Wrights Lake and Dark Lake Fire Safe Council
Report for 2025 / 2026
About Us - Development of Wildfire Mitigation Strategy for Wrights and Dark Lakes
As the Caldor Fire burned within the northern Sierra in the Summer of 2021, narrowly missing Wrights and Dark Lakes, several cabin owners formed a working group to develop a strategy to protect both lakes from the increased wildfire threat that we all face. They formulated a plan with two objectives:
- Help cabin owners to create defensible space on their permitted lots and fire harden their cabins so they can survive a ground-moving fire.
- Plan and implement a fuel reduction project to reduce the heavy fuel load that has accumulated around Wrights and Dark Lakes over the past 100 years.
They determined that the most effective way to achieve their objectives was to form a local Fire Safe Council. Following is a summary of progress to date and future goals:
Formation of Wrights Lake and Dark Lake Fire Safe Council
The Wrights Lake and Dark Lake Fire Safe Council (WLDLFSC) was approved and formed in April 2022 under the umbrella of the El Dorado County Fire Safe Council (EDCFSC). Its goal is to “protect the people of Wrights and Dark Lakes and their property from the effects of catastrophic wildfire through education, cooperation, innovation and action.” The WLDLFSC is the only Fire Safe Council that is 100% on national forest land. The WLDLFSC has formed positive working relationships with the U.S. Forest Service and the El Dorado County Resource Conservation District, and they have made significant progress toward achieving their objectives.
Specification for Fuels Reduction on Cabin Lots approved by USFS
The WLDLFSC prepared a USFS-approved Fuels Reduction Specification for cabin lots which includes limbing trees 8’-10’ in height, pruning branches 10’ from structures, removing and/or thinning ladder trees up to 6” in diameter, and removing other surface ladder fuels. This allows cabin owners to follow approved guidelines for creating defensible space on their permitted lots without having to request special meetings or approvals from the USFS.
Annual Education and Training Events
The WLDLFSC has conducted education and training events on Fuel Reduction, Defensible Space, Cabin Hardening, Evacuation and Emergency Communication. Members of other cabin tracts have been invited to these events which have been well attended.
Annual Free Chipping Program and Designated Burn Piles
The WLDLFSC participates in the El Dorado County FSC’s Annual Free Chipping Program. Members have spent thousands of hours removing vegetation and stacking it at the edge of their lots for chipping. Neighbors have gotten together to share resources and tools. Some have combined tree removal work on their respective lots with a single vendor, achieving economies of scale. The USFS has designated three burn piles away from the lakes for owners who prefer to transport their vegetation off site. The momentum created by this work has continued as members continue to improve the defensible space on their lots each year.
Wrights Lake Forest Health and Hazardous Fuel Reduction Project
In the Summer of 2022 the WLDLFSC partnered with the El Dorado County Resource Conservation District (RCD) to develop a 500 acre fuel reduction project around Wrights and Dark Lakes. In the Fall of 2022 the USFS brought this project in-house. They tripled the size to 1,714 acres by extending the boundaries down to the Ice House Tie Road and Wilson’s Meadow. This creates a larger buffer zone to defend Wrights and Dark Lakes against a wildfire, which would most likely come from the southwest. They completed a NEPA environmental review. This project is now shovel ready with a budget of $5 million, and the USFS is seeking grant funding. Work would likely begin in 2025 with a projected 3-5 year completion term.
Here is a link to the Wrights Lake Fuel Reduction Project on the Eldorado National Forest website: https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=63479
The Wrights Lake Fuel Reduction Project will benefit a wide range of recreational users including campers in three campgrounds (one of which is equestrian); day-users who use the lakes for hiking, biking, fishing, boating and picnicking; hikers and backpackers who access the Desolation Wilderness; off-road vehicle owners who use the Barrett Lake Jeep Trail, and the owners of 75 cabins holding recreational use permits.
This project will also provide economic and environmental protection to water users in the Crystal Basin and beyond, since the lakes and streams within its boundaries are part of the headwaters of the South Fork of the American River. These waterways provide clean and pure water that is essential for SMUD’s hydroelectric facilities and for commercial, residential and agricultural water customers in El Dorado County and Sacramento.
This project has become an exemplary model of a public/private partnership where private owners are working with public agencies to plan and implement best practices in forest management. It was designed to be replicable and can pave the way for fuel reduction work in other cabin tracts and forests.
The Wrights / Dark Lake Fire Safe Council and USFS Pacific District Ranger Dionne Uzes were recently honored to receive three national awards from the National Forest Homeowners Association (NFH) at its 2025 annual meeting. This was in recognition of their teamwork in developing the Wrights Lake Hazardous Fuel Reduction Project. Below is a link to a story about this in the Mountain Democrat:
2025 Goals
Support the USFS in its Grant Application for the Wrights Lake Forest Health and Hazardous Fuel Reduction Project
The WLDLFSC’s top priority in 2025 will be to offer its help and support to the USFS to apply for grant funding for the Wrights Lake Fuel Reduction Project, which has a budget of $5 million.
Offer Education and Training to Help Owners Create Defensible Space and Fire Harden Cabins
The WLDLFSC will continue to offer education, training and tools for owners who want to continue to improve the defensible space on their lots and to harden their cabins against fire.
Chipping Program
The WLDLFSC will continue to offer free chipping days to help owners continue to reduce the fuel load in and around their lots.
Resources for Emergency Communication and Evacuation
The WLDLFSC encourages its members to sign up for El Dorado County’s RAVE Emergency Alert System and to utilize the Perimeter Maps website. It recomments purchasing 5-watt GMRS radios to help expand an emergency communications network. It also recommends fire tracking apps including CalFire and Watch Duty. Information on these can be found here:
https://www.nssha.org/el-dorado-county-fire-safe-council/
Sharing Resources with Other Cabin Tracts
The WLDLFSC considers everything it does to be replicable and it has offered its materials and project specifications to the other cabin tracts in the Eldorado National Forest. It will continue to invite them to its education and training events and encourage them to implement their own fuel reduction projects.
Description Of Wrights Lake Recreation Area
Located in the heart of the northern Sierra Nevada at 6,950 feet, Wrights and Dark Lakes lie beneath the glacially-carved Crystal Range. The recreation area provides western access to the Desolation Wilderness, a pristine alpine ecosystem that serves two major urban areas with rare back-country opportunities.
Outdoor enthusiasts can enjoy 65 camp sites, 15 equestrian camp sites, day-use picnic areas and an array of recreational uses including hiking, biking, horseback riding, swimming, boating, fishing, and picnicking. In addition there are 74 cabins, some with “Historic” designation, located at Wrights and Dark Lakes that are under USFS special use permits and are between 60 and 100 years old.
The Wrights and Dark Lake Fuel Reduction Project is designed to benefit all of the recreational users of Wrights and Dark Lakes and the Desolation Wilderness.
For more information please contact Doug Kniveton, knivetond@gmail.com, or John Lambert, Lam325bert@gmail.com, of the Wrights Lake and Dark Lake Fire Safe Council.