Sierra County Supervisors Present Awards and Comment Upon Draft Environmental Impact Statement for North Yuba Landscape Resilience (NYLR) Project

Supervisor Lee Adams presenting a Resolution of Appreciation to Mike Galan for the many years of service Galan has provided to the residents of Downieville.

DOWNIEVILLE ­­— On Tuesday, January 3, the first meeting of the Sierra County Board of Supervisors in 2023 was held with a sense of optimism about 2023 looking much better than any since 2020.

Supervisor Sharon Dryden assumed the position of Chair of the Board for the upcoming year, with Supervisor Roen becoming Vice-Chair, and the newly elected District 2 Supervisor, Lila Heuer, was appointed to all but one of the vacant committee positions resulting from Supervisor Peter Huebner’s retirement. Supervisor Terry LeBlanc will take Huebner's slot on the Public Works, Roads, & Solid Waste Committee.

To celebrate Peter Huebner’s 24 years of service to Sierra County — the second longest tenure of the 123 supervisors who have held this position over the past 171 years — the Board of Supervisors, county staff, and members of the community packed the Downieville Courthouse to bestow their gratitude, pleasure, and thanks upon District 2 Supervisor Peter Heubner for his unwavering commitment to Sierra County.

Representing District 2, which has changed over the decades due to demographics and census redistricting, Supervisor Huebner has driven many mountain miles representing the communities of Sierra City, Greene Acres, Loyalton Pines and the Senior Citizen Housing Complex, Verdi, Long Valley, Alleghany, Forest City, and Pike.

Serving as Board Chair four times during his tenure, the limits on ink and paper respectfully cannot give full credit for what Supervisor Heuebner has done as a champion of seniors, health services, economic development, transportation, fire safety, and air quality within Sierra County.

After 21 years working in San Ramon following his emigration to the United States from his native Germany, Peter traded in his boat in Berkeley harbor for an RV he could park in Sierra City. In his own words, he “courted” a lady named Louise, they bought a 450 sq. ft cabin on 49er Lane, and the rest, as they say, is history.

In remarks, Supervisor Huebner noted he “most appreciated the love and sincerity of the people in Sierra County along with the people of Sierra City in particular. His optimistic encouragement to everyone was, “Keep this county the most beautiful county in the world.”

Tim Beals, remarked “Peter cares about his family, his community, his county, and his fellow man. It will be hard to replace him."

The Board also honored Mike Galan for his service to the Downieville Fire Protection District. Retiring after nine years of service to the district's Commission, Supervisor Adams presented him with a Resolution of Appreciation, recognizing him as an invaluable community member with service to the Downieville Fire Department as an EMT, Ambulance Driver, Firefighter, and battalion chief; a member and two term President of the Downieville Lions Club; involved member of the Downieville Improvement Group; and member and secretary of Downieville Parlor No. 92, Native Sons of the Golden West. A bedrock citizen compared to “Fred Flintstone” as a wonderful example of citizenship, he led efforts on the new fire station, helped acquire new equipment, and worked monitoring and improving the training programs for many years. The courthouse once again was packed with firefighters, friends, and supporters showing their appreciation.

Onto the business of the day, the Board unanimously approved a letter of recommendation to the US Forest Service for the North Yuba Watershed Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) of the North Yuba Landscape Resilience (NYLR) Project strongly promoting the preferred alternative of the County. This concludes the final public input into the DEIS which the USFS is expediting to make a final decision sometime in the Spring so work can commence quickly.

The Board endorsed Alternative #4 as the strongest plan, but in recognizing the importance that work on the project begins ASAP and avoids any possible contention that would delay implementation, they officially endorsed Alternative #2 as it’s “preferred recommendation” with the expressed desire that USFS incorporates elements of Alternative #4 into the final plan for Alternative #2.

In the letter, the Board of Supervisors requested and encouraged in its strongest possible manner, a level of support from those agencies and entities participating in the DEIS process, to realize the value of the proposed project in treating and protecting one of the last watersheds in the Sierra Nevada that has not been devastated or severely impacted by catastrophic wildfire.

Both Alternative #2 and #4 have many similarities providing for increased tree removal size limits, including removal of trees 30” to 39.9” diameter breast height (DBH) in limited circumstances to provide for more effective and thorough treatment and increased efficacy of treatment on the landscape.

Alternative #4 would reduce the risk of severe wildfire the most among the alternatives, addressing approximately 151,724 acres. Additionally, Alternative #4 has less diameter limit constraint in Spotted Owl Protected Activity Centers (PAC’s) outside the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) Threat Zone, yet still adheres to best available science, making it a more flexible alternative for achieving objectives and ensuring treatment will be more thorough and effective in areas containing this habitat.

Alternative #2 remains very strong but at a reduction of treated acreage to 146,037 acres as compared to 151,724 acres proposed in Alternative #4. The Board of Supervisors once again suggested the Forest Service should incorporate the 5,687 acres outlined in Alternative #4 into the final draft for “Preferred Alternative #2”.

The DEIS indicates that the bulk of the expanded acreage is found in “forest matrix” which includes WUI Threat Zones, Old Growth Emphasis Areas, and General Forest areas, thus allowing for increased treatment acreage in these areas.

The Sierra County Board of Supervisors authorized this letter and directed its submission into the formal record of proceedings for the DEIS for the proposed project.

This would be the largest project of its kind ever conducted within the Pacific Southwest Region of the US Forest Service (Region 5) which manages 20 million acres of National Forest land in California and assists the State and Private forest landowners in California, Hawaii and the U.S. affiliated Pacific Islands. Eighteen national forests are located in this region, in the North Coast, Cascade, and Sierra Nevada ranges and from Big Sur to the Mexican border in the south Coast range.