City of Monterey Greenbelt Fuel Reduction Project - Old Capitol Site

City of Monterey Greenbelt Fuel Reduction Project - Old Capitol Site

The proposed project would result in the managed reduction of fire fuel hazards within eight treatment areas within the City’s greenbelt system—the Skyline Forest, Veterans Park, Monte Vista, Carmelo Street, Don Dahvee, Josselyn Canyon, Fisherman Flats, and Old Capitol Site greenbelts, collectively the “Plan Area", where the fire hazard is high due to high fuel loads. Wildfire in these greenbelts could result in substantial impacts to natural resources and substantial health, safety, and welfare impacts to the built/human environment adjacent to these areas. To reduce the risk of wildfire, the City prepared a Greenbelt Fuel Reduction Plan (Plan) for the Plan Area, and the Planning Commission approved an Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration (IS/MND) for the Plan on December 8, 2020; however, at the time these documents were prepared, the Old Capitol Site greenbelt was not part of the Plan Area. The City recently acquired the Old Capitol Site greenbelt from the Pebble Beach Company as part of a deed agreement and, due to high fuel loads within this greenbelt, added it to the Plan Area. The addition of the Old Capitol Site greenbelt to the Plan Area resulted in revisions to the adopted Greenbelt Fuel Reduction Plan. Therefore, the City prepared a Draft Supplemental IS/MND to analyze and disclose the potentially significant environmental effects associated with the expansion of the Plan Area to include the Old Capitol Site greenbelt. Managed reduction of fire fuel hazards would include, but is not limited to the following actions: thinning of vegetation; removal of trees, focusing primarily on dead and dying trees; trees or large tree-form shrubs (reaching 4 feet or taller at maturity) that are to be retained in defensible spaces would be trimmed or pruned to reduce both vertical and horizontal fuel continuity; removal of exotic/invasive plants; and prescribed grazing, utilizing goats and sheep, to thin and remove vegetation in areas where high fire hazard conditions exist due to dry conditions.

Monterey

Monterey

Southern California

California Air Resources Board (ARB), California Coastal Commission (CCC), California Department of Conservation (DOC), California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Central Region 4 (CDFW), California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Marin Region 7 (CDFW), California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), California Department of Parks and Recreation, California Department of Transportation, District 5 (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 Coast Region 3 (RWQCB), California State Lands Commission (SLC), Department of Toxic Substances Control, Office of Historic Preservation, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Water Quality

Other (Fuel Management)

Fuel Management

Biological Resources, Cultural Resources, Geology/Soils, Hydrology/Water Quality, Vegetation, Wetland/Riparian