I am afraid that it has not burned enough homes to result in a meaningfull policy change. It looks like it burned only enough to justify expansion of the current regulations.
Evidently it is burning north and has jumped both highway 89 and highway 50. It will burn all the way to the edge of the lake. At that point it will get real interesting.
I also note that it burned some of the older, less valuable homes off of Pioneer road. I can see a gov’t buy out for these homeowners...maybe they got some left over FEMA trailers in Hope Arkansas that these folks could have....provided they moved elsewhere.
This guy lost his house and still posted this letter to the paper! And what about all the dead trees in the forests?
Defensible space: TRPA not to Blame
Anyone blaming the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency for not letting them cut trees around their house is full of it.
Maybe that was true a couple years ago, but things have changed. I simply called the Lake Valley Fire Department, which is allowed by the TRPA to mark trees for cutting. It was so easy, made an appointment, they came out, asked which ones I wanted out, then they recommended which others should be cut. They also recommended what else I should do to create defensible space. I was about two-thirds of the way through their recommendations they gave me a one and a half years ago. Just two weeks ago, I requested that my permit be extended so I could take down the rest of the trees and they informed me they had money to help subsidize, I think it was a three-person team at $60 an hour.
Unfortunately, it did not help, I lost my home. It takes the efforts of everyone around you to do the same.
Jeff Glass
Boulder Mountain Drive
South Lake Tahoe
When we get this state divied up the way it should be, you'll have a much better chance of getting "Jefferson" being the 52nd united state! Think about that, my FRiend!!! (grin)