Round Mountain Landscape Resilience Project, Phase One (SNC1817)
Summary
SCH Number
2026030293
Public Agency
Sierra Nevada Conservancy
Document Title
Round Mountain Landscape Resilience Project, Phase One (SNC1817)
Document Type
NOE - Notice of Exemption
Received
Posted
3/6/2026
Document Description
Sierra Nevada Conservancy (SNC) would provide funding to the Yuba Watershed Institute (YWI) to partner with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to implement fuels-reduction treatments on 152 acres. The purpose of the project is to establish and maintain a continuous 400-ft-wide ridgetop shaded fuel break system to reduce wildfire intensity, protect ingress/egress, and safeguard nearby communities around Nevada City and the South Yuba River canyon. Treatments on BLM lands include hand-thinning and mechanical treatments. Approximately 75 acres will be hand-thinned and chipped, with chips to be hauled off the site. Shrubs and trees would be hand-cut with chainsaws. Residual trees would be limbed up, retaining at least 1/3 of live crown. Cut material would be disposed of using a tow-behind chipper or tracked chipper. Approximately 64 acres will be mechanically masticated or hand-thinned and chipped, using a tow-behind chipper or tracked chipper with chips dispersed on site. Whenever feasible or warranted by resource concerns, equipment that minimizes ground disturbance would be used. Thirteen acres will be hand-thinned and piled for future burning. Shrubs and trees would be hand-cut with chainsaws. Residual trees would be limbed up retaining at least 1/3 of live crown. Cut material would be lopped and scattered, placed in piles and disposed of through prescribed pile burning or left as a wildlife pile.
Contact Information
Name
Mary Akens
Agency Name
Sierra Nevada Conservancy
Job Title
General Counsel
Contact Types
Lead/Public Agency
Phone
Name
Chris Friedel
Agency Name
Yuba Watershed Institute
Job Title
Executive Director
Contact Types
Project Applicant / Parties Undertaking Project
Phone
Location
Cities
3 mi north of Nevada City
Counties
Nevada
Regions
Northern California
Other Location Info
Bureau of Land Management lands approximately three miles north of Nevada City, on the South Rim of the South Yuba River Canyon, along the following roadways around Round Mountain: Hudson Way, Merrimas Way, Rock Creek Road, and Moonlight Trail. Treatment center at approximately -121.002, 39.317 degrees.
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 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 SNC has authorized/approved the use of the funding for the YWI to partner with BLM to conduct fuels-reduction treatments on BLM forestlands. The project was reviewed in its entirety in the BLM’s Round Mountain Landscape Resilience Project Environmental Assessment with Round Mountain Landscape Resilience Project Finding of No Significant Impact and Decision Record signed on January 14, 2025.
County Clerk
Nevada
Attachments
Notice of Exemption
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