Clearing the Way

Lake Tahoe, Calif./Nev., June 23, 2025 – Forest fuels reduction projects happening throughout the Tahoe Basin this year are using a tool known as mastication around communities to connect fuel treatment projects and bolster defensible space within the wildland urban interface. The Tahoe Fire and Fuels Team is highlighting several of these projects to educate residents and visitors about work they might be seeing in and around Lake Tahoe communities this year, and the crucial role mastication plays in helping firefighters protect people and the lake. The Tahoe Fire & Fuels Team is a multi-agency partnership committed to reducing wildfire risk and improving forest health across the Tahoe Basin.

As wildfire seasons grow longer and more intense, Tahoe Fire & Fuels Team partners are using every tool available to reduce risk and protect communities. Mastication is one such tool, and it plays a key role in making forests more resilient. Mastication is a mechanical treatment that helps reduce wildfire intensity by grinding up small trees, brush, and woody debris into mulch. Specialized equipment, known as masticators, move through the forest and chip excess vegetation into chips that are spread around the treatment area as the equipment moves. Some masticators look like a compact tractor, while others are separate machines that attach to the arm of an excavator.  Masticators clear out ladder fuels – those small trees and brush that allow fire to climb into the forest canopy – and help create defensible space around neighborhoods, roads, and critical infrastructure.

“Reducing flame lengths and limiting wildfire intensity provides critical time and space for firefighters to respond,” said Carrie Thaler, Fire Chief for the USDA Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit. “We will continue to use every tool in our toolbox to reduce wildfire risk in the Tahoe Basin to protect our neighborhoods and communities.”

Mastication can stand alone as a treatment or complement other fuels reduction methods like thinning or prescribed fire. It is especially valuable in areas where burning isn’t practical, such as directly next to homes, recreation sites, or along busy roadways.

Tahoe Fire & Fuels Team Partners Put Mastication to Work

The Tahoe Fire & Fuels Team is prioritizing mastication projects across the Tahoe Basin this summer. These projects reflect the partnership’s focus on strategic, collaborative action to protect communities, critical infrastructure, and evacuation corridors. Recent and upcoming work includes:

• Incline Village and Skyland – Targeted mastication to create defensible space within and around neighborhoods and reduce fuels within the wildland-urban interface.
• Pioneer Trail Area – In South Lake Tahoe, Tahoe Fire & Fuels Team partners are creating shaded fuel breaks, including a 200-foot-wide treatment near the Golden Bear neighborhood.
• Elks Point and Nevada Beach – Continued mastication along high-use road corridors to prevent roadside ignitions and improve access for emergency response.

“Mastication is a strategic, cost-effective technique to help us protect Tahoe Basin communities,” said Annabelle Monti, Tahoe Fire & Fuels Team Program Manager. “When integrated with other tools, it helps not only reduce the intensity of wildfires, but also gives firefighters safer, more effective conditions to work in if a fire does occur.”

Stay Informed

To explore fuels reduction projects happening across the Tahoe Basin, visit tahoelivingwithfire.com and view the interactive project map.

To receive updates when fuels reduction work is happening near you, sign up for the USDA Forest Service Fuels Reduction Notification List by emailing [email protected].

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About the Tahoe Fire & Fuels Team

The Tahoe Fire and Fuels Team consists of representatives of Tahoe Basin fire agencies, CAL FIRE, Nevada Division of Forestry and related state agencies, University of California and Nevada Cooperative Extensions, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, the USDA Forest Service, conservation districts from both states, the California Tahoe Conservancy and the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board. Our mission is to protect lives, property, and the environment within the Lake Tahoe Basin from wildfire by implementing prioritized fuels reduction projects and engaging the public in becoming a Fire Adapted Community. 

For more information, visit Tahoe Living With Fire.