Tahoe Forest Seeks Public Input on Forest Projects Near Camptonville

NEVADA CITY — Tahoe National Forest (TNF) is seeking public comment regarding proposed forest health and wildfire risk reduction treatments around the community of Camptonville and New Bullard’s Bar Reservoir. The forest is seeking input on the planned actions within TNF’s subproject area #2 of the North Yuba Landscape Resilience Project (NYLRP).

The 275,000-acre NYLRP is a landscape-scale vegetation and fuels management project designed to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire, create fire adapted communities, improve forest health and promote mature and old growth forest characteristics that are resilient to fire, drought, insects and disease. Project planning began in 2018, with implementation expected over 15 to 20 years. The project was informed by collaboration with the North Yuba Forest Partnership, which includes a diverse group of partners working to reduce the risk of wildfire and improve forest health within the North Yuba River watershed.

The NYLRP is being implemented in several phases through a staged-decision approach, providing flexibility to adjust treatments based on field conditions and monitoring while still meeting landscape-scale goals. The project’s record of decision for its first phase of implementation (subproject area #1), treating approximately 32,000 acres, was issued in July 2023. Public comment is now open for the project’s second phase (subproject area #2), which will treat approximately 29,000 acres.

“This next record of decision on the North Yuba landscape continues our path to dramatically increase the scale and pace of forest health treatments for those communities surrounded by dense and overgrown forested land directly in, and reliant on, the North Yuba watershed,” said acting Tahoe National Forest Supervisor Heather Noel. “We are heavily invested in creating a more resilient fire-adapted forest by taking necessary measures to reduce the potential for extreme fire behavior.”

Wildfire risk reduction efforts within the North Yuba landscape are being prioritized in alignment with the U.S. Forest Service’s Wildfire Crisis Strategy, a gameplan to address the growing risk of catastrophic wildfire across the United States. The North Yuba project footprint encompasses several communities surrounded by the largest area of unburned forest in the Central Sierra Nevada, placing it at a high risk for destructive wildfire.

Two in-person public open houses will be held to discuss this preliminary draft record of decision and answer questions:

January 28, 5:30 to 7 PM, North San Juan Community Center, 29190 State Highway 49, North San Juan, CA, 95960

January 30, 5:30 to 7 PM, Camptonville Community Center, 15333 Cleveland Ave, Camptonville, CA, 95922

If you would like to provide comments on this preliminary draft record of decision for NYLRP subproject area #2 please submit through any of the following methods:

Mail: Heather Noel, Acting Tahoe National Forest Supervisor c/o Nicole Gemmell, Attn: North Yuba Landscape Resilience Project, 631 Coyote Street, Nevada City, CA 95959

Hand delivered: Tahoe National Forest Headquarters, 631 Coyote Street, Nevada City CA 95959. Office hours for those who wish to hand deliver their written comments are 8 a.m. to 4:30 PM, Monday-Friday (except federal holidays).

Email: Send text or html e-mail, Adobe portable document format (PDF), and formats viewable in Microsoft Office applications (.doc or .docx) to nicole.gemmell@usda.gov with the subject “North Yuba ROD 2”.

Submitted comments should include:

Name, address, and telephone number of the commenter and, if applicable, the organization represented

A heading or subject line of “North Yuba ROD 2,” and

Specific concerns, issues or suggestions related to the decision and the reasons for any concerns or suggestions.

Additional information regarding this project can be obtained by emailing Nicole Gemmell, Environmental Coordinator, at nicole.gemmell@usda.gov. Project documents and information is available to review online at https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/tahoe/?project=59693.