Sawmill Fuel Reduction Project
Summary
SCH Number
2026020345
Public Agency
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection
(CAL FIRE)
Document Title
Sawmill Fuel Reduction Project
Document Type
NOE - Notice of Exemption
Received
Posted
2/10/2026
Document Description
The project consists of fuel reduction and forest management activities on a 15-acre parcel that includes an existing state facility and associated residential use. The project will establish and maintain a shaded fuel break between Washoe Meadow State Park to the south and the Echo View Estates subdivision to the northwest. The purpose of the project is to reduce wildfire hazard, improve community defensibility, and support long-term ecosystem health and wildfire resiliency across the property.
Fuel reduction treatments will include cutting and pruning trees, pile building and burning, chipping of vegetative materials, creation of control lines using hand tools, and broadcast burning of the forest understory. Trees will be marked by a Registered Professional Forester or supervised designee prior to removal. Cutting trees greater than 14 inches diameter at breast height (DBH), and trees of any size within the Stream Environment Zone (SEZ), will require a permit from the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, and all required permits will be obtained prior to implementation. Equipment used for project activities will include hand tools, tracked and tow-behind chippers, a skid-steer masticator, and fire engines. Vehicles will travel off existing roadways as needed to complete treatment activities.
Vegetation within the project area consists of mixed conifer forest, open forest or open grassy areas interspersed with brush, and a riparian corridor along Angora Creek, a perennial watercourse and tributary to Lake Tahoe. The mixed conifer forest located between Angora Creek and Sawmill Road is dominated by Jeffrey pine (Pinus jeffreyi), lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta), and white fir (Abies concolor), with scattered red fir (Abies magnifica). The open forest south of the creek is dominated by lodgepole pine with scattered Sierra juniper (Juniperus grandis) and is interspersed with patches of antelope bitterbrush (Purshia tridentata), sagebrush (Artemisia spp.), and native grasses.
Contact Information
Name
Patrick McDaniel
Agency Name
CAL FIRE
Job Title
Forester I
Contact Types
Lead/Public Agency / Parties Undertaking Project
Phone
Location
Counties
El Dorado
Regions
Northern California
Total Acres
15
Township
12N
Range
18E
Section
20
Base
MDBM
Notice of Exemption
Exempt Status
Categorical Exemption
Type, Section or Code
Class 4/15304 Minor Alterations to Land
Reasons for Exemption
This project fits under the description for a Class 4 (Minor Alterations to Land) Categorical Exemption to CEQA. CAL FIRE staff conducted an environmental review to confirm that no exceptions apply which would preclude the use of a Notice of Exemption for this project. This review included an on-the-ground field inspection by the project forester, consultation with a CAL FIRE Archaeologist familiar with the property and notification to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and Regional Water Quality Control Board. The Department has concluded that no significant environmental impact would occur to aesthetics, agriculture and forestland/timberland, air quality, biological resources, cultural resources, energy, geology and soils, greenhouse gas emissions, hazards and hazardous materials, hydrology and water quality, land use planning, mineral resources, noise, population and housing, public services, recreation, transportation/traffic, utilities and service systems, or wildfire. Documentation of the environmental review completed by the Department is kept on file at AEU Unit Headquarters in Camino.
Attachments
Notice of Exemption
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