2017 Northstar Tree Mortality/Fuels Reduction Project

2017 Northstar Tree Mortality/Fuels Reduction Project

The multi-year project has a contract that will expire March 1, 2019 and is funded from a Cal Fire State Responsibility Area Fire Prevention (SRAFPF Grant Program) that has a focus of four (4) individual projects that are located within the 1,855 acre Northstar Community Services District Boundary (NCSD). Project One - transitions into an on-going focus derived from a previous Cal Fire SRA grant that provided funding to remove dead, diseased, dying and pest infected trees that are identified as a fire hazard and or are detrimental to forest health. Project Two - has a focus on hand crew fuels reduction within priority areas identified as open space common areas. These areas are in proximity to residential and commercial structures and or adjacent to evacuation routes (roads). Project Three - is a maintenance project for fuels reduction, where mastication will reduce continuous brush fields and provide adequate spacing to mitigate the travel of fire. Project Four - Is an operational green waste recycling center that is positioned at a strategic location, providing an incentive for residential and commercial property owners to perform defensible space work on their properties by helping to subsidize the costs of treatment. In addition, the facility will receive biomass from fuels reduction projects that will take place within the Northstar Community Services District boundary. This comprehensive project helps meet the objectives of the updated 2017 Northstar Fire Department Community Wildfire Protection Plan's priorities, and contribute to issues that must be addressed due the Community of Northstar existing within a Very High Fire Severity Zone. Secondary project goals will address declining tree and vegetation health that has been impacted by 5 years of drought and correcting past management practices that altered the composition of the Central Sierra Nevada's forest. Currently, forest fuels on open space common areas and residential and commercial properties that require initial and maintenance treatment are readily able to burn hot and travel at an accelerated rate across the topography.

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