Little Deer Creek Landscape Resilience Project (SNC 1637)
Summary
SCH Number
2024060313
Public Agency
Sierra Nevada Conservancy
Document Title
Little Deer Creek Landscape Resilience Project (SNC 1637)
Document Type
NOE - Notice of Exemption
Received
Posted
6/10/2024
Document Description
The Sierra Nevada Conservancy (SNC) would provide funding to the Yuba Watershed Institute to improve forest health conditions through active forest management on land managed by the Bear Yuba Land Trust (BYLT) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) near Nevada City, California. The project would involve hand cutting, pile burning, and mechanical mastication. This project would improve landscape-level forest resilience on approximately 147 acres managed by the BLM and 48 acres managed by the BYLT. Expected outcomes from the project would be to increase ecological resiliency to disturbances, restore vegetation composition, reduce likelihood of large high-severity wildfires, reduce wildfire threat to surrounding communities, reduce risk of water-quality degradation from high-severity wildfires, increase forest-carbon sequestration in the project area, and protect community-recreation resources.
Contact Information
Name
Mary Akens
Agency Name
Sierra Nevada Conservancy
Job Title
General Counsel
Contact Types
Lead/Public Agency
Phone
Location
Cities
Nevada City
Counties
Nevada
Regions
Northern California
Other Location Info
T16N, R9E, Sections 17, 19, and 20
Notice of Exemption
Exempt Status
Categorical Exemption
Type, Section or Code
CEQA Guidelines Section 15304, Minor Alterations to Land
Reasons for Exemption
The portion of the project on private lands is categorically exempt from the provisions of CEQA pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15304, Class 4, which consists of minor public or private alterations in the condition of land, water, and/or vegetation, which do not involve removal of mature, scenic trees except for forestry and agricultural purposes. The minor land alterations proposed by the project consist of forestry treatments to reduce hazardous fuels and improve forest health. The project has been independently reviewed and the SNC has determined that none of the exceptions in CEQA Guidelines Section 15300.2 would apply. Additionally, under Pub. Resources Code, Section 4799.05, subd. (d)(1), CEQA 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 NEPA if the primary role of a state or local agency is providing funding or staffing for those projects. The SNC would provide funding for fuel-reduction treatments on federal lands within the BLM Mother Load Field Office District. The proposed activities on federal lands were reviewed in their entirety and include resource protection measures and conservation measures pursuant to NEPA in the Finding of No Significant Impact and Decision Record for the Hazard Removal and Vegetation Management Project Programmatic Environmental Assessment, signed in 2019 by the BLM, Acting State Director. A Determination of NEPA Adequacy and Decision Record for this project was signed by the Field Manager of the Mother Lode Field Office on April 8, 2024.
Exempt Status
Statutory Exemption
Type, Section or Code
Public Resources Code Section 4799.05(d)(1)
Reasons for Exemption
The portion of the project on private lands is categorically exempt from the provisions of CEQA pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15304, Class 4, which consists of minor public or private alterations in the condition of land, water, and/or vegetation, which do not involve removal of mature, scenic trees except for forestry and agricultural purposes. The minor land alterations proposed by the project consist of forestry treatments to reduce hazardous fuels and improve forest health. The project has been independently reviewed and the SNC has determined that none of the exceptions in CEQA Guidelines Section 15300.2 would apply. Additionally, under Pub. Resources Code, Section 4799.05, subd. (d)(1), CEQA 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 NEPA if the primary role of a state or local agency is providing funding or staffing for those projects. The SNC would provide funding for fuel-reduction treatments on federal lands within the BLM Mother Load Field Office District. The proposed activities on federal lands were reviewed in their entirety and include resource protection measures and conservation measures pursuant to NEPA in the Finding of No Significant Impact and Decision Record for the Hazard Removal and Vegetation Management Project Programmatic Environmental Assessment, signed in 2019 by the BLM, Acting State Director. A Determination of NEPA Adequacy and Decision Record for this project was signed by the Field Manager of the Mother Lode Field Office on April 8, 2024.
County Clerk
Nevada
Attachments
Notice of Exemption
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