Access Issues - California Four Wheel Drive
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CAL4WHEEL SUCCESS IN SUPPORT FOR STANISLAUS NATIONAL FOREST SERAL 2.0 PROJECT
Monday, 12 August 2024
In March of this year, I submitted comments on behalf of Cal4Wheel for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Social and Ecological Resilience Across the Landscape 2.0 (SERAL 2.0) Project in Stanislaus National Forest (SNF). SERAL 2.0 is a comprehensive vegetation management project with the goal of reducing fuel load and risk of catastrophic wildfire over 162,000 acres of forest located East of Arnold and Sonora, and North of Groveland. Cal4Wheel advocated for:
Additionally, Cal4Wheel offered the ongoing support of club membership as volunteers to support the success of both immediate implementation and post-project maintenance needs.
The Final EIS was signed and released for public review on July 8. Cal4Wheel’s comments had a positive impact on the final decision for this project! Generally, the full scope of vegetation management was retained as the final plan of action for most strategies within the plan. Notably, prescribed fire will be utilized as a core tactic to reduce fuel load and maintain a healthier balance of trees-per-acre throughout SNF. In response to intensive pressure from environmental groups, SNF removed the following components of the plan in order to set them aside for separate analysis and additional public comment opportunities:
I will continue to follow this project and share more about public comment opportunities as they arise for the items noted above.
Read the Cal4Wheel March 2024 comment letter: C4WDA - SERAL 2.0 DEIS Comment.pdf
For more project details and to review the Final EIS: https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=63557
Rose Winn, Cal4wheel Natural Resources Consultant
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Monday, 12 August 2024
In March of this year, I submitted comments on behalf of Cal4Wheel for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Social and Ecological Resilience Across the Landscape 2.0 (SERAL 2.0) Project in Stanislaus National Forest (SNF). SERAL 2.0 is a comprehensive vegetation management project with the goal of reducing fuel load and risk of catastrophic wildfire over 162,000 acres of forest located East of Arnold and Sonora, and North of Groveland. Cal4Wheel advocated for:
- Implementation of the full defined scale of the project to comprise 162,000 acres of public land in Stanislaus National Forest
- Preservation of all existing recreational roads and trails during and following project completion
- Permanent retention of all roads that are created for the purpose of the project, that no roads will be decommissioned
- Restoration of historical OHV routes that have been previously closed to serve as natural fuel breaks, provide firefighters and first responders with access to backcountry and difficult terrain, enhance the local recreation economy, and eliminate bias in public land access against persons with disabilities
- Implementation of timber salvage, and immediate extraction of commercially viable timber, to decrease accumulation of dead biomass throughout the forest and enhance the local economy
- Incorporation of lands within Wild and Scenic River corridors into project implementation
- A detailed long-term maintenance plan to be implemented following completion of initial vegetation management and fuel reduction efforts
Additionally, Cal4Wheel offered the ongoing support of club membership as volunteers to support the success of both immediate implementation and post-project maintenance needs.
The Final EIS was signed and released for public review on July 8. Cal4Wheel’s comments had a positive impact on the final decision for this project! Generally, the full scope of vegetation management was retained as the final plan of action for most strategies within the plan. Notably, prescribed fire will be utilized as a core tactic to reduce fuel load and maintain a healthier balance of trees-per-acre throughout SNF. In response to intensive pressure from environmental groups, SNF removed the following components of the plan in order to set them aside for separate analysis and additional public comment opportunities:
- Vegetation management within CA Spotted Owl protected activity centers
- Use of herbicides for fuel break maintenance
- Salvage of insect, disease, drought, wildfire, or prescribed fire killed trees
I will continue to follow this project and share more about public comment opportunities as they arise for the items noted above.
Read the Cal4Wheel March 2024 comment letter: C4WDA - SERAL 2.0 DEIS Comment.pdf
For more project details and to review the Final EIS: https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=63557
Rose Winn, Cal4wheel Natural Resources Consultant
Continue Reading
Continue reading...