North Fork Rancheria Fuels Project

North Fork Rancheria Fuels Project

The Project entails the preparation of a Fuels Management Plan (FMP). An FMP is required in order to undertake forest management activities to reduce the risk of wildfire on the 80 acres of individual trust allotments in accordance with BIA trust responsibilities for resource management on qualifying tribal lands. The Proposed Project would then apply the same fuel reduction actions and associated management forest management recommendations to the adjacent 92-acre Public Allotments for which an FMP is not required. The Project Site and surrounding area has been affected by a considerable number of fires over the past century, including the recent Mission Fire (2017) and the 379,882-acre Creek Fire (2020). The Project Site is also characterized by a large quantity of fuel at all levels—ground fuel, ladder fuels, and canopy. Considering the historic propensity of the area to burn and the abundance of existing fuel, the Project Site represents a high fire hazard risk. The purpose of the Proposed Project is to adopt an FMP to reduce fuel loading on the 80-acre FMP parcels and recommend forest health actions for the 92-acre Public Allotments. Therefore, both components of the Proposed Project would provide the Tribe with a roadmap with which to protect its land and properties while improving the ecological health of these lands. The Proposed Project consists of the approval of funding by Yosemite/Sequoia Resource Conservation Development Council (YSRCDC) for development and implementation of the FMP for the 80-acre FMP Area and for the application of the fuel reduction actions of the 92-acre Public Allotments.

Unincorporated; North Fork

Madera

Countywide

Madera