TRUCKEE, Calif. – As residents and visitors are well aware – the peak of wildfire season is upon us. To help us all stay safe, a number of fire mitigation projects are currently underway funded by a generous commitment from the Truckee Tahoe Airport District (TTAD) which demonstrates their focus on sustainability and environmental concerns.

This past spring the airport board announced a significant investment in the community, contributing almost two million dollars to fund area forest thinning projects in the region. This sizable contribution provides sustained benefit to the entire community and aligns with the airport’s mission to increase community safety. The contribution also makes sense given the fact that the airport serves as a regional hub for a number of operations vital to fire protection, fire surveillance and fire attack services. 

Working closely with five regional fire agencies, eight projects were identified that lie within the Airport District boundaries and were ready to go.

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“Essentially, these forest thinning projects were already approved and ‘shovel ready’ but were held up due to a lack of funding,” says TTAD general manager Robb Etnyre. “Everyone knows the threat of a catastrophic wildfire looms large for our communities. We’re very proud that the contribution of these funds for this purpose was unanimously supported by our board.”

The projects funded by the airport total 739 acres of forest treatment work. The work is happening now, with a goal to have it all completed before winter arrives. The projects entail thinning out the unhealthy forests surrounding area neighborhoods, removing debris from the forest floor, cutting down ladder fuels, extending or building fire break buffers and removing diseased or dead trees. The quick action by TTAD and the fire officials who came together represents a true collaborative effort to get this important work done as soon as possible.

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“We all understand in this business that fire knows no boundaries,” says Truckee Fire Protection District (TFPD) Chief Kevin McKechnie. “The airport district’s commitment to help protect everyone who lives or visits here speaks volumes about their understanding of what’s most important. They were instrumental in quickly funding these fire mitigation projects which is in essence a forward-thinking solution to community resiliency.”

“Protecting the airport district’s constituents by addressing our overgrown forests would not be possible without our partners who are overseeing the work,” said Etnyre. “The fire agencies involved include Olympic Valley, North Tahoe, Truckee and Northstar, as well as Cal Fire and California State Parks.”

Click here to view some of this wildland fire mitigation work in action, and hear from local fire officials on why this work is both important and urgently needed.  Learn more about the Airport’s Wildfire Mitigation Program here.