Round Tree Fuel Break – Forest Service Parcels
Summary
SCH Number
2025050176
Public Agency
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection
(CAL FIRE)
Document Title
Round Tree Fuel Break – Forest Service Parcels
Document Type
NOE - Notice of Exemption
Received
Posted
5/5/2025
Document Description
CAL FIRE will manage the implementation of the Round Tree Fuel Break project on the associated Forest Service (FS) parcel to complete fuel reduction activities. The entire shaded fuel break would treat approximately 502 acres of private, Bureau of Land Management, and Forest Service ownership. It would remove 300 ft of fuels on each side of approximately 6 miles of Round Tree Saddle Road (AKA: Standard Mill Road or Forest Road #5S03) across the Ponderosa Basin community and up towards Sonny Meadows. The fuel break would treat approximately 262 acres FS parcels. The project would be accomplished by reducing dense surface fuel loads, reducing live and dead understory and mid-story fuel loading (ladder fuels), and by increasing crown spacing and retaining large fire-resistant trees within the remaining overstory fuels. Dead trees will be felled via manual or mechanical (tractor, feller/buncher skid steer, or grapple) means and either pile burned, utilized for biomass power generation, or merchantable where feasible. Heavily stocked areas will be thinned to anything less than 12” DBH. The primary objective is to restore and maintain a healthy, diverse, fire-resilient forest structure that would reduce high intensity fire behavior, reduce public health and safety risks, and make suppression efforts more effective.
Contact Information
Name
Brian Mattos
Agency Name
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE)
Job Title
Forester II
Contact Types
Lead/Public Agency
Phone
Email
Name
Sebastien Cordier
Agency Name
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE)
Job Title
Environmental Scientist
Contact Types
Lead/Public Agency
Phone
Location
Cities
Ponderosa Basin
Counties
Mariposa
Regions
Southern California
Total Acres
262
Other Location Info
T05S R20E Sec. 14, 15, 23, 26. T06S R20E Sec. 1. T06S R21E Sec. 6. MDBN
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 FS to reduce forest fuels on federal land. All the proposed project activities are included in the Decision Memo prepared by the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Signed by Dan Tune, Bass Lake District Ranger, Sierra National Forest, on 4/17/2025.
Attachments
Notice of Exemption
Disclaimer: The Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation (LCI) 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 LCI’s Accessibility Site.