New TNF Supervisor
Posted: March 2, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a comment
Tom Quinn has retired and Eli Ilano has been named his replacement
Eli was deputy on the Lake Tahoe Basin from 2007 to 2009. In 2010, he became the deputy on the Tahoe National Forest. In January of 2016, he was named acting supervisor of the TNF. Just last month he was named the Supervisor for the TNF.
So, he has a lot of local knowledge. I’m hoping his close relationships with the LTBMU will bring in a new era of cooperation and communication between the TNF and the LTBMU that has not existed up to this point.
The link below takes you to the story copied below:
http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/tahoe/news-events/?cid=FSEPRD491608
NEVADA CITY, Calif. – Eli Ilano has been selected as the new Forest Supervisor on the Tahoe National Forest. He has been the Deputy Forest Supervisor on the Tahoe since 2010.
Ilano brings years of natural resource and public land management experience. Before coming to the Tahoe National Forest, he was Deputy Forest Supervisor for the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit in South Lake Tahoe. His past experience also includes working for the Bureau of Land Management, United States Senate, and non-profit sector, in communities around the country, focusing on natural resource issues.
Eli earned a bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of California at Santa Cruz in 1995, and master’s degrees in Environmental Policy and Landscape Architecture and City and Regional Planning, from the University of California at Berkeley in 2001.
“I am honored and excited to have the opportunity to lead a great team of passionate and dedicated Forest Service employees on such a beautiful forest,” said Ilano. “The Tahoe National Forest is many things to many people.”
Ilano has been the Acting Forest Supervisor for the Tahoe National Forest since January 3, 2016, when former Forest Supervisor Tom Quinn retired after 8 years with the Forest.
Fire Restrictions Reinstated on the ENF!
Posted: October 15, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a commentIt seems the Eldorado National Forest got a little heat (pun intended) for lifting fire restrictions earlier this month.
They cite the forecast of dry weather for the change.
Link to the recent press release: Fire Restrictions
What ever the reason, it was the right move as all forests are still extremely dry.
Always be fore safe even if you’re only using a propane stove.
LTBMU complaint
Posted: September 30, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a commentThings in the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit are heating up. No, there are no fires burning.
On July 6th, I sat down with Jeff Marsolais to discuss OHV issues in the Basin after a month of trying to get an appointment. The meet was only one half an hour, I had asked for a full hour. With only 30 minutes, I spoke fast and of course with passion. I laid out more than a half dozen issues where the LTBMU had failed to properly or professionally manage OHV.
More than a week and a half later, I email Jeff to ask what had been done so far. He replied that just because I hadn’t heard from him didn’t mean he wasn’t doing anything. Jeff failed to provide any proof of what he had done nor did he provide any examples of what he had done.
So, I filed an eight page complaint to Region Five in Vallejo over Jeff’s lack of management of OHV on his forest. Region Five finally got back to me. It took weeks. I was disappointed to get the same old letter stating in effect ‘we trust our guy, he has a plan, thank you for your concerns.’
Yesterday, I fired back at Region Five. I’m sure it will take a month or more for them to get back to me although I threw in a Thursday deadline for them to at least name an OHV lead/liaison for the LTBMU.
Doug
Major 14N39 trail work by ENF
Posted: August 6, 2015 Filed under: Maintenance, Uncategorized | Tags: 14N39, ENF, maintenance, Richardson Lake Leave a commentSo, I headed out to the Rubicon to place more carsonite trail markers, and came across a large “Road work ahead” sign at the staging area. I was meeting John Briggs, the Friends of the Rubicon Tahoe side lead. We moved markers at a few of the campsites and later placed markers at the intersection of Forest Road 03 (Barker Pass Road) and 03-04.
After getting our volunteer commitments done, we headed up the Richardson Lake Trail (14N39) to see what was actually going on. We knew that the last ‘meadow’ was scheduled for work but wanted to see for ourselves.
On our way up the Rubicon earlier, we came across a HUGE dump truck. It was a Volvo 725. I believe that means a 25 yard bed. I had earlier asked the size of the hauler (before seeing it) and he said it could do 20 tons. This is a similar machine to the ones Placer used to haul so much material last summer. I think it was the same contractor.
We drove up 14N39 to the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), where the trail temporarily ends and walked the short distance from there. There we met Tim Merten. He is a Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit (LTBMU) civil engineer on loan to the Eldorado National Forest (ENF) to deal with the “42 Meadow Route Closures”.
At the ‘meadow’, there was a very large excavator working the section of trail that goes through the ‘meadow’. The plan calls for digging down almost two feet, laying cloth that will prevent the rock from sinking but allow water to pass, placing rip-rap about the size of a football, smaller rock on top of that and finally 3/4 crushed rock as ‘drain rock’. The final product should be able three inches above the grade of the ‘meadow’.
I was told they planned on three weeks to complete the work and I wondered if they were going to place each rock by hand.
What I later learned was the plan also calls for rebuilding twenty five (25) rolling dips along the trail as they work their way out.
With any luck, we’ll be driving to the top of Sourdough by the 20th!
Road work in residential area
Posted: July 31, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a commentFYI, Placer County is doing some asphalt sealing in the residential area at the beginning of the Tahoe side of the Rubicon Trail.
The scheduled dates posted on the signs were Aug 10th – Aug 12th.
I’m sure there will be a way to get through the maze of closed streets but be patient.
The 'Other' Rubicon 