Board approves application for $7 million National Forest Foundation grant to support Tahoe National Forest work

The Nevada County Board of Supervisors voted April 14 to authorize staff to apply for $7 million in National Forest Foundation funding to support management activities in the Tahoe National Forest portions that lie inside county boundaries.

Alex Hubertoll, director of Office of Emergency Services, told the board the proposed project is intended to support management across roughly 198,000 acres of Tahoe National Forest within Nevada County (about 32% of the county's land area). He said the proposed work would cover about 1% of the forest and focus on roadside vegetation management, evacuation-route constraints identified in the county's evacuation study, and project-priority areas named in the Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP).

Supervisor questions centered on how the county would coordinate with the U.S. Forest Service as the agency is experiencing staffing reductions. Hubertoll said the county views the grant as an opportunity to support Forest Service management in partnership with listed qualified vendors and existing relationships through OES and county procurement.

A board member who pulled the consent item noted the application is administrative and that more detailed discussion would occur when the project returns to the board for approval of grant terms or implementation plans. Following questions, the board moved and voted 5-0 to authorize application submission.

What next: Staff will return with more detailed project lists, site-selection criteria tied to the CWPP and evacuation study, and a schedule for implementation if funding is awarded.