City of Chico Vegetative Fuels Management Plan

City of Chico Vegetative Fuels Management Plan

The City has determined that there are areas within Chico that are at high risk of wildfire, and that vegetation management/fuels reduction will significantly reduce destructive wildfire risk. The Vegetative Fuels Management Plan (VFMP) outlines a framework for managing fuel loads and vegetation, particularly woody and non-native vegetation, on City-owned properties to reduce the likelihood of a catastrophic wildfire. The project areas within the VFMP include: 274 City-owned park, greenway, and open space parcels, ranging in size from <0.1 acres to >1,000 acres and totaling about 6,400 acres. Implementation of the VFMP would involve thinning, pruning, grazing, prescribed burning, removal, and other modification of trees and vegetation within the VFMP area to reduce the likelihood of a wildfire occurring and to minimize/slow the spread of a wildfire should one occur. The main parks, recreational and open space areas discussed in the VFMP are as follows: Bidwell Park, Lindo Channel, Verbena Fields, Teichert Ponds, the Airport Open Space area, Bidwell Ranch, Foothill Preserve, various South Chico preserved properties, and the greenways along Little Chico Creek, Big Chico Creek and Bidwell Ave., Comanche Creek, Dead Horse Slough, and the portion of Butte Creek Diversion Channel on Little Chico Creek which lies inside Chico city limits (south of Picholine Way). A Draft programmatic Environmental Report for the VFMP is now available for public review until February 2, 2020.

Chico

Butte

Citywide

California Air Resources Board (ARB), California Department of Fish and Wildlife, North Central Region 2 (CDFW), California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), California Department of Parks and Recreation, California Department of Transportation, District 3 (DOT), California Department of Transportation, Division of Aeronautics (DOT), California Department of Transportation, Division of Transportation Planning (DOT), California Department of Water Resources (DWR), California Governor's Office of Emergency Services (OES), California Highway Patrol (CHP), California Native American Heritage Commission (NAHC), California Natural Resources Agency, California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Central Valley Redding Region 5 (RWQCB), Central Valley Flood Protection Board, Department of Toxic Substances Control, Office of Historic Preservation, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Drinking Water, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Water Rights, California Department of Conservation (DOC)

California Department of Conservation (DOC)

Master Plan

Biological Resources, Hydrology/Water Quality