Beginning next week, the Pope Baldwin Bike Path near South Lake Tahoe will be subject to traffic control while crews thin trees around the bike path. Flaggers will intermittently close the bike path for up to 30 minutes at a time for public safety during the tree felling operations. 

This phase of the project will take place Monday through Friday from 6am-3pm and is expected to last several weeks. 

Bicyclists may use the bike lane on Highway 89 to detour around the traffic control areas.

This project involving mechanical cut-to-length thinning near Pope Beach is under way. This involves using a harvester to cut the tree down, remove the limbs and cut the tree into sections in the cutting area. For public safety, the Forest Service advises people to avoid these areas due to the hazards posed by heavy equipment and falling trees.  Hazards may be present even when operations have ceased for the day. Work is expected to continue through mid-October.    

The forest thinning is part of the South Shore Hazardous Fuels Reduction and Healthy Forest Restoration Project, which aims to treat approximately 10,000 acres on the South Shore of Lake Tahoe over the next few years.