Fire prevention a TRPA priority

The executive director of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency wants to dispel what he says is a nasty rumor that the agency isn't doing much to help reduce fire danger in the Lake Tahoe Basin.

"We're going 1,000 miles an hour and I keep getting comments that we're not," said TRPA Executive Director John Singlaub at a recent Governing Board meeting.

The agency has been working to secure grant money and other funding so that a fire plan can be completed for the Lake Tahoe Basin by early August.

The TRPA has also crafted an agreement with the fire protection district at Incline Village that allows the fire department to issue tree removal permits. Before permits had to be obtained from the Nevada Department of Forestry.

The agreement, meant to speed the creation of defensible space around homes, will be a model for fire departments around the basin, according to Julie Regan, TRPA communications director.

On the technical side, the agency also worked hard through the winter to change its code of ordinances to allow forest fuel reduction work around streams. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently approved the change.

For more information about the TRPA's work to reduce fire danger at Tahoe, contact Regan at (775) 588-4547 ext. 237 or by e-mail at jregan@trpa.org.