Tree service in Incline Village, NV

Incline Village sits at about 6,437 feet on the north shore of Lake Tahoe, the largest community on the Nevada side with roughly 9,300 residents. It is a town built inside a conifer forest, and the forest has kept growing since the houses went in.

How old are Incline Village homes, and why does it matter for the trees?

About 47% of Incline Village homes were built before 1980 and the median home dates from 1981, yet almost none predate 1960 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2020-2024). In other words, nearly the whole town has been built since 1960. The pines and firs that were left standing between those new houses have now had 45 to 60 more years to grow over the roofs, decks and driveways.

Only about 58% of homes are detached single-family houses. The rest are condominiums and attached units, where trees belong to an association and the decision to prune or remove runs through a board. We work with both: see HOAs and property managers.

Why do so many Incline homes sit empty part of the year?

The Census counts about 7,800 housing units in Incline Village but only about 4,000 occupied households. Roughly half of the homes are not somebody's year-round residence. A tree that dies over the summer or cracks under snow in January can go unnoticed for months at a house like that.

If you own a home here and live elsewhere, a walk-through with an arborist once a year is a sensible habit. An ISA Certified Arborist (WE-11728A) is on our staff, and an arborist visit in Incline Village covers what is dead, what is leaning and what the permit rules say about each tree.

How serious is wildfire risk in Incline Village?

The USDA Forest Service's Wildfire Risk to Communities data rates Incline Village's risk to homes higher than 97.7% of US communities and higher than about 75% of Nevada communities. About 61% of buildings are in the direct exposure zone, where flames from surrounding vegetation can reach the structure, and another 38% are in the indirect zone.

Eight fire perimeters of 300 acres or more have been mapped with a center point within about 10 miles since 1980. They include the Martis Fire of 2001 (14,429 mapped acres), the Davis Fire of 2024 (5,824 acres) and the Little Valley Fire of 2016 (2,292 acres). Thinning, limbing up and clearing under the canopy are the work that answers those numbers: see defensible space in Incline Village.

What is the climate like for trees at 6,400 feet?

The Incline Village weather station, at 6,356 feet, records a mean annual temperature of 46.0 degrees (NOAA 1991-2020 normals), almost six degrees colder than Carson City. The 2023 USDA map puts Incline in hardiness zone 6b, where the average extreme winter low is minus 5 to 0 degrees.

The Nevada-side stations do not publish a snowfall normal. Across the lake, Tahoe City records 179.0 inches of snow in a normal year. Loads like that break tops and peel limbs, which is why snow-broken limbs are a common winter hazard. Snow removal is one of our winter services; ask whether your address is on the snow route when you call, and see snow removal in Incline Village.

What tree work do we do in Incline Village?

In Incline Village we do tree removal planned around the TRPA diameter limits, crane-assisted removal, trimming and dead wooding, stump grinding, and 24-hour emergency tree service.

• Tree removal planned around the TRPA diameter limits
• Crane-assisted removal where a tree stands over a roof or a steep lot
• Trimming, pruning and dead wooding
• Stump grinding
• 24-hour emergency tree service and storm clean-up

Our yard is in Carson City, about 31 miles away. The drive is about 48 minutes without traffic, over Spooner Summit and up the east shore. Winter chain controls can add to that.