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ENLARGE
Steve Eubanks, supervisor of the Tahoe National Forest, at his office in Nevada City on Tuesday. Eubanks is retiring in January after 37 years with the Forest Service.
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ENLARGE
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The Harding Fire burned on the Tahoe National Forest near Sierraville in 2005.
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Bringing a scientific mindset to his work supervising the Tahoe National Forest, Steve Eubanks has seen significant changes to federal forest management over his 37 years of service.
As the supervisor of the Tahoe National Forest the last nine years, Eubanks participated in the agency’s paradigm shift from timber-driven policies to an ecological approach, fighting for fuels reduction and pursuing scientific field study in the Truckee area.
Now ready to retire on Jan. 3, Eubanks looked back Monday on some of his accomplishments, and to the future of the nation’s public forests.
“For a lot of years, the Forest Service focused on commodity output [timber], but that shifted in the ’90s,” Eubanks said in a wide-ranging phone interview. “Timber is now more of a byproduct of our ecological approach.”
Eubanks said he was working for the Forest Service in Oregon, the epicenter for ecosystem management, when the federal agency’s forest management philosophy began to shift.
Once he moved to Tahoe National Forest, Eubanks said he was able to help establish Sagehen Experimental Forest north of Truckee as a place for scientific research.
“The designation puts a focus as a place of research for managing resources like water, wildlife, soil and the forests themselves,” Eubanks said.
As the supervisor of the Tahoe National Forest the last nine years, Eubanks participated in the agency’s paradigm shift from timber-driven policies to an ecological approach, fighting for fuels reduction and pursuing scientific field study in the Truckee area.
Now ready to retire on Jan. 3, Eubanks looked back Monday on some of his accomplishments, and to the future of the nation’s public forests.
“For a lot of years, the Forest Service focused on commodity output [timber], but that shifted in the ’90s,” Eubanks said in a wide-ranging phone interview. “Timber is now more of a byproduct of our ecological approach.”
Eubanks said he was working for the Forest Service in Oregon, the epicenter for ecosystem management, when the federal agency’s forest management philosophy began to shift.
Once he moved to Tahoe National Forest, Eubanks said he was able to help establish Sagehen Experimental Forest north of Truckee as a place for scientific research.
“The designation puts a focus as a place of research for managing resources like water, wildlife, soil and the forests themselves,” Eubanks said.
The future for Tahoe National Forest
Looking forward, retiring Tahoe National Forest Supervisor Steve Eubanks said he is confident in the abilities of his successor, Tom Quinn, the former supervisor of the Stanislaus National Forest in the southern Sierra.
But he also said Quinn and others dealing with the nation’s forests face numerous challenges. “If you look at the statistics we are losing ground, we are not keeping up with growth building up fuels,” Eubanks said. “Couple that with the effects of climate change, and wildfire size and intensity are a growing concern.” He said climate change will make for longer fire seasons, and less snowpack will affect watersheds. “Water may be the most important resource coming off of the forests in the near future,” Eubanks said. |
Sagehen studies
Research at Sagehen has contributed to fuels-management techniques and a deeper understanding of water quality, he said.“It was entirely Steve’s vision to get this done,” said Jeff Brown, station manager at Sagehen. “He recognized the power research can have in helping land managers do a better job.”
That scientific bent has been one of Eubanks’ greatest strengths, said Executive Director Perry Norris of the Truckee Donner Land Trust.
“He has been very interested in research and the sciences,” Norris said. “His contributions will ring for many generations in the Tahoe [National Forest].”
Eubanks said his work toward route designations for off-highway vehicles has also been a rewarding effort.
“Route designation is one of the more important and complex projects we’ve undertaken,” Eubanks said.
Norris said that Eubanks’ ability to manage different user groups has also benefited the area.
“He’s done a terrific job managing a very heavily used national forest,” Norris said.
The Public's Forests
The lands encompassing the Tahoe National Forest were first set aside in 1891 by President Benjamin Harrison as part of the 4 million acre "Sierra Forest Reserve", which stretched from Yosemite National Park northward.
In 1899, President William McKinley created the "Lake Tahoe Forest Reserve", a 136,335 acre portion of the Sierra Reserve, as a "forestry reserve and public park." Theodore Roosevelt established the Yuba Forest Reserve in 1904, and enlarged the Tahoe Forest Reserve in 1905. Four years later, President Taft created the present Tahoe National Forest in the form we are familiar with today. Until the mid-1960s, National Forest lands in Placer County were part of the Tahoe National Forest. National Forest lands within Eldorado County were part of the Eldorado National Forest, and National Forest lands on the Nevada side were part of the Toiyabe National Forest. This made it difficult to coordinate National Forest management around the Lake Tahoe Basin. The Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit (LTBMU) was created to simplify management in the Lake Tahoe watershed and emphasize watershed protection for waters draining into the Lake. For most intents and purposes, the LTBMU is managed as a separate National Forest, with a Forest Supervisor and staff. The LTBMU's Web site is www.fs.fed.us/r5/ltbmu/. |
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