Final Report from the Expert Panel

Independent Review Panel Report_Veg Mgmt Wkshp_4-30-08         

Supplemental Appendices to Independent Review Panel Rpt _4-30-08          Materials:

Sensitive Areas workshop Flyer February 20-22, 2008 updated

Vegetation Management Workshop Agenda revised

Speaker and Panelist Contact Information

 Smith and Kocher - Case Study Issue Identification

Issues and Potential Solutions-Agency Response

Workshop Purpose:

Excess vegetation on steep slopes and in stream environment zones (SEZs) heightens wildfire risk and threatens habitat goals in the Lake Tahoe Basin. Yet land managers have difficulty reducing that vegetation because of limited access, short field seasons and requirements to reduce impacts on thresholds such as water quality. As a result, vegetation management projects are more costly to complete, take longer and too few acres are treated.

Workshop objectives:

• Explore the state of knowledge and current practices used by agencies for fuels treatment projects in stream zones (SEZs) and steep slopes int he Lake Tahoe Basin
• Identify areas of uncertainty regarding environmental risk from these treatments
• Solicit recommendations from an expert panel to advance vegetation management strategies and practices in the Lake Tahoe basin.  Vegetation Management Workshop Review Panel Charge   Table of Contents for Review Panel

Who Attended:  Land management and regulatory agency staff, researchers, fuels treatment implementors, enviromnetal organizations and any interested public.

Sponsored by:

• California Tahoe Conservancy
• CA-NV Fire Commission
• Tahoe Science Consortium
• UC Cooperative Extension, El Dorado County

• UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center