Bull Creek West Fuel Reduction Project

Bull Creek West Fuel Reduction Project

The proposed project would create a shaded fuel break extending up to 50 feet from one or both sides of Bull Creek Road. Treatment would occur on several rural residential properties where the Mattole Restoration Council (MRC) has received signed access agreements from the landowners. The proposed project will reduce fire fuels by pruning, limbing, and brushing horizontal and vertical roadside tree and shrub vegetation consisting of tan oaks, Douglas fir, madrone, and brush using chainsaws and hand tools at various widths from one or both sides of the road, depending on need, aspect (some areas are very steep), and landowner concerns (fences). Only tree 8 inches diameter at breast height (DBH) or less will be cut down, as needed. DBH will be measured at 4 feet above the ground surface. Limbing of tree branches will only occur up to a height of 6 feet. Tree spacing will be 15-30 feet apart depending on need. The total project area is approx. 13 acres. CA Conservation Corps (CCC) will use mechanical weed pullers to remove some areas of Scotch broom, French broom, and coyote brush to inhibit re-sprouting. Herbaceous plant species will not be removed as part of this project. The project will avoid all riparian and wetland areas associated with adjacent creeks or drainages. The project will concentrate in areas where fuels are obviously heavy and in need of treatment to protect structures from wildfire. There will be no ground disturbance. Branch and leaf materials will be chipped on or lopped and scattered within eighteen inches of the ground, or hauled off-site. The purpose of the project is to reduce the risk of fire danger to residents by reducing fuel load and fire intensity along an important ingress and egress for the Honeydew, Wilder Ridge, and Petrolia communities in Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) areas of the State Responsibility Area.

Humboldt