Highway 36 West Fuels Reduction Project

Highway 36 West Fuels Reduction Project

Highway 36 West is a major highway connecting rural homes to the town of Red Bluff. The goal of this project is to reduce fuels immediately adjacent to the highway that increase risks of roadside starts. This project will reduce the risk of a damaging fire to approximately 890 housing units and several thousands of acres of valuable rangeland. This project will use fire apparatus, hand tools, chainsaws, and firing techniques to develop defensible fuel profiles for residents of Tehama County. The project area is located northwest of Red Bluff primarily in the CALTRANS right of way (ROW), involving some private property as needed, along both sides of Highway 36 W. from mile marker 38.3 to 28.8. The project area is located within the Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, which identifies this area of high risk for large scale wildland fires. Hand crews will manually reduce fuels using hand tools and chainsaws. Cut vegetation may be chipped and scattered, or lopped, piled and burned. The treatment area will primarily be within the ROW ranging from 50’ to 75’. In the absence of a ROW, CAL FIRE will seek permission to treat approximately 50 feet of private property from the highway edge. Treatment methods will entail cutting brush, thinning and removing live trees (10” DBH and under) and downed trees, decreasing unnatural levels of ladder fuels and burning annual grass. Trees within the project area will have branches pruned up to 8’ above ground level resulting in a minimum live crown cover of 50% in densely canopied areas. The total project area is 169 acres along 9 miles of highway. This project may require maintenance which would consist of burning annual grass regrowth. Project work will likely begin in the Spring of 2021, but could be started Summer 2020. This project is estimated to be completed within 4-5 days likely using night time burns.

Tehama