Bullion Ridge Fuel Break
Summary
SCH Number
2024040492
Public Agency
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection
(CAL FIRE)
Document Title
Bullion Ridge Fuel Break
Document Type
NOE - Notice of Exemption
Received
Posted
4/10/2024
Document Description
CAL FIRE will manage implementation of the Bullion Ridge Fuel Break project on the associated Bureau of Land Management (BLM) parcel to complete fuel reduction activities. Will utilize hand crews for manual treatments and mechanized equipment, to include masticators or dozers with blade or brush rake, for mechanical treatments. The Proposed Action consists of removal of brush and ladder fuels of up to 34 acres. Vegetation management treatments include brush removal and mastication to reduce shrub densities, tree pruning and limbing, and removal of ladder fuels through a combination of manual thin from below, mechanical mastication, pile burning, post-treatment understory burning, and control line construction to achieve the desired ecological conditions. The primary means to complete this treatment would be hand cut with chainsaws by a hand crew, with the slash arranged in piles for future burning. Treatments may also include the mechanical mastication of surface fuels, brush, and small trees. The Bullion Ridge Fuel Break prescribes a 1,000-foot-wide shaded fuel break project along Bullion Mountain's ridge line in Mariposa County extending from Bagby, approximately 10 miles northwest of the proposed BLM parcel, linking treatments with the Alta Vista Fuel Break to the southeast. The goal of the Bullion Ridge Fuel Break is to help protect the area and local communities from future potential wildfire threats and improve emergency egress. This treatment will provide a break in continuous fuels along a major ridge system which could benefit suppression resources by moderating advancing fire behavior, provide openings in the canopy to allow for effective use of aerial resources, and provide safer access and areas for direct ground-based suppression activities.
Contact Information
Name
Brian Mattos
Agency Name
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection
Job Title
Forester II
Contact Types
Lead/Public Agency
Phone
Email
Location
Cities
Bagby
Counties
Mariposa
Regions
Southern California
Township
4S
Range
17E
Section
35
Notice of Exemption
Exempt Status
Statutory Exemption
Type, Section or Code
PRC Section 4799.05(d)(1)
Reasons for Exemption
The California Environmental Quality Act does not apply to prescribed fire, thinning, or fuel reduction projects undertaken on federal lands to reduce the risk of high-severity wildfire that have been reviewed under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) if the primary role of a state or local agency is providing funding or staffing for those projects. CAL FIRE would provide funding to the BLM to reduce forest fuels on federal land. All the proposed Project activities are included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act – Fuel Breaks Categorical Exclusion Documentation and Decision Record prepared by the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Department of the Interior. DOI-BLM-CA-C080-2024-0006-CX, signed March 2024.
Attachments
Notice of Exemption
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