The Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit (LTBMU) is an example of public lands where standard piling treatments present management challenges. The LTBMU covers 150,000 acres of national forest land around Lake Tahoe straddling the border of Nevada and California. The primary management objective of the LTBMU is to protect water quality through integrated watershed management.

In areas such as this, fuel treatment operations must be conducted carefully to avoid soil disturbance and potential erosion. This is a particular concern on forest sites steeper than 30 percent and in the wildland-urban interface. Given the severe fire risk represented by fuels that have built up on the forest floor and small trees that have flourished in the absence of fire, the LTBMU has a very active program of fuel reduction work. Since 1995 more than 12,000 acres have been treated, including 3,000 acres of piled slash that were burned and an additional 1,000 acres that were underburned. A significant backlog of piles are waiting for appropriate burning conditions.

Removing biomass from the stand is an alternative to piling and burning slash. On slopes less than 30 percent, the LTBMU employs mechanical treatments including cutto-length harvesting and mulching. Along roadsides, such material can be disposed of or recovered for utilization. Removal increases the project's cost and introduces the risk of ground disturbance—both critical factors for the LTBMU. Mechanically removing small, unmerchantable slash is also very costly because it is difficult to carry a full load on skidding equipment. Utilization of biomass offers the potential for revenue to offset some operational costs.