South Lake Tahoe, Calif. –The U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit will begin fuels reduction and forest health thinning work near two East Shore beaches the week of September 26, 2011. The project areas are located on National Forest System lands on approximately 15 acres near the Chimney Beach parking lot and 18 acres near Secret Harbor Beach on the Lake Tahoe’s East Shore.

Work could take up to a month to complete. The beaches will remain open and work will not take place during the weekend. However, log removal will affect access to parking lots. For public safety, Forest Supervisor Nancy Gibson has issued a Forest Order temporarily closing the parking lots at each beach while the contractor conducts thinning activities. The order is effective Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. until 6 p.m., September 26, 2011, through October 25, 2011.

Fuel reduction work will consist of mechanical removal of conifer trees up to 29 inches in diameter. A few large slash piles could remain. The Forest Service will burn the piles once the fuels are dry and weather conditions permit.

The Forest Order and maps of the project areas are available at the Forest Supervisor’s Office, 35 College Drive, South Lake Tahoe, CA or online at http://www.fs.usda.gov/goto/ltbmu/ForestOrders.