A special panel created after last summer's Lake Tahoe wildfire warned that another catastrophic blaze is imminent and wants a disaster declaration to hasten fire-protection efforts. Asking for the emergency status from the presidentrecommendations. Many of them are intended to resolve the bureaucratic infighting among overlapping agencies that has hampered fire-prevention efforts for years. The report also recommended imposing higher taxes on property owners, requiring home owners to replace wood shingles and upgrading the Tahoe basin's water systems. Members of the commission emphasized their alarm at the fragile nature of the basin's environment by adding the word "emergency" to their report.

The Angora Fire exposed long-standing rivalries between the local, state, federal and regional agencies that are charged with protecting Tahoe's environment or promoting fire protection. Earlier this week, an Associated Press report exposed numerous examples of bureaucratic backbiting that delayed tree clearing throughout the basin, sometimes for years. The regional planning agency and the Lahontan water board have been on one side, with the U.S. Forest Service, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and local fire districts on the other.

The commission's report says the various agencies must set aside their often conflicting goals and begin cooperating. and the governors of California and Nevada was among dozens of recommendations by the California-Nevada Tahoe Basin Fire Commission. The commission wants the state and federal governments to free up money quickly, primarily to cut thick stands of trees. The commission gave unanimous approval to a report containing more than 70