An Opportunity for Outdoor Recreation in Lake Tahoe

Photo Credit: Ming Poon

Until Tuesday, May 26, the Forest Service is looking for comments from the public about a new plan to reduce wildfire risk that could affect trails for hiking and mountain biking, as well as backcountry skiing. This project could be a good opportunity to advocate for outdoor recreation, or it could present new challenges to access. You can speak up for outdoor recreation by sending a message to the Forest Service right here: 

Twenty million people visit Lake Tahoe every year. If they’re looking for hiking, mountain biking, backcountry skiing, climbing, and generally any type of outdoor recreation, chances are, they’re heading to Lake Tahoe’s West Shore.

Tahoe’s West Shore doesn’t just hold some of the best recreation in the Basin, but the entire West Coast, even the world. From the rocky peaks atop the crest of the Sierra Nevada, large forested canyons unfurl toward the western shoreline of Lake Tahoe. All along the West Shore, trailheads launch hikers to forest oases, meadows full of wildflowers, and serene lakes, like in Desolation Wilderness, Blackwood Canyon, or Paige Meadows. On stormy days, backcountry skiers find refuge in the deep, sheltered trees of Ward Canyon. Come summer, mountain bikers climb switchbacks from the bottom of Ward to Stanford Rock’s panorama—the trail, an old, eroded logging route, is getting rebuilt thanks to the efforts of local mountain bike group, TAMBA.

Further down the West Shore, the recreation gets even more world-class. A string of mountains, from Rubicon Peak to Jakes, offers abundant backcountry ski terrain: glades, lake views, steep couloirs and chutes, southeast facing bowls that ripen with the sun. This is the daily stomping ground for Tahoe’s most devoted backcountry skiers, including the Tahoe Backcountry Alliance. 

But the West Shore is also a prime example of Wildland-Urban Interface that challenges the West. Hundreds of homes are built in neighborhoods that extend from the shoreline into the forest, which is dense and especially susceptible to severe wildfire. Forest restoration and wildfire prevention are both urgently needed on Tahoe’s West Shore, especially taken into context with climate change. 

Tahoe’s West Shore has already seen the profound devastation of wildfire. In 2007, a fire raced up a steep slope in a West Shore neighborhood, burning five homes. Earlier that summer, Tahoe’s Angora Fire destroyed 242 homes. It’s only a matter of time before another wildfire does damage, and next time, it will likely be much worse. Like many communities in the Sierra, the West Shore is served by a single two-lane highway that’s notorious for hours-long gridlock on busy summer days.

Addressing this critical issue, the Lake Tahoe West Restoration Project is a collaboration between the U.S. Forest Service, the California Tahoe Conservancy, and the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency to reduce wildfire risk along the West Shore and improve forest health, as well as protect plant and animal species and lake clarity. The stakes are high. The notice of preparation for the project states: “The changing climate…is expected to increase widespread tree mortality, severe impacts from smoke, and spread of invasive species, and to decrease carbon storage and lake clarity.” 

Outdoor Alliance supports this project to restore Lake Tahoe’s forests, meadows, and streams, reduce wildfire risk, and protect communities. The project spans 59,000 acres along Lake Tahoe’s western shoreline. It is on schedule to begin implementation in 2022 with an estimated annual cost of $13 million. We are confident that the project will result in a healthier, more resilient, and more fire-safe forest for the Lake Tahoe Basin.

However, we have two points that are worth digging into for the precedent they will set in Lake Tahoe and throughout the United States. These could be huge opportunities for outdoor recreation, or they could become challenges. One of those has to do with an important land designation called Backcountry Management Areas, which is like the gold standard designation for mountain biking. It’s similar to Wilderness but mountain biking is allowed. In the Tahoe West Restoration project, 5,400 acres are designated Backcountry Management Areas. 

Outdoor Alliance is using Backcountry Management Areas as a tool to guide conservation efforts in other California forests, like the Sierra and Angeles. They hold a lot of potential to help traditional conservation groups compromise with mountain bike groups that would oppose Wilderness protections. These groups all support Backcountry Management Areas.

For the Tahoe West Restoration project, however, the Forest Service is looking to downgrade the protections of a Backcountry Management Area. They want to build roads in these areas to help them expedite mechanized forest thinning. We know how urgent this project is, but we can’t afford to weaken the integrity of Backcountry Management Areas. And we believe the project can be accomplished with some creative approaches that involve hand thinning instead of mechanical treatment.

Second, recreation should be incorporated into forest restoration efforts. There are so many opportunities to enhance trailheads and multi-use trails when crews embark into the mountains for a forest thinning project. In New England, Granite Backcountry Alliance, a grassroots group of skiers, has partnered with land managers to glade the forest and create new zones for backcountry skiing. If the Lake Tahoe Basin could adopt a similar model, outdoor enthusiasts could become volunteer recruits for forest thinning days that would restore forests, protect landscapes from severe wildfire, and open up more opportunities for backcountry skiing. There are also myriad opportunities to improve winter access points, and to reroute and connect biking trails in a sustainable way.

As land managers in Lake Tahoe move forward with the environmental analysis for the Lake Tahoe West Restoration Project, we are asking them to consider both of these things: 1) protect Backcountry Management Areas and 2) consider recreation opportunities and enhancements as part of the project. You can help by asking them to protect Backcountry Management Areas and incorporate recreation to their forest restoration efforts. Comments are due on Monday, May 26th, and the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit asks that comments be submitted directly through their online-comment form here.

If you’d like a sample comment to submit, here is a starting point, and we encourage you to add in any specific suggestions you may have for possible recreation improvements.

Dear Forest Supervisor,

1) Please don’t build roads in Backcountry and Roadless Areas!

2) Please don’t miss the opportunity to improve trails and recreation access as you move forward with the project!

(please note this link will take you directly to the comment website).