Forest Service awards $250,000 grant to Nevada Division of Forestry to support biomass supply

CARSON CITY, Nev–The U.S. Forest Service recently awarded a $250,000 grant to the Nevada Division of Forestry (NDF) to purchase biomass collection and removal equipment. Up to 6,000 tons of biomass could be removed from fuels treatments on the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, Lake Tahoe Nevada State Park, Bureau of Land Management, state, tribal and private lands.

“We, the Forest Service, fully understand the challenges of delivering affordable biomass due to the rising fuels costs incurred to collect and haul the biomass,” said Ed Monnig, Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest Supervisor. “NDF’s proposal was an innovative and collaborative interagency solution to decrease overall biomass supply costs,” stated Monnig. The Forest Service supports biomass use as a fuels treatment when it can be done economically, efficiently and effectively.

Grant purchases will include a truck, four roll-off containers and a trailer. Biomass collection could begin as soon as September at selected fuels reduction project sites. Biomass, or “waste wood” lacks the higher traditional wood product value of dimensional lumber. This waste wood will be chipped directly into the roll-off containers and transported via trailer.

“This grant provides a cost-effective way to remove biomass from small-scale forestry operations that are having difficulty disposing of biomass,” said Pete Anderson, Nevada’s State Forester and Firewarden. “It’s essentially a double benefit—biomass can be more effectively moved off site to ultimately help fuel the Northern Nevada Correctional Center’s power plant.” Biomass can be burned completely and more efficiently under the controlled environment of a biomass fueled boiler, increasing overall air quality in the region.

Firefighters and foresters worry about lack of firefighting funds (KRNV)

The fire season is still several months away, but firefighters say they’re already concerned about a lack of manpower and money.

Fire season traditionally begins in May or June in Southern Nevada and moves north as the weather warms. State crews are at full capacity for this year, but Nevada forester Pete Anderson says, there will be less help when that fire season is upon us.

Read the complete story at KRNV.com.

Deadline near for panel’s Tahoe fire report (RGJ)

Eight months after flames roared through a Lake Tahoe community, destroying 254 homes, a special panel established to avoid future disasters is nearing its deadline.

By March 21, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons expect a report on how to avoid a repeat of last June’s Angora Fire. This week, the California-Nevada Tahoe Basin Fire Commission is scheduled to sort through some 120 different recommendations crafted to achieve that goal.

Read the complete story at the Reno Gazette-Journal.

Nevada’s state parks forge new environmental partnership

“Leave No Trace” expert urges more responsible outdoor stewardship

CARSON CITY, Nev.—The eyes of committed conservationists see no difference between the front country and the backcountry.

A longstanding effort to increase environmental awareness has been to teach backcountry outdoor ethics. Specifically, the creed has been to “leave no trace” in remote areas.

The problem: Most visitors visit the front country—urban parks, established campgrounds, open space trails and the like. This is according Allen Newberry, chief of operations and maintenance for the Nevada Division of State Parks.

Newberry has been involved with the Leave No Trace program, which originated with the U.S. Forest Service in the 1960s, since the early 1970s, when he taught outdoor ethics to Boy Scouts at Valley of Fire State Park in Southern Nevada.