Douglas County tree and wildfire data sheet

This sheet sets Douglas County's Census figures against Nevada and the United States, gives the county's Forest Service ranking, and tables the sixteen places we serve in the county, from the Carson Valley towns to the Tahoe south shore, with households, median year built, wildfire rank and elevation. The first thing the table shows is that Douglas County is two places, not one.

Valley and lake: two kinds of housing

The six lake-side places in the table, Glenbrook, Zephyr Cove, Stateline, Kingsbury, Round Hill Village and Skyland, have median build years between 1972 and 1986, and elevations between 6,243 and 7,126 feet. The valley towns are younger: Gardnerville at 2001, Minden and Johnson Lane at 1995, East Valley at 1998. Gardnerville Ranchos and Topaz Ranch Estates, at 1987, fall between.

The county as a whole: median year 1990, 30.7% of homes before 1980 and 29.0% from 2000 or later. Owner-occupancy is 78.8%, nearly 19 points above Nevada, and mobile homes are 6.5%. The median home value is $615,400.

Heating, rank and exposure

Wood is the main heating fuel for 4.5% of households, against 1.0% for Nevada, and bottled gas for 8.1%, against 3.0%. Our stacking and seasoning guide covers storage.

The Forest Service ranks Douglas County's risk to homes above 97.3% of US communities and 68.8% of Nevada communities. Of 29,014 counted buildings, 38.4% are directly exposed, 50.1% indirectly and 11.5% minimally. By place, Fish Springs is highest at 98.8%, then Johnson Lane at 98.3%, Topaz Ranch Estates and Zephyr Cove at 98.0% and Kingsbury and Round Hill Village at 97.9%. The valley towns are lower: Gardnerville is at 89.6% and Minden at 91.3%.

What the lake rows change

In the Tahoe Basin, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency requires a permit to remove a live tree over 14 inches in diameter at breast height, and the fire protection district is involved in defensible space work. Valley towns work under Douglas County and fire district rules instead. Our Tahoe diameter guide explains the line.

For the foothill communities, defensible space is the lead job on these numbers. For the older lake-side housing, which points to larger trees, it is removal and trimming of mature trees.

How to use the sheet

Start with the town sheet if it exists: Gardnerville, Gardnerville Ranchos, Indian Hills and Johnson Lane each have one. For the smaller places, the table here is the only sheet.

The very small places, such as Glenbrook with 133 households and Fish Springs with 197, carry wide margins of error, and their percentiles should be read as approximate.