Forest Service to conduct understory burn near South Lake Tahoe

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, California. – If conditions and weather conditions are favorable, a member of the Tahoe Fire & Fuels team, the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit of the USDA Forest Service, should conduct understory burns on approximately 46 acres off Pioneer Trail near South Lake Tahoe between June 9 and 24, 2024.

A fire information booth will be set up on Pioneer Trail near Jicarilla Drive during the active burn and LTBMU fire prevention staff will be available to answer questions. Fires usually start at 10 a.m. and smoke will be present. View smoke management tips and the current air quality index at AirNowU.S. Environmental Protection Agency/Forest Service fire and smoke map and prescribed burn map with details at Tahoe Living With Fire.

Prescribed fires are an essential forest management tool used by land managers to help protect communities by eliminating fuels that can fuel unwanted wildfires. Burning excess vegetation also benefits forest health by making way for new growth that provides forage for wildlife, recycling nutrients back into the soil, and reducing the spread of insects and diseases.

Prescribed fire managers use different methods to remove excess vegetation (fuels) and reintroduce low-intensity fires to forests through stockpile, broadcast, and understory burning. Pile burning involves burning slash piles constructed by hand or with mechanical equipment. Broadcast and understory burning uses a low-intensity fire to eliminate fuels under specific environmental conditions, with the fire confined to a predetermined area.

Historically, low-intensity wildfires started by lightning or by indigenous peoples regularly burned the fire-adapted ecosystems of the Sierra Nevada. These low-intensity fires burned at low temperatures and moved slowly along the ground, removing forest debris such as pine cones, needles, branches, dead and downed trees, and ladder fuels. Watch the Forest Service video for a detailed explanation of low-intensity fires. Prescribed fires aim to mimic these low-intensity natural fires that are essential to fire-adapted ecosystems.

Prescribed burns can take place at any time of the year when conditions are favorable. Winter generally brings cooler temperatures and precipitation ideal for conducting prescribed burning operations. Each operation follows a specialized burn plan, which takes into account smoke dispersion conditions, temperature, humidity, wind and vegetation moisture. All of this information is used to decide when and where to burn.

TFFT strongly supports the use of prescribed burning under appropriate conditions and works closely with air quality districts to avoid smoke impacts to the public. Smoke from prescribed burns is normal and can linger for several days after a fire, depending on the size of the project, conditions and weather. Smoke from prescribed fires is generally less intense and much shorter in duration than smoke produced by unwanted wildfires. Smoke from prescribed burns, wildfires or wood stoves can remain low to the ground at night and early in the morning due to a phenomenon known as temperature inversion. A temperature inversion occurs when warm air “caps” colder air, causing smoke to be trapped deep in valleys at night and early in the morning.

Prior to prescribed fire ignitions, agencies coordinate closely with local and state air quality agencies to monitor weather conditions for favorable conditions that will disperse smoke, conduct test burns before igniting any larger areas to check how much vegetation is being consumed and how smoke rises and disperses before proceeding, post signs on roads in areas affected by prescribed burning operations, send email notifications to the list for prescribed burn notification and update the local fire information line at 530-543-2816. The TFFT gives as much notice as possible before the fire, but some operations can be carried out at very short notice due to the small window of opportunity for the implementation of these projects.

Learn more about living in fire-adapted ecosystems, prescribed burning, and fuel reduction at Tahoe Living With Fire. and prepare, inform yourself and get involved! To be added to the prescribed burn advisory list, email us.