Camp Tamarancho Fuel Reduction and Community Protection Project

Camp Tamarancho Fuel Reduction and Community Protection Project

The Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority (Marin Wildfire), in partnership with the County of Marin Community Development Agency (County of Marin) and Marin County Fire Department (Marin Fire), is proposing to fund vegetation treatments on up to 410 acres of private property owned and managed by the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), known as Camp Tamarancho, and located directly northwest of the Town of Fairfax. The project would involve vegetation treatments consistent with the objectives of the California Vegetation Treatment Program (CalVTP). Marin Wildfire, in partnership with the County of Marin and Marin Fire, has prepared a Project-Specific Analysis (PSA) for the project as a later activity covered by the CalVTP Program Environmental Impact Report (Program EIR). As defined by the CalVTP process, Marin Wildfire is the Project Proponent, and Marin Fire and County of Marin are project partners. For purposes of CEQA compliance, Marin Wildfire and Marin Fire serve as the responsible agency that must approve the project. Marin Fire would facilitate implementation of the proposed project. The objectives of the proposed project are improving critical evacuation routes and access and ingress for emergency responders; reducing wildfire intensity and rates of fuel ignitability by decreasing fuel loads; and protecting all facility and camping areas. The proposed project involves two CalVTP vegetation treatment types: fuel breaks and ecological restoration. Treatment activities are those specific actions that are applied singularly or in combination to achieve the desired condition within each treatment type. The CalVTP vegetation treatment activities proposed to implement each of these treatment types are mechanical vegetation treatment, manual vegetation treatment, prescribed burning, and herbicide application. Treatment crews on-site would range in size depending on the treatment activity, from up to four crews of between 12 and 14 crew members each for prescribed burning treatments depending on the size and site characteristics of the burn unit. Mechanical and manual vegetation treatment would involve up to four crews of approximately 12 to 16 members each, and herbicide application could require a 12 to 14-person crew for larger treatment areas. Although there is the potential for prescribed burning to occur during nighttime and weekend hours, all manual, mechanical, and herbicide treatment activities and associated equipment use would be limited to daytime hours. Treatments would begin in 2023 or as soon as possible thereafter, as resources are available to implement the initial treatment and ongoing maintenance.

Unincorporated area near Fairfax

Marin

Unincorporated

Marin