Reducing Wildfire Risks on Inyo Craters Landscape (SNC1571)
Summary
SCH Number
2023030175
Public Agency
Sierra Nevada Conservancy
Document Title
Reducing Wildfire Risks on Inyo Craters Landscape (SNC1571)
Document Type
NOE - Notice of Exemption
Received
Posted
3/6/2023
Document Description
The Sierra Nevada Conservancy would provide funding for the California Deer Association to partner with Inyo National Forest (INF) to treat approximately 385 acres of Mammoth Ranger District INF lands to remove hazardous fuels to improve forest health, reduce the spread of bark beetle and the risk of catastrophic wildfire, and remove hazard trees to improve visitor safety and access. Treatments in Inyo Craters will focus on dead trees within 100 feet of roads, surrounding trailheads, and campsites. Methods will consist of hand and mechanical removal, decking, and piling of dead trees, many of which will be made available for public fuelwood cutting. Inyo Craters has been impacted by bark beetle in recent years, resulting in very high mortality rates of lodgepole and Jeffrey pine throughout the project area. This has created a buildup of hazardous fuels and a major threat to public safety from hazard trees in a popular recreation area.
Contact Information
Name
Mary Akens
Agency Name
Sierra Nevada Conservancy
Job Title
Legal Counsel
Contact Types
Lead/Public Agency
Phone
Location
Cities
3 mi north of the Town of Mammoth Lakes
Counties
Mono
Regions
Northern California
Other Location Info
Approximately 3 miles north of the Town of Mammoth Lakes on the west side of Mammoth Scenic Loop Rd. Treatment area center at approximately 37.679892, -119.001120.
Notice of Exemption
Exempt Status
Statutory Exemption
Type, Section or Code
Public Resources Code Section 4799.05, subd. (d)(1)
Reasons for Exemption
CEQA does not apply to prescribed fire, reforestation, habitat restoration, thinning, or fuel reduction projects, or to related activities included in the project description, undertaken, in whole or in part, on federal lands to reduce the risk of high-severity wildfire that have been reviewed under the federal National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 if the primary role of a state or local agency is providing funding or staffing for those projects. The Sierra Nevada Conservancy would provide funding to conduct hazardous fuel reduction on federal lands in Inyo National Forest. The proposed
activities were reviewed in their entirety under NEPA by Inyo National Forest in the Inyo Craters Area Bark Beetle Mortality Hazard Abatement Project Decision Memo signed on March 7, 2022.
County Clerk
Mono
Attachments
Notice of Exemption
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