Big Progress on Open Space Forest Health in 2024

It’s been an exciting year for Land Trust forests, with an additional 300 acres of fuels reduction work bringing significant portions of protected open space to a healthier state for habitat, watershed function, and wildfire resiliency.

Much of the work focused on two key properties: Royal Gorge on Donner Summit, and Webber Lake to the north of Truckee. Building both on past work on those properties, as well as the work done in collaboration with neighboring property owners, the forestry work is moving toward landscape-scale improvements that will have meaningful impacts on our region.

The culmination of this work reduces overstocked forests to a more sustainable level and allows for a more diverse mix of tree species, which is better for wildlife habitat, resistance to pests and diseases, and reduces the likelihood of catastrophic wildfire.

Previously, unbalanced forests have been dominated by lodgepole pines, whereas restored forests see a greater balance with red fir, white fir, Jeffery pine, and even sugar pines. Reaching that balance will allow the Land Trust to consider more maintenance-oriented work in the future.

Elsewhere, the Land Trust’s partners CalFire and Truckee Tahoe Airport conducted a prescribed burn on Waddle Ranch, made possible by previous forestry efforts, and creating a more natural nutrient load in the soil.

Looking to 2025, the Land Trust will also be focusing on restoration of meadow and aspen habitat on our lands. At Webber Lake, this will continue previous work reducing lodgepole pine encroachment on Lacey Meadow, using historic photos to help guide that effort. This work both improves watershed health and protects critical meadow habitat.

Increasing aspen habitat will also improve wildfire resiliency and improve a diversity of wildlife habitats that differ from conifer forests. Edge areas between meadow and forest are particularly important for much of the wildlife in our region.

None of this work would be possible without 2024 financial support from the Sierra Nevada Conservancy, Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation, Truckee Fire Protection District, CalFire, and donors like you.