The U.S. Forest Service has acquired a 284-acre parcel of land on Lake Tahoe´s west shore for $9.8 million dollars.

The property had been an undeveloped part of the privately owned Homewood Mountain Resort but not part of its ski facility.

Forest Service officials say the land is considered environmentally sensitive because it contains several springs and four streams that empty into Lake Tahoe.

They say the owner could have developed it into estate home sites but the agency wanted to keep it undeveloped for public non-motorized recreation.

Funds to buy the land were generated from the federal Santini-Burton Act, which allows proceeds from the sale of federal land outside Las Vegas to go toward the purchase of sensitive land at Tahoe.