Juniper Hill Roadside Fuelbreak Project
Summary
SCH Number
2023090086
Public Agency
Truckee Fire Protection District
Document Title
Juniper Hill Roadside Fuelbreak Project
Document Type
NOE - Notice of Exemption
Received
Posted
9/7/2023
Document Description
The project includes implementation of fuels reduction activities in the form of hand thinning, mastication, and roadside/tracked chipping on an approximately 30-acre footprint. The project will occur along a privately owned and controlled road system that provides access to properties in the Juniper Hill Community, which is in unincorporated Nevada County. The project an integral part of the TFPD’s landscape fuel reduction strategy aimed at protecting the Truckee community and Wildland Urban Interface from future catastrophic wildfire events. This fuel reduction treatment is strategically placed along a critical road system in order to moderate the movement of wildfire, provide safer egress for evacuating citizens, provide safer ingress for resources related to suppression activities, and ultimately facilitate in the protection of life and property for surrounding communities.
Contact Information
Name
Dillon Sheedy
Agency Name
Truckee Fire Protection District
Job Title
Forester #3175
Contact Types
Lead/Public Agency / Parties Undertaking Project
Address
Phone
Location
Cities
Truckee
Counties
Nevada
Regions
Northern California
Cross Streets
The Strand
Total Acres
30
Township
17N
Range
17E
Section
8,9,10
Base
MDM
Notice of Exemption
Exempt Status
Categorical Exemption
Type, Section or Code
Class 4: California Code of Regulations, title 14, section 15304
Reasons for Exemption
The proposed project qualifies for a Categorical Exemption under CEQA Guidelines Section 15304. Pursuant to Section 15304, Class 4 consists of minor private alterations of vegetation which do not involve removal of healthy, mature, scenic trees. The project involves removal of small diameter understory trees and brush species to reduce the vertical and horizontal continuity of forest fuels and to reduce wildfire intensity and severity adjacent to high-risk communities. Field review by Truckee Fire Protection District Forester confirmed that fuel clearance in the project area is required to reduce hazardous fire conditions adjacent to critical ingress and egress routes for the safety of the public and emergency responders, and no exceptions apply which would preclude the use of a Notice of Exemption for this project. The project consists of minor treatments to land and vegetation in the form of hand thinning and chipping. The trees being removed are in a suppressed state and are not considered healthy. The activities do not result in the taking of endangered, rare, or threatened plant or animal species, or sedimentation to surface waters. This project will not convert forestland to non-forest uses, and all treated vegetation will have the ability to grow back. The Truckee Fire Protection District has concluded that no significant environmental impact would occur to aesthetics, agriculture and forestland/timberland, air quality, biological resources, cultural resources, 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.
County Clerk
Nevada
Attachments
Notice of Exemption
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