Mattole Headwaters Enhancement and Planning Including Forest Thinning
4 Documents in Project
Summary
SCH Number
2024070587
Public Agency
Humboldt County
Document Title
Mattole Headwaters Enhancement and Planning Including Forest Thinning
Document Type
NOE - Notice of Exemption
Received
Posted
7/31/2024
Document Description
A Special Permit (SP) for a fish habitat enhancement project that aims to improve pool habitat, channel structure, and complexity through planning and design needed for placement of instream structures in four tributaries (McKee Creek, Baker Creek, Lost River and Vanauken Creek) and three reaches of the Mattole headwaters mainstem. This project is intended to address a lack of instream wood resulting from historic land use impacts and logging. The structures will create scour pools where project sites are flatwater runs, provide cover and shade habitat and existing pools, and provide slow water refugia during high flows. Strategic grading at several locations will reconnect floodplains and reverse channel incision.
Additionally, the project will include forest thinning in the riparian areas of the four tributaries. Thinning will occur within 300 feet on either side of project areas, where feasible, with the goal of reducing evapotranspiration and accelerating the transition of dense even age forests to more natural and diversified conditions. There will also be secondary benefits of improved fire resiliency in the riparian corridors.
This Project also proposes forest thinning within 300 feet of the stream with the goals of reducing evapotranspiration of overstocked young forests, accelerating natural recruitment of large wood into the stream, restoring diversity of habitat types to the riparian area, and reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfire. Forest thinning will occur within 300 feet of instream project areas (600 ft wide total) and within 700 feet in two specific areas.
Contact Information
Name
Portia Saucedo
Agency Name
Humboldt County Planning Department
Job Title
Associate Planner
Contact Types
Lead/Public Agency
Address
Phone
Name
Sanctuary Forest, Inc.
Agency Name
Walker Wise
Job Title
Applicant
Contact Types
Project Applicant
Address
Phone
Location
Cities
Briceland
Counties
Humboldt
Regions
Countywide
Parcel #
215-162-021-000, 215-162-022-000, 215-162-030-000, 215-191-034-000, 215-191-038-000, 215-191-040
Waterways
McKee Creek, Baker Creek, Lost River and Vanauken Creek
Other Location Info
Briceland area
Notice of Exemption
Exempt Status
Statutory Exemption
Type, Section or Code
EXEMPT STATUS: Statutory Exemption(s). Sec 23. Section 21080.56
Reasons for Exemption
The project is statutorily exempt from environmental review pursuant to Section 21080.56 of the Public Resources (Statutory Exemption for Restoration Projects). Therefore, the project may be found to be exempt from environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) guidelines.
County Clerk
Humboldt
Attachments
Notice of Exemption
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.