Commission: Fire prevention must be TRPA's top priority

Staff reportS
March 21, 2008

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Prevention of catastrophic fire in the Lake Tahoe Basin should take priority over current environmental policies, a bi-state commission formed after last June's Angora fire concludes in a draft report.

The California-Nevada Tahoe Basin Fire Commission will decide on 70 recommendations listed in the 192-page report, which was released Wednesday on the Internet.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons demanded formation of the commission after the worst and costliest wildfire in Lake Tahoe history. The Angora fire destroyed 254 homes and caused more than $140 million in property damage.

Among the draft recommendations, the agency charged with land-use policy in the basin - the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency - has been instructed to make fire prevention its top priority, because large wildfires are the No. 1 threat to Lake Tahoe's famed clarity.

"The TRPA must continue to make the avoidance of catastrophic fire its No. 1 priority and should be aggressive in facilitating, approving and permitting projects by land managers and property owners to remove fuels from the forests and to implement forest restoration plans for the purpose of creating more fire-resilient forests within the Tahoe Basin," the draft report states.