Forest Service Designates Experimental Forest In Sierra
Truckee, CA — For the first time in more than 40 years, the Forest Service has established a new experimental forest in California to study management techniques and reduce wildfire threats in the Sierra Nevada.
The agency is teaming with the University of California, Berkeley to designate the Sagehen Experimental Forest about 10 miles north of Truckee and 30 miles west of Reno.
The 81,000 acre area will be managed by the university, the Tahoe National Forest and the Forest Service´s Pacific Southwest Research Station.
Research station director Jim Sedell says it will create new opportunities for scientists throughout the West to share the results of research conducted over decades in the Sierra Nevada.
Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth formally approved the designation on Monday. It creates California´s eleventh experimental forest and the first since 1962.