AP Covers Decision to Abandon Project and Upper Echo Lake

In an article written by Scott Sonner, the AP described the decision of the U.S. Forest Service to withdraw the memo authorizing its Upper Echo Lake Hazardous Fuels Reduction Project.  The article was picked up in hundreds of news outlets nationally, such as the San Francisco Chronicle.

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Relief at Upper Echo Lake Overshadowed by Prescribed Burns Elsewhere in the Region

On the heels of a settlement agreement that signals the end of the Forest Service's plans to cut, pile, and burn vegetation around Upper Echo Lake south of Lake Tahoe, there are grim reminders of continuing agency mismanagement of forestry resources in the vicinity.

First, prescribed burns in the El Dorado and Lake Tahoe National Forests contributed to poor air quality in the region, as reported here.  This led regulators to encourage Washoe County residents to stay indoors.

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Federal and state forestry agencies are staunch advocates for prescribed burns.  We wonder if there is empirical research to support their position.  At least one expert thinks otherwise as reported some time ago on the NEPA Lab blog.  Robert E. Keane in his book Wildland Fuel Fundamentals and Application (Springer 2…
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Context for Forest Service Action

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This image provides wonderful context to assess the Forest Service's ill-conceived Upper Echo Lake Hazardous Fuels Reduction Project.

Notice how sparse the vegetation is at this elevation.  Certainly when one thinks about wildfire risk, this is not the image the mind conjures.
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