Michigan Bluff Community Protection Project Amendment No.3 (SNC 1322.3)
3 Documents in Project
Summary
SCH Number
2021070335
Public Agency
Sierra Nevada Conservancy
Document Title
Michigan Bluff Community Protection Project Amendment No.3 (SNC 1322.3)
Document Type
NOE - Notice of Exemption
Received
Posted
6/9/2026
Document Description
The Sierra Nevada Conservancy will amend its grant agreement #1322 for funding to the National Forest Foundation to partner with the U.S. Forest Service, Tahoe National Forest to implement fuel breaks on both sides of Forest Service Roads extending from Michigan Bluff to Sugar Pine Reservoir. The project strategically addresses safe access for communities in the Wildland Urban Intermix. The amendment authorizes grant funds to be used for 1) piling of biomass previously cut by the USFS along Elliot Ranch Road, and 2) fuel break treatments on the 89.5 acres along Iowa Hill Road, Finning Hill Road, Sugar Hill Road, and Brimstone Road approved under the National Environmental Policy Act in the Sugar Pine Roadside Fuel Break Decision Memo Update signed on January 6, 2026. Fuel breaks to 600 ft wide (300 ft each side of road) will be created using a combination of mastication, cutting and piling, pruning, pile burning, and broadcast prescribed fire. These treatments will concentrate on surface, ladder, conifer fuels generally less than 10 inches diameter at breast height (dbh), and concentrations of standing dead trees.
Contact Information
Name
Andy Fristensky
Agency Name
Sierra Nevada Conservancy
Job Title
Field Operations & Grants Division Chief
Contact Types
Lead/Public Agency
Phone
Name
Anne Graham
Agency Name
National Forest Foundation
Job Title
Central Sierra Program Coordinator
Contact Types
Project Applicant / Parties Undertaking Project
Phone
Location
Cities
4.6mi NE of Iowa Hill and 5.7 mi SE of Secret Town
Counties
Placer
Regions
Northern California
Other Location Info
Along forest service roads on the American River Ranger District of Tahoe National Forest
Other Information
USFS roads around Sugar Pine and Big Reservoirs on Tahoe National Forest. 4.6mi NE of Iowa Hill and 5.7 mi SE of Secret Town.
Notice of Exemption
Exempt Status
Statutory Exemption
Type, Section or Code
Pub. Resources Code, section 4799.05, subd. (d)(1)
Reasons for Exemption
Public Resources Code, section 4799.05, subd. (d)(1) statutorily exempts from CEQA projects for prescribed fire, reforestation, habitat restoration, thinning, or fuel reduction projects, or to related activities included in the project description, undertaken in whole or in part on federal lands to reduce the risk of high-severity wildfire that have been reviewed under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) if the primary role of a state or local agency is providing funding or staffing for those projects. The Sierra Nevada Conservancy is amending its grant agreement to the National Forest Foundation to partner with the U.S. Forest Service, Tahoe National Forest to implement fuel reduction treatments on the Tahoe National Forest. The project was reviewed in its entirety under NEPA in the Sugar Pine Roadside Fuel Break Decision Memo signed on July 14, 2023 and subsequent Sugar Pine Roadside Fuel Break Decision Memo Update signed on January 6, 2026.
County Clerk
Placer
Attachments
Notice of Exemption
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