Martis Peak Roadside Fuelbreak Project
Summary
SCH Number
2024080113
Public Agency
Truckee Fire Protection District
Document Title
Martis Peak Roadside Fuelbreak Project
Document Type
NOE - Notice of Exemption
Received
Posted
8/5/2024
Document Description
The project includes implementation of fuels reduction activities in the form of manual and mechanical thinning, mastication, and roadside/tracked chipping on an approximately 106-acre footprint. The project will occur along a privately owned and controlled road system that provides one-way-in and one-way-out access to properties in the Martis Peak Road Community (Juniper Creek Ranch), which is in unincorporated Nevada County. The project is 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 (RPF# 3175)
Contact Types
Lead/Public Agency / Parties Undertaking Project
Phone
Location
Coordinates
Cities
Unincorporated Area
Counties
Nevada
Regions
Northern California, Unincorporated
Cross Streets
Glenshire Drive
Zip
96161
Total Acres
106
State Highways
Interstate 80
Railways
Union Pacific Railroad
Airports
Truckee Tahoe Airport District
Schools
Glenshire Elementary School
Waterways
Truckee River, Juniper Creek, West Juniper Creek
Township
18N
Range
17E
Section
34
Base
MDM
Other Location Info
Martis Peak Road
Other Information
T17N R17E Sections 2, 3, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15
Notice of Exemption
Exempt Status
Categorical Exemption
Type, Section or Code
Class 4: CCR, title 14, section 15304 / Class 7: CCR, Title 14, section 15307
Reasons for Exemption
The proposed project qualifies for a Categorical Exemption under CEQA Guidelines Section 15304 and Section 15307. Pursuant to Section 15304, Class 4 consists of minor private alterations of vegetation which do not involve removal of healthy, mature, scenic trees. Section 15307, Class 7 consists of actions by regulatory agencies as authorized by state law or local ordinance to assure the maintenance, restoration, or enhancement of natural resources. The project involves removal of an abundance of small diameter understory trees and brush species adjacent to critical evacuation routes to reduce the vertical and horizontal continuity of forest fuels, to reduce wildfire intensity and severity, and better comply with PRC 4291 and local ordinances. Field review by Truckee Fire Protection District Forester confirmed that fuel clearance in the project area is required to reduce hazardous fuel 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 vegetation in the form of hand thinning, mechanical tree removal, chipping and mastication. 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.
Documentation of the environmental review completed by the department is kept on file at Truckee Fire Protection District Station 91, located at 10049 Donner Pass Road in Truckee CA. Truckee Fire Board of Directors has authorized staff to file appropriate documentation, and furthermore has made a determination on 7/16/2024 that the current fuel overgrowth poses a significant threat to Truckee Communities and that it is an urgent priority to implement wildfire mitigation projects to protect life, property, and environment from wildfire.
County Clerk
Nevada
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.