8.0 Conclusions

The communities of Incline Village and Crystal Bay both have a high potential ignition risks and extreme fire hazard ratings. These ratings are primarily attributed to inadequate defensible space, combustible building materials, heavy fuels, and steep southwest facing slopes. The following table summarizes the communities and the risk and hazard assessment results for each community.

Each of the following efforts must be undertaken immediately and simultaneously to reduce the risks and hazards in the Lake Tahoe Basin. Each are of equal priority:

• Homeowners must immediately implement defensible space in accordance with existing ordinances;
• The US Forest Service, fire districts, and other landowners must finalize detailed implementation plans and permitting for the priority treatment areas.
• The TRPA, US Forest Service, and Fire Districts must explore alternative treatment methods for steep slopes such as cable yarding.
• Funding needs to be secured as soon as possible to implement the proposed wildfire hazard mitigation projects identified in this report.

To be most effective, fire safe practices need to be implemented on a community-wide basis. There is no way to completely eliminate the threat that wildfires present to communities at the wildland interface. However, the recommendations in this report are intended to increase public awareness and encourage concerned community members to make proactive efforts to effectively reduce the risk of wildfire ignitions near their communities. Implementing defensible space and fuel reduction projects, and public education programs, will help to mitigate the hazards inherent in wildland interface areas.