Tahoe Fire Sparks Lawsuit

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Photos by Brent Abrams

Association rules at Lake Tahoe, Calif. deterred residents from cutting defensible space around homes, some June fire survivors say. The post-burn uproar renews the debate over forest policy where private property abuts public lands.

Should homes have a minimum impact on adjacent lands or should private property be separated from trees and brush by broad, clear zones?

Most areas across the tinder-dry West mandate defensible space for commercial and residential developments. Lake Tahoe officials do too, but residents burned by recent wildfires say a strictly-enforced permit process deterred many locals from creating defensible space. What?EUR??,,????'?????<

 

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One Home Survives

Local activist Sue Abrams told landscapearchitect.com that she plans to file a class-action lawsuit on behalf of fire victims. Her own home in Mountain View Estates, where close to 100 homes went up in smoke, survived because she and her family broke the rules, she said.

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Tahoe area rules require permits for tree trimming and removal. Sue Abrams did not have a permit but paid for these conifers to be ?EUR??,,????'?????<

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At least one official acknowledged that politics, including lawsuits designed to block logging, had contributed to the fuel build-up that fed June?EUR??,,????'?????<

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The Forest Service says it will increase its annual tree-thinning goal to 4,200 acres over the next two years. Following the fire, experts cautioned that denuded hillsides will increase sediment erosion that is clouding Lake Tahoe.

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Sources: San Francisco Chronicle, Nevada Appeal