A new sawmill in Carson City that can produce about 50 million feet of lumber per year is set to begin operations in early 2023.

It is the first major mill to open in the area in decades; the next-closest mill is in Quincy, Calif.

“We will be the natural buyer for anything within 50 miles of our mill,” according to Kevin Leary, chairman of Tahoe Forest Products. TFP has a 15-year lease for the site, renewable for an additional 10 years, with the Washoe Development Corporation, the business arm of the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California.

Once operational, the $10 million project will employ about 40 people.

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Located near the intersection of Topsy Lane and Vista Grande Boulevard, the 40-acre site will be divided into about 30 acres for logs waiting to be processed and about 10 acres for processing facilities, including a sawmill building and rough lumber sorter, dry kilns and a planer mill and sorter to finish lumber.

The mill will process both salvage and green lumber, according to Leary, with an emphasis on processing timber burned in recent wildfires such as the 2021 Caldor Fire near South Lake Tahoe.

The fire was one of many that burned through California last year – nearly 2.6 million acres were charred, with 1.5 million of those just in the Sierra Nevada.

Trees burned in a wildfire must be removed and processed within one to two years, according to Leary. Otherwise, the lumber dries out and has no commercial value.

The Caldor Fire burned through Sierra-at-Tahoe Resort near South Lake Tahoe, and more than 14,000 trees that were destroyed are being transported to the mill for processing – between 40 and 50 truckloads of timber are being hauled off the mountain daily.

“This project came about because there was no reasonable market for salvage logs and thinnings from the Tahoe Basin or from the Humboldt Toiyabe National Forest,” said Tahoe Forest Products CEO Jon Shinn.

Logs will be processed into products including dry-surfaced 2-inch construction lumber, timbers, fence posts and landscape products from the fir, and boards and “factory” lumber for windows from the pine, according to Leary.

Additionally, bark, chips, sawdust and planer shavings produced at the property will be sold.

Amy Alonzo covers the outdoors, recreation and environment for Nevada and Lake Tahoe. Reach her at aalonzo@gannett.com. Here's how you can support ongoing coverage and local journalism.