CAL FIRE Reader Ranch Training Grounds NOE Update 2021

Summary

SCH Number
2022040100
Public Agency
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE)
Document Title
CAL FIRE Reader Ranch Training Grounds NOE Update 2021
Document Type
NOE - Notice of Exemption
Received
Posted
4/5/2022
Document Description
The project consists of a 466 acre area for CAL FIRE personnel to practice and train. Training activities shall include hoselays, training hikes, rescue drills, hand-line construction, mobile attack, safe helicopter landing, chain saw training (felling and bucking) and vegetative debris pile burning and mastication. Firefighting hand and engine crews will cut brush and trees less than six inches DBH. Trees larger than 6 inches DBH may be cut if approved by a Registered Professional Forester for forest health reasons these trees will be limbed bucked and left in place. Overstory and larger trees will be retained. Minor pile burn creep may occur from burning activities. No work will occur in riparian zones, and no stream crossings will occur from project work. Proposed handline activity will create trails, and brush along existing road edges. Much of the project’s acreage (140 acres-30%) is too steep for equipment and will only see use from personnel practicing the creation of handline or crew hikes for physical training. Small sections of heavily eroded roads may be repaired via grader or dozer. Less than 1 acre of soil will be disrupted for all project work. Some roads and areas on site will be chipped to further prevent erosion. Temporary signage and trailers and/or tents for support units may be present during training activities. Mastication and post-training cleanup may occur more days a year depending on personnel and operator availability. Helicopter landings will be rare and likely be once or twice a year, if at all.

Contact Information

Name
Steve Garcia
Agency Name
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection
Job Title
Forester II
Contact Types
Lead/Public Agency

Location

Counties
Nevada
Regions
Countywide
Cross Streets
Birchville Rd and Miser Rd
Total Acres
466
State Highways
49
Other Location Info
Portions of T17N, R08E, Sec 18, 19, 20, 29, and 30 MDBM.

Notice of Exemption

Exempt Status
Categorical Exemption
Type, Section or Code
Class 4 § 15304 Minor Alterations to Land
Reasons for Exemption
This project fits under portions Class 4 (Minor Alterations to Land). After completing an environmental assessment, the Department has determined this project will have no significant impact on the environment. Field review by CAL FIRE staff confirmed that no exceptions apply 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 to wildfire. Documentation of the environmental review completed by the Department is kept on file at the Nevada-Yuba-Placer Headquarters in Auburn.

Attachments

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