Nevada and Placer County Cooperative Landscape Resilience Project (Tahoe Donner)
Summary
SCH Number
2025070336
Public Agency
Truckee Fire Protection District
Document Title
Nevada and Placer County Cooperative Landscape Resilience Project (Tahoe Donner)
Document Type
NOE - Notice of Exemption
Received
Posted
7/9/2025
Document Description
This Notice of Exemption is for the Nevada and Placer County Cooperative Landscape Resilience Project as part of the CalFire California Climate Investments, Forest Health Grant program. This review is for the implementation of fuels reduction and reforestation activities in the form of hand thinning, pruning, mastication, and roadside/tracked chipping on an approximately 64-acre footprint, and site preparation in the form of mastication on approximately 235 acres, followed by manual reforestation on approximately 65 of those site prep acres. The project area is located on undeveloped Tahoe Donner Association property and is an integral part of the TFPD’s landscape fuel reduction strategy aimed at protecting the Truckee community and Wildland Urban Interface from future catastrophic wildfire events. Part of the fuel reduction treatment is strategically placed along the base of a critical ridge near Interstate 80 and emergency access roads in order to moderate the movement of wildfire, provide safer access for resources related to suppression activities, and ultimately facilitate in the protection of life and property for surrounding communities. Fuel reduction treatments will be conducted around the Tahoe Donner neighborhood, building on previously established fuel breaks. Reforestation efforts will occur in areas with little tree cover due to previous high-severity wildfire, beginning the process of creating shaded fuel breaks.
Contact Information
Name
Dillon Sheedy
Agency Name
Truckee Fire Protection District
Job Title
Forester
Contact Types
Lead/Public Agency
Address
Phone
Name
Ben Gwerder
Agency Name
Tahoe Donner Association
Job Title
Forestry Program Director
Contact Types
Project Applicant / Parties Undertaking Project
Phone
Email
Location
Cities
Truckee
Counties
Nevada
Regions
Northern California
Zip
96161
Total Acres
300
State Highways
Interstate 80
Railways
Union Pacific Railroad
Airports
Truckee Tahoe Airport District
Schools
Truckee High School / Truckee Elementary
Waterways
Truckee River
Base
MDM
Other Location Info
Portions of Sec. 1, 2, 11 & 12 T17N R15E; Sec. 7 & 8 T17N R16E; Sec. 25, 35 & 36 T18N R15E - MDM
Other Information
Tahoe Donner Association Property (Private Land)
Notice of Exemption
Exempt Status
Categorical Exemption
Type, Section or Code
Class 4: CCR, title 14, section 15304
Reasons for Exemption
The proposed project qualifies for a Categorical Exemption under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15304, Class 4. This exemption applies to minor alterations in the condition of land, water, and/or vegetation that do not involve the removal of healthy, mature, scenic trees. The project involves selective removal of suppressed, small-diameter understory trees and brush species through methods including hand thinning, chipping, mastication, and limited mechanical tree removal. These activities are specifically designed to reduce the vertical and horizontal continuity of forest fuels adjacent to the community, significantly lowering wildfire risk. All vegetation treatment will retain the ability for natural regrowth, and the project will not result in the conversion of forestland to non-forest uses.
A field review was conducted by the Truckee Fire Protection District Forester, who confirmed that the vegetation targeted for removal is in poor health and does not include any healthy, mature, or scenic trees. The review further determined that fuel reduction in the project area is critical and necesssary for public and firefighter safety, particularly given current hazardous fuel loads.The proposed activities do not involve: The taking or disturbance of endangered, rare, or threatened plant or animal species; Sedimentation or adverse impacts to surface waters; Any action that would trigger an exception to the use of a categorical exemption under CEQA Guidelines Section 15300.2.
Additionally, the Truckee Fire Protection District Forester has evaluated the project and concluded that it will not result in significant impacts to any environmental resource area, including but not limited to: aesthetics, agricultural or forestland resources, air quality, biological and cultural resources, geology and soils, greenhouse gas emissions, hydrology and water quality, land use, noise, public services, recreation, transportation, utilities, or wildfire risk. Additionally, On July 16, 2024, the Truckee Fire Board of Directors determined that current fuel overgrowth conditions pose a substantial and immediate threat to the safety of Truckee communities. In response, the Board authorized the implementation of this wildfire mitigation project and approved the use of a Notice of Exemption. Project documentation and environmental review records are maintained on file at Truckee Fire Protection District Station 91, located at 10049 Donner Pass Road, Truckee, CA
County Clerk
Nevada
Attachments
Notice of Exemption
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