Purchase of New Forestry Facility

The Board of Directors announced at the September 24, 2011 monthly board meeting that the Association had entered into escrow for a 20 acre parcel on the periphery of Tahoe Donner property which contains a large facility suitable for the Forestry operations.

March Update: Escrow has closed and Tahoe Donner Association now owns a facility that will support the needs and operational requirements of the Forestry Department.

Forestry Department Background; The Tahoe Donner Forestry Department is dedicated to maintaining the health of the forest within the association’s 7,000 acres while minimizing the threat of forest fires. Forester Bill Houdyschell and his team are nationally regarded as leaders in their field and manage a variety of programs.

Practicing good defensible space is an important part of being a property owner in Tahoe Donner. US Forest Service records show that over the last 35 years over 150 fires burned in or within a two-mile radius of Tahoe Donner.

One of the goals of the forestry department is to help property owners bring their properties into compliance with state, local and association fire safety standards. Work completed by individual property owners is key to keeping Tahoe Donner safe from wildfire.

In 2007, the Tahoe Donner Board of Directors adopted a four-year program to inspect all properties, both developed and undeveloped, in the association. The four-year program was completed in 2011.

Protecting the Forest

In addition to protecting your home, defensible space is also about improving the health of the forest to reduce the threat of fire. The forestry department works to create a healthy forest on the common areas of Tahoe Donner. This is done by:

• Creating and maintaining fuel breaks in strategic areas
• Removing brush and planting trees to establish a forest on the landscape
• Masticating (mowing) brush from around trees to increase the growth of the forest, change the arrangement of fuels and remove ladder fuels (fuels which provide vertical continuity allowing fire to spread up into tree crowns)
• Creating a mosaic of practices to lessen the impacts to the human eye and encourage different wildlife species
• Thinning dense forest stands through commercial logging operations or by hand crews
• Maintaining the seasonal road system in the western portion of Tahoe Donner to lessen erosion and allow access by firefighting crews

If you wish to schedule an appointment for a Forestry Department staff member to check for defensible space on your property and make improvement recommendations, contact the Forestry Department at (530) 587-9432. For a list of vendors who perform tree and brush removal services see our Business Directory.