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BIG WIN FOR STANISLAUS NATIONAL FOREST HAZARD TREE MITIGATION PROJECT!
Thursday, 02 January 2025
On October 28, 2024, I submitted Objections to a Hazard Tree Mitigation project for Stanislaus National Forest (SNF). Previously in August 2023, I submitted comments on the project’s Draft Environmental Analysis to urge the Forest Service to maximize the total miles of roadside and sum of acreage for hazard tree abatement in order to increase public safety, protect public access to motorized recreation opportunities and general outdoor recreation, and decrease future risk of wildfire. Of positive note, SNF included:
However, my comments included objections to other components of the draft final decision given that it failed to effectively fulfill the Purpose and Need for the project through unnecessary limitation on scope of implementation related to:
Additionally, ongoing support was offered in the means of club membership as volunteers to support the success of both immediate hazard tree mitigation and post-project maintenance needs.
I met with SNF Regional Forester, Jason Kuiken, and SNF NEPA Coordinating Staff to discuss my Objections on October 31, 2024. Through that meeting, sufficient objection resolution was achieved. Forester Kuiken provided greater context and details as to the addition of the 10-year project expiration date, and the restrictions regarding removal of sensitive frog and toad species, demonstrating how these new elements of the project plan served to alleviate opposition from other groups who opposed the project without reducing the mileage, acreage, or scale of implementation. As a result of this meeting, Cal4Wheel withdrew our Objections to the project, thereby removing any further need for delay in implementation. The Final Record of Decision should be publicized soon after the start of the new year.
Read the Draft Environmental Analysis Comment letter: Click Here
Read the Objection letter: Click Here
For more details, visit the SNF project website: https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=63553
Rose Winn, Cal4wheel Natural Resources Consultant
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Thursday, 02 January 2025
On October 28, 2024, I submitted Objections to a Hazard Tree Mitigation project for Stanislaus National Forest (SNF). Previously in August 2023, I submitted comments on the project’s Draft Environmental Analysis to urge the Forest Service to maximize the total miles of roadside and sum of acreage for hazard tree abatement in order to increase public safety, protect public access to motorized recreation opportunities and general outdoor recreation, and decrease future risk of wildfire. Of positive note, SNF included:
- The full 2,049 miles of road and 261 administrative and developed recreation sites from the original proposal within the draft final decision.
- Prioritization of ML 2 roads for hazard tree removal to ensure immediate and long-term preservation of access to remote areas of SNF to provide firefighters with safe, navigable roads to address wildfires that may occur in the future, and to protect the recreational infrastructure of SNF through hazard tree removal along each vital route for public access for motorized and human-powered recreational activities.
However, my comments included objections to other components of the draft final decision given that it failed to effectively fulfill the Purpose and Need for the project through unnecessary limitation on scope of implementation related to:
- Failure to add ML 1 roads to the roadside hazard tree removal segment of this project
- Addition of a 10-year limit to temporally constrain the duration that hazard tree abatement and removal actions would be authorized
- Update to project management requirements to specify that only a Forest Service biologist or a USFWS approved biologist or biological monitor trained in Yosemite toad (YT) and Sierra Nevada yellowlegged frog (SNYLF) identification and handling procedures can move species from the direct area of impact during implementation to a safe location
Additionally, ongoing support was offered in the means of club membership as volunteers to support the success of both immediate hazard tree mitigation and post-project maintenance needs.
I met with SNF Regional Forester, Jason Kuiken, and SNF NEPA Coordinating Staff to discuss my Objections on October 31, 2024. Through that meeting, sufficient objection resolution was achieved. Forester Kuiken provided greater context and details as to the addition of the 10-year project expiration date, and the restrictions regarding removal of sensitive frog and toad species, demonstrating how these new elements of the project plan served to alleviate opposition from other groups who opposed the project without reducing the mileage, acreage, or scale of implementation. As a result of this meeting, Cal4Wheel withdrew our Objections to the project, thereby removing any further need for delay in implementation. The Final Record of Decision should be publicized soon after the start of the new year.
Read the Draft Environmental Analysis Comment letter: Click Here
Read the Objection letter: Click Here
For more details, visit the SNF project website: https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=63553
Rose Winn, Cal4wheel Natural Resources Consultant
Continue Reading
Continue reading...
