County and Forest Service highlight roadside shaded-fuel projects and Good Neighbor Agreement for Tahoe National Forest

Nevada County emergency management and the Tahoe National Forest told the Board of Supervisors on Aug. 12 that multi-agency partnerships are expanding local fuel-reduction work in eastern Nevada County and that a Good Neighbor Agreement with the Forest Service is enabling projects on federal land.

Alex Kibble Toole, the county’s director of emergency services, and Alex Garretts, the county’s forestry projects manager, described three levels of work: household-level debris drop-off and bin delivery for residents, community-scale coordination and a quarterly wildfire stakeholders group, and landscape-scale roadside shaded-fuel breaks implemented through the Good Neighbor Agreement with the Tahoe National Forest’s Truckee Ranger District. Truckee District Ranger Jonathan Cook Fisher described the strategic value of shaded fuel breaks along road corridors for firefighter access, safer ingress and egress, and tactical advantage during a wildfire.

At the individual level, Garretts said county-organized green-waste drop-off events and delivered temporary bins in Russell Valley removed about 840 cubic yards of yard debris from 277 vehicles — roughly “three full-size school buses packed to the brim,” he said. Those events are targeted to unincorporated residents who can’t easily haul debris to transfer stations.

At the community level, Garretts said the county now hosts half of the quarterly wildfire stakeholders meetings in Truckee; the group includes about 75 members from nearly 40 organizations and is developing a pipeline of projects aligned with the county’s 2025 community wildfire protection plan.

At the landscape level, Fisher described the Good Neighbor Agreement approved by the board in July 2024. He said the county has already awarded a contract to a local East County contractor to complete about 110 acres of roadside shaded-fuel treatment between Prosser and Stampede reservoirs. The county provides contract administration and will coordinate with the Truckee Ranger District on project management. Fisher said the decision to create shaded fuel breaks — typically 100–150 feet on either side of a road — is intended as “tactical insurance” that buys time while larger landscape restoration projects are planned and funded. He pointed to a recent example where a roadside fuels project helped hold a fire in the Loyalton area.

Supervisors and attendees emphasized that the agreement and associated projects also benefit recreation and road users. County staff noted that the Good Neighbor Agreement model lets the county leverage its contracting and project-administration capacity to accelerate work on federal land while the Forest Service focuses on other priorities such as timber programs.

Chair Hall asked for public comment; none was received. The board accepted the presentation by voice vote and thanked OES and the Truckee Ranger District team for the update.