Sierra Brooks - Smithneck WUI Fuels Reduction Project - SNC 1314
Summary
SCH Number
2021070338
Public Agency
Sierra Nevada Conservancy
Document Title
Sierra Brooks - Smithneck WUI Fuels Reduction Project - SNC 1314
Document Type
NOE - Notice of Exemption
Received
Posted
7/16/2021
Document Description
The Sierra Nevada Conservancy (SNC) would provide funding to the Sierra Valley Resource Conservation District for forest health restoration and fuel reduction activities on lands within California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s (CDFW) Smithneck Creek Wildlife Area and Tahoe National Forest. This project would complete fuel reduction and thinning treatments on at least 723 acres of heavily overstocked forests and dense brush with degraded forest health conditions. These activities would also provide for future opportunities for applications of prescribed understory burning. The purpose of the project is to reduce hazardous fuels in the wildland-urban interface (WUI), reduce the risk of wildfire, and improve forest health and fire resiliency.
Contact Information
Name
Shannon Ciotti
Agency Name
Sierra Nevada Conservancy
Contact Types
Lead/Public Agency / Responsible Agency
Phone
Location
Cities
Loyalton
Counties
Sierra
Regions
Northern California
Other Location Info
T21N, R15,16E S 2-36
Notice of Exemption
Exempt Status
Statutory Exemption
Type, Section or Code
State code number: Public Resources Code Section 4799.05(d)(1)
Reasons for Exemption
The portion of the Project on CDFW’s Wildlife Area is categorically exempt from the provisions of CEQA pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15304, Class 4, which consists of minor public or private alterations in the condition of land, water, and/or vegetation which do not involve removal of mature, scenic trees except for forestry and agricultural purposes. The minor land alterations proposed by the project consist of forestry treatments to reduce hazardous fuels and improve forest health. The project has been reviewed and would not result in significant adverse effects. Additionally, CEQA does not apply to prescribed fire, thinning, or fuel reduction projects undertaken on federal lands to reduce the risk of high-severity wildfire that have been reviewed under the NEPA if the primary role of a state or local agency is providing funding or staffing for those projects. SNC would provide funding for fuel reduction treatments on federal lands within the Tahoe National Forest. The proposed activities on federal lands were reviewed in their entirety pursuant to NEPA in the Record of Decision for the Cottonwood Fire Vegetation Management Project Environmental Impact Statement, signed in 2005 with an SIR completed in 2017 by the U.S. Forest Service.
Exempt Status
Categorical Exemption
Type, Section or Code
CEQA Guidelines Section 15304
Reasons for Exemption
The portion of the Project on CDFW’s Wildlife Area is categorically exempt from the provisions of CEQA pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15304, Class 4, which consists of minor public or private alterations in the condition of land, water, and/or vegetation which do not involve removal of mature, scenic trees except for forestry and agricultural purposes. The minor land alterations proposed by the project consist of forestry treatments to reduce hazardous fuels and improve forest health. The project has been reviewed and would not result in significant adverse effects. Additionally, CEQA does not apply to prescribed fire, thinning, or fuel reduction projects undertaken on federal lands to reduce the risk of high-severity wildfire that have been reviewed under the NEPA if the primary role of a state or local agency is providing funding or staffing for those projects. SNC would provide funding for fuel reduction treatments on federal lands within the Tahoe National Forest. The proposed activities on federal lands were reviewed in their entirety pursuant to NEPA in the Record of Decision for the Cottonwood Fire Vegetation Management Project Environmental Impact Statement, signed in 2005 with an SIR completed in 2017 by the U.S. Forest Service.
County Clerk
Sierra
Attachments
Notice of Exemption
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