Forest Service hosts Tamarack restoration meeting

On March 23, more than 30 people attended a public meeting at Turtle Rock Park in Markleeville to discuss restoration of the area damaged by the Tamarack Fire last summer.

Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest’s Carson Ranger District’s Carson Ranger District officials are working on the initial planning.

“The project team held the public meeting to engage with the community and capture valuable input on what the community feels is most important to address in the restoration project,” said Carson District Ranger Matthew Zumstein. “We received some great feedback and look forward to continuing those conversations to build a comprehensive restoration project that meets both community and ecological priorities.”

Between Alpine and Douglas County, the Tamarack claimed 25 structures and burned 68,696 acres of land.

The proposal will remove dead, dying, and damaged trees to promote reforestation efforts as well as reduce hazardous fuels to protect the community from future wildfires.

This may be accomplished through the implementation of a variety of treatments including mechanical or hand thinning, mastication, chipping, and prescribed fire.

Additionally, reforestation and revegetation treatments are also proposed for areas that may have been affected by higher severity fire and do not have a natural seed source available to begin to reestablish. Treatments could include hand planting and seeding as well as aerial seeding. Research opportunities are also being explored to use innovative drone technology to deliver tree seeds to areas that are difficult to access.

The district received close to $1.2 million in disaster relief funding that will allow implementation of the proposed activities within the Tamarack Restoration Project once approved. Additional funding opportunities will be pursued as they become available to continue implementation and monitoring within the project area for the foreseeable future.

“The project team will be developing the plan this year with the hopes to implement it in 2023,” said Zumstein.

The presentation and map that was shown at the public meeting can be reviewed at https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/htnf/news-events/?cid=FSEPRD1006875.

For additional questions on the project or to provide input, please contact Carson Ranger District Forester Annabelle Monti at anna.monti@usda.gov.

The district has been focused on mitigating safety hazards that occurred as a direct result of the Tamarack Fire. As part of fire suppression repair, the district was able to mitigate immediate hazard trees in the Pleasant Valley and Thornburg Canyon areas. Those hazard trees were donated to the local community and the Washoe Tribe to be used as firewood. Initial road repairs were completed in December 2021, and additional road work is slated for summer 2022.

Because of the completed mitigation work, the district was able to rescind the area closure, and all Forest Service trailheads, trails, and roads in the Tamarack burned area are now accessible.

Crystal Springs Campground will remain closed due to concerns about the stability of the hillside that was burnt above the campground.

Also, due to the greater risk of flash floods the lower part of Markleeville Campground by the river will stay closed. For more details on how to recreate safely in Tamarack Post-Fire area, visit: https://bit.ly/TamarackPostFireRecreating.