Healthy Forests – We’ve Done A Lot and We Can Do More

We’ve deployed over $1 million for healthy forests in the past decade – and we are ready to do more.

We convened and facilitated the Sagehen Collaborative Forest Project. In the Dry Creek watershed (near Russel Valley) we implemented hundreds of acres of forestry thinning and restoration. We’ve removed invasive weeds (which spread fires) on thousands of acres. We are now working in the Independence Creek watershed thinning and restoration hundreds of acres. And, we’ve recently finished a Forest Health Assessment for the Middle Truckee River Watershed, a forestry action plan for the entire watershed based on 18 months of comprehensive data analysis.

Making our forests fire-resilient

Restoring 50,000 acres of forests
Implementing modern forest management techniques – like manual thinning, prescribed burning, and invasive weed management – to return forests to their appearance under natural fire conditions.

Reintegrating fire

Increasing the use of prescribed fire to help address the challenges of a long history of fire suppression. Supporting the traditional ecological knowledge of fire as a tool for maintaining healthy forests.


Bringing back heterogeneity
Creating variability within the forest by promoting a diversity of species, age, and spacing of trees to make our forests more resilient to drought, disease, and fire. 


Establishing forest mosaic

A healthy forest stand has varying density, species, age, and canopy cover – including areas with tall, dispersed trees and other areas with denser mixes of trees and shrubs – to support diverse wildlife and habitat.


Connecting hydrology

Healthy forests reduce competition for limited water resources allowing forests to thrive and promote the movement of water through the infiltration into the ground, photosynthesis, and evaporation.

Where it
all happens

We have worked on forest health projects including Independence Creek Basin, Sagehen Creek Basin, and Dry Creek basin and will continue throughout the watershed at 20 priority sites identified in the Forest Health Assessment.

 Fast Facts

Scale: over 50,000 acres

Location: Middle Truckee River Watershed

Species: Jeffrey, ponderosa, lodgepole, and sugar pine; incense cedar; red and white fir; black cottonwood; red willow

Partners and Funders: Sierra Nevada Conservancy, USFS Tahoe National Forest, National Forest Foundation, USFS Tahoe National Forest – Sierraville Ranger District

Timeline

Dig
deeper

 To learn more about the 20 forest health priority project sites, check out the complete Middle Truckee River Watershed Forest Health Assessment technical report.