Shasta County Wildfire Mitigation / Hazardous Fuels Reduction Project (Grant # 5293)
4 Documents in Project
Summary
SCH Number
2023120622
Lead Agency
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection
(CAL FIRE)
Document Title
Shasta County Wildfire Mitigation / Hazardous Fuels Reduction Project (Grant # 5293)
Document Type
FIN - Final Document
Received
Document Description
The proposed action consists of removing ground and ladder fuels up to 400 feet from each side of the PAA roadway centerlines, thinning trees to reduce crown closure, removing dead and dying trees within 100 to 200 feet of serviceable roadways, and after removal activities, applying herbicide at regular intervals to control the future regrowth of unwanted vegetation and maintain an understory canopy without fire-prone fuels.
Work will focus on improving forest health, including vegetation management, forest undergrowth reduction and biomass utilization. Treatment will focus on reducing vertical and horizontal continuity of fuels; removing competition from small, closely spaced, fire-vulnerable species; and promoting a smaller number of resilient larger trees. Generally, living trees will be spaced to a distance of greater than 30 feet. These fuel reduction treatments will allow roadways to serve as areas where fire intensity decreases and can act as strategic locations to deploy firefighting resources in the event of fire, hampering fire’s ability to jump roadways. Both mechanized and manual techniques will be deployed for the removal of fuels. Areas that would be heavily disturbed by equipment or stacked logs would be reseeded with sterile cover crops or mulched with certified weed-free rice straw or wheat straw. Fuel reduction, biomass disposal, herbicide treatment and site restoration activities are described in greater detail below.
The treatment contractor will conduct the hazardous fuel reduction techniques appropriate for each individual parcel. A Preliminary Site Assessment (PSA) will be conducted on each eligible parcel to identify water courses, special-status species and habitat, cultural resources, or any other obstacles to be avoided. An individual Treatment Prescription (TP) will be developed for each parcel based on the Preliminary Site Assessment.
Commercial sized trees will be included in the thinning operations. Commercial sized logs may be left for the property owner of each parcel to sell appropriately or will be sold by the treatment contractor to offset project costs Property owners who elect to sell commercial sized logs will be required to submit and receive approval of an appropriate Timber Harvest Document per the California Forest Practice Rules prior to any timber operations, pursuant to Title 14 California Code of Regulations.
Contact Information
Name
Ben Rowe
Agency Name
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE)
Job Title
Forester III
Contact Types
Lead/Public Agency
Phone
Location
Counties
Shasta
Regions
Countywide, Northern California
Total Acres
6,291
Other Location Info
The project includes hazardous fuel reduction on private property within Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) areas in Shasta County. The project site includes 11 Project Activity Areas (PAAs) throughout Shasta County adjacent to public roadways.
Other Information
The final acreage and number of parcels included in the project will be determined based on landowner participation and the environmental, operational, or physical constraints of each parcel. The maximum potential acreage to be treated would be 6,291 acres. The number of acres that will receive treatment and number of participating landowners will be less than the maximum extent of the PAAs. PAAs may be removed from the project if too few landowners choose to participate. At the time of preparation of this document, the acreage on which landowner participation was obtained was 3,899 acres.
Notice of Completion
State Reviewing Agencies
California Air Resources Board (ARB), California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Northern and Eureka Region 1 (CDFW), California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), California Department of Parks and Recreation, California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC), California Department of Transportation, District 2 (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 Valley Redding Region 5 (RWQCB), California State Lands Commission (SLC), Central Valley Flood Protection Board, Office of Historic Preservation, Sierra Nevada Conservancy, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Drinking Water, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Water Quality, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Water Rights
Development Types
Other (Hazardous Fuel Reduction)
Local Actions
Hazardous Fuels Reduction
Project Issues
Aesthetics, Agriculture and Forestry Resources, Air Quality, Biological Resources, Cultural Resources, Cumulative Effects, Flood Plain/Flooding, Geology/Soils, Hazards & Hazardous Materials, Hydrology/Water Quality, Land Use/Planning, Mineral Resources, Noise, Population/Housing, Public Services, Recreation, Transportation, Tribal Cultural Resources, Vegetation, Wildfire
Attachments
Final Document(s) [Approved_Certified draft environmental documents]
Responses to Comments
State Comment Letters [Comments from State Reviewing Agency(ies)]
Disclaimer: The Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (OPR) accepts no responsibility for the content or accessibility of these documents. To obtain an attachment in a different format, please contact the lead agency at the contact information listed above. For more information, please visit OPR’s Accessibility Site.