Golden Rule Church Association Roadside Fuels Reduction
Summary
SCH Number
2021070521
Public Agency
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection
(CAL FIRE)
Document Title
Golden Rule Church Association Roadside Fuels Reduction
Document Type
NOE - Notice of Exemption
Received
Posted
7/27/2021
Document Description
The purpose of this project is to improve ingress and egress, reduce wildfire risk, and aid in fire suppression activities through roadside fuel reduction treatments along 1.3 miles of road (13 acres), approximately 5 miles south-southeast of Willits. The project area consists of oak woodland intermixed with open grasslands and sporadic shrubs and conifers. Vegetation will be thinned and pruned within the road right-of-way up to 40 feet from the centerline depending on fuel loading. All work will be completed using manual treatment methods (no off-road heavy equipment or ground disturbance proposed). Woody materials will be lopped and scattered and/or carried by hand to a chipper parked on the existing roadway. Hand crews will employ chainsaws, pole saws, string-trimmers, and hand tools to remove small trees, brush, and surface/ground fuels. Live trees, less than 10” diameter at breath height (DBH), will be removed to improve tree spacing. Dead trees of any size that pose a safety hazard to the roadway, people, or other infrastructure will be removed. Live trees greater than 10” DBH will be pruned to provide for a minimum vertical clearance of 10.5 feet.
Contact Information
Name
Robert Douglas
Agency Name
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection
Contact Types
Lead/Public Agency
Phone
Location
Counties
Mendocino
Total Acres
13
Other Location Info
Portions of T17N R13W Sec 16 & 21 MDBM
Other Information
Approximately 5 miles south-southeast of Willits
Notice of Exemption
Exempt Status
Categorical Exemption
Type, Section or Code
Class 4 § 15304 Minor Alterations to Land
Reasons for Exemption
The project meets the requirements of a CEQA Article 19 Class 4 Categorical exemption “Minor Alterations to Land” (Section 15304, Public Resources Code) as the proposed activities involve forest thinning (tree 10-inches DBH or less), understory brush removal, forest thinning, dead/hazard tree removal, pruning and chipping to reduce wildfire threat. This project will modify some structural aspects of the vegetation but will not convert the vegetation type or result in the removal of otherwise “healthy, mature, and scenic trees.”
Field review by CAL FIRE staff confirmed that no exceptions apply (Section 15300.2) which would preclude the use of a Notice of Exemption for this project. The Department has concluded that no significant environmental impact would occur to aesthetics, agriculture and forestland/timberland, air quality, biological resources, cultural resources, energy, geology and soils, greenhouse gas emissions, hazards and hazardous materials, hydrology and water quality, land use planning, mineral resources, noise, population and housing, public services, recreation, transportation/traffic, utilities and service systems, or wildfire. Documentation of the environmental review completed by the Department is kept on file at CAL FIRE Mendocino Unit, Resource Management, 17501 N. Highway 101, Willits, CA 95490, Attn. Environmental Coordinator
Attachments
Notice of Exemption
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