$15.8 million Invested in Tahoe National Forest Projects

Release Date: 

Nevada City, Calif., June 14, 2022 — The Tahoe National Forest is the benefactor $11.2 million in funding from the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) and $4.6 million from the Sierra Nevada Conservancy (SNC)’s Wildfire Recovery and Forest Resilience Directed Grant Program, for a total of $15.8 million.

“Together, this funding will help us to strengthen forest and community resilience,” said Matt Jedra, acting Forest Supervisor of the Tahoe National Forest. “We are excited to have the opportunity to attend to maintenance challenges associated with increased visitation, conserve forested land, and mitigate the risks of high-intensity wildfires.”

Across USDA-managed lands nationwide, GAOA-funded investments will address deferred maintenance, improve infrastructure, increase user access, and support rural economies while also meeting conservation goals. There are three Legacy Restoration Fund projects identified on the Tahoe National Forest for funding this fiscal year. These projects will realign trail segments and harden stream crossings on trails in the Granite Chief Wilderness, implement vegetation management in priority campgrounds, and renovate an essential public service center.

There is also one Land and Water Conservation Fund National Forest System Land Acquisition Project receiving funding on the Tahoe National Forest. The Martis Valley Headwaters land acquisition will help conserve over 7,000 acres of mature coniferous forest, chaparral, sagebrush scrub, montane meadow, and riparian habitat in the Truckee River watershed.

In addition, the SNC has awarded funding to two projects on the American River Ranger District. Approximately $2.6 million will go to the French Meadows Ecological Restoration Project to complete the last phase of mechanical treatments, protecting the headwaters of the American River from high-intensity wildfires. Approximately $2 million will go to the Nyack Fuels Reduction and Infrastructure Protection Project to remove hazardous vegetation and provide firefighting access to defend infrastructure and homes.

For more about the GAOA, visit: www.fs.usda.gov/managing-land/gaoa.

For more about the SNC, visit: www.sierranevada.ca.gov