Onion Ridge Mastication
Summary
SCH Number
2025050202
Public Agency
Resource Conservation District of Tehama County
(RCD-TC)
Document Title
Onion Ridge Mastication
Document Type
NOE - Notice of Exemption
Received
Posted
5/6/2025
Document Description
During the 2021 Dixie Fire, CAL FIRE created a contingency line in this area. CAL FIRE pushed over the Project’s shaded fuel break and left the downed trees and brush in a long windrow pile against other standing trees, leaving an undesired fuel load in the fuel break and ground fuel/ladder fuel connectivity. CAL FIRE often repairs damages resulting from suppression efforts, but CAL FIRE has not done so as of 2024. The intent of the project is to clean the existing fuel break up for future use. The Onion Ridge L-Line Fuel Reduction and Forest Health Improvement Project (Project) was completed in 2020 through a $250k award from Sierra Nevada Conservancy (Agreement No. 1040) and apartnership between Sierra Pacific Industries (SPI) and the Resource Conservation District of Tehama County (RCDTC). The goal of the Project was to increase forest and watershed health and resiliency in the form of a strategically designed fuel break in eastern Tehama County, along a 25-mile-long road on the ridge between Mill and Deer Creeks, two anadromous fish-bearing watersheds that drain to the greater Sacramento River Basin. The 533- acre Project is located east of Red Bluff, CA, and west of Chester, CA, near Lassen Volcanic National Park and the Ishi Wilderness. The Project areas share boundaries with Lassen National Forest. Treatment prescriptions for the fuel break included hand thinning and mastication for 150 feet on each side of the road. The Project was successfully implemented, and the shaded fuel break was established along a 25-mile-long road system.
Contact Information
Name
Seronica G Biggs
Agency Name
Resource Conservation District of Tehama County
Job Title
District Forester
Contact Types
Lead/Public Agency
Address
Phone
Location
Coordinates
Cities
Red Bluff
Counties
Tehama
Regions
Northern California
Cross Streets
Hwy 32 to Panther Creek
State Highways
Hwy 32
Waterways
Panther Creek
Base
MDBM
Notice of Exemption
Exempt Status
Categorical Exemption
Type, Section or Code
Class 4; §15304 (e) Minor Alterations to Land
Reasons for Exemption
Public Resources Code, Division 13, Chapter 6, Article 19, Section 15304 allows minor alteration of vegetation including fuel management activities to reduce volume of flammable vegetation provided the activities do not result in the taking of endangered, rare, or threatened plant/animal species, or cause significant erosion and sedimentation of surface waters. This project is considered low impact given that the nature of the project work occurs on already disturbed and developed roadsides and biomass chips will be broadcast onsite. A current California Natural Diversity Database search was conducted, and it has been determined that Project activities will have no impact on the environment and low potential to affect cultural resources.
County Clerk
Tehama
Attachments
Notice of Exemption
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