Clearing the Way - How Mastication Machines Help Protect Tahoe from Wildfire
Clearing the Way
How Mastication Machines Help Protect Tahoe from Wildfire
Lake Tahoe, Calif./Nev., June 23, 2025 – Forest fuel reduction projects happening throughout the Tahoe Basin this year are using a tool known as mastication around communities to connect fuel treatment projects and bolster defensible space within the wildland urban interface. The Tahoe Fire and Fuels Team (TFFT) is highlighting several of these projects to educate residents and visitors about work they might be seeing in and around Lake Tahoe communities this year, and the crucial role mastication plays in helping firefighters protect people and the lake. The TFFT is a multi-agency partnership committed to reducing wildfire risk and improving forest health across the Tahoe Basin.
As wildfire seasons grow longer and more intense, TFFT partners are using every tool available to reduce risk and protect communities. Mastication is one such tool, and it plays a key role in making forests more resilient. Mastication is a mechanical treatment that helps reduce wildfire intensity by grinding up small trees, brush, and woody debris into mulch. Specialized equipment, known as masticators, move through the forest and chip excess vegetation into chips that are spread around the treatment area as the equipment moves. Some masticators look like a compact tractor, while others are separate machines that attach to the arm of an excavator. Masticators clear out ladder fuels – those small trees and brush that allow fire to climb into the forest canopy – and help create defensible space around neighborhoods, roads, and critical infrastructure.
“Reducing flame lengths and limiting wildfire intensity provides critical time and space for firefighters to respond,” said Carrie Thaler, Fire Chief for the USDA Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit. “We will continue to use every tool in our toolbox to reduce wildfire risk in the Tahoe Basin to protect our neighborhoods and communities.”
Mastication can stand alone as a treatment or complement other fuels reduction methods like thinning or prescribed fire. It is especially valuable in areas where burning isn’t practical, such as directly next to homes, recreation sites, or along busy roadways.
TFFT Partners Put Mastication to Work
The TFFT is prioritizing mastication projects across the Tahoe Basin this summer. These projects reflect the partnership’s focus on strategic, collaborative action to protect communities, critical infrastructure, and evacuation corridors. Recent and upcoming work includes:
- Incline Village and Skyland – Targeted mastication to create defensible space within and around neighborhoods and reduce fuels within the wildland-urban interface.
- Pioneer Trail Area – In South Lake Tahoe, TFFT partners are creating shaded fuel breaks, including a 200-foot-wide treatment near the Golden Bear neighborhood.
- Elks Point and Nevada Beach – Continued mastication along high-use road corridors to prevent roadside ignitions and improve access for emergency response.
“Mastication is a strategic, cost-effective technique to help us protect Tahoe Basin communities,” said Annabelle Monti, TFFT Program Manager. “When integrated with other tools, it helps not only reduce the intensity of wildfires, but also gives firefighters safer, more effective conditions to work in if a fire does occur.”
Stay Informed
To explore fuels reduction projects happening across the Tahoe Basin, visit tahoelivingwithfire.com and view the interactive project map.
To receive updates when fuels reduction work is happening near you, sign up for the USDA Forest Service Fuels Reduction Notification List by emailing
Images
Image: Mini-Masticator_Amonti_crop
Caption: A compact masticator reducing brush that can act as a ladder fuel, carrying fire into the forest canopy. Credit: Annabelle Monti
Image: Masticator_USFS_CC4 (3)
Caption: A masticator clears roadside vegetation during a wildfire in Willamette NF, Oregon in 2023. Credit: U.S. Forest Service Flickr, CC 4.0
Media Contact
Jeff Cowen
Co-Chair, Fire Public Information Team
Tahoe Fire & Fuels Team
(775) 589-5278