The Middle Truckee River Watershed is like much of the Sierra Nevada, where gold-rush era deforestation was followed by overly dense replanting of trees. In the decades that followed, forest management embraced fire suppression. Today, the unintended consequence is swaths of aging forests that are timber-packed, stressed, and diseased—which can be explosive fuel for wildfire.

In fact, when dry and windy weather comes, it can present an extreme wildfire threat in the Middle Truckee Watershed and poses a potential risk to the drinking water supply for over 475,000 residents in the Reno/Sparks area. This is why TMWA has partnered with the US Forest Service, along with the Truckee River Watershed Council, The Nature Conservancy and the National Forest Foundation to increase the pace and scale of forest restoration in the watershed.

With a 10-year vegetation management plan in effect, the partnership reduced hazardous fuels across 2,865 acres in 2024. Several projects are planned for this summer and fall. The objective of the partnership is to increase the scale and pace of forest restoration in critical watershed areas of US Forest Service land.

To stay informed on the Partnership’s progress, sign-up for their bi-annual newsletter at truckeeforests.org/newsletters.