahoe Basin fire district on reducing wildfire risk in those communities.

The agenda included presentations by fire experts, field trips to nearby forest fuels treatments, the 2007 Washoe fire and a local neighborhood to identify construction components that put homes at risk to fires. Attendees had break out sessions with each of the seven Tahoe basin fire agencies to brainstorm strategies to increase implementation of defensible space by residents.

Attendees included residents and homeowners in the Tahoe Basin, staff and decision makers with state, local, federal and tribal agencies concerned with defensible space, emergency preparedness and forest management. Anyone interested in learning about wildfire issues in the Tahoe Basin and how to protect homes and communities by improving building materials and performance, implementing defensible space, and conducting community forest fuel reduction projects.

The event was hosted by the Living with Fire program, the University of California and University of Nevada Cooperative Extension through funding by the Nevada Division of Forestry and summit sponsors.

Presentations

June 24th, 2011 Tahoe Wildfire Summit Impact Report .

Fire regimes and forest restoration in the Lake Tahoe Basin, Hugh Safford - Vegetation Ecologist for the US Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region

Four Years after the Angora fire- Lessons Learned, Jeff Michael—Chief, Lake Valley Fire Protection District, South Lake Tahoe CA

Concurrent Sessions:

• Reducing the vulnerability of the built environment, Steve Quarles—Wood Durability Advisor, University of California Cooperative Extension
• Local forest fuel treatments and goals, Norb Szczurek - Fuels Management Division, North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District, Incline Village, NV
• Wildfire behavior and suppression, Kyle Jacobson and John Washington—USFS Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit

Concurrent Field Trips:

• Walking tour of nearby community to view home construction, Steve Quarles - UC Cooperatve Extension
• Walking tour of thinning project at Granlibakken resortc, John Pickett—Tahoe Douglas FPD, Ron Parson—Granlibakken manager
• Driving tour to the Washoe fire, Beth Brady—USFS Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit

15 Reasons People Don’t Do Defensible Space, Ed Smith, University of Nevada Cooperative Extension

 

In 2010 the First Lake Tahoe Basin Wildland Urban Interface Summit was held July 9th, 2010 at Harrahs, Stateline, NV. See the July 9, 2010 Lake Tahoe Basin Wildfire Summit Agenda. For more information, see the 2010 Lake Tahoe Wildfire Summit Impact Report.