Lily Gap Vegetative Maintenance, Unit One (SNC1819)
Summary
SCH Number
2026030296
Public Agency
Sierra Nevada Conservancy
Document Title
Lily Gap Vegetative Maintenance, Unit One (SNC1819)
Document Type
NOE - Notice of Exemption
Received
Posted
3/6/2026
Document Description
Sierra Nevada Conservancy (SNC) would provide funding to Calaveras County Office of Emergency Services (CCOES) to partner with the United States Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to implement an approximately 161-acre fuels-reduction project near the communities of Bummerville and West Point to reduce fire hazards to nearby communities and improve forest-health conditions on BLM forestland. The CCOES will treat and maintain a shaded fuel break that the BLM initially installed in 2013 by removing ground and ladder fuels and thinning the overstory by approximately half. The original treatment in 2013 was carried out by the BLM and consisted of removal of all conifers smaller than eight inches and mastication of nearly all ladder and ground fuels. It has been nearly 12 years since the original treatment was completed and much of the ladder fuels have grown back. Additionally, there are populations of noxious weeds that have been identified within the project site, such as Spanish broom and oblong spurge. The project will consist of two phases, the first phase will consist of masticating ladder and ground fuels and all conifers smaller than 11 inches in diameter. Trees will be spaced approximately 25-35 feet apart. Some snags and downed logs will be retained on every acre for wildlife habitat. The second phase will consist of a targeted herbicide treatment to minimize regrowth from sprouting species and to control the noxious weed populations.
Contact Information
Name
Mary Akens
Agency Name
Sierra Nevada Conservancy
Job Title
General Counsel
Contact Types
Lead/Public Agency
Phone
Name
Erik Holt
Agency Name
Calaveras County Office of Emergency Services
Job Title
Director of Emergency Services, Calaveras County
Contact Types
Project Applicant / Parties Undertaking Project
Phone
Location
Cities
near Bummerville and West Point
Counties
Calaveras
Regions
Northern California
Other Location Info
161-acre unit of Bureau of Land Management land, approximately 1.6 miles northeast of the town of Bummerville, and 3.6 miles west/southwest of the town of Pioneer. The intersections of Hidden Valley Road, Quartz Mountain Road, and Lily Gap Road are within the project area. Treatment center at approximately -120.499, 38.412 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 CCOES to partner with the BLM to conduct fuels-reduction treatments on BLM forestlands. The project was reviewed in its entirety in the BLM Statewide Wildland Urban Interface Fuels Treatments Programmatic Environmental Assessment from August 2023, and the Determination of NEPA Adequacy for the Lily Gap Vegetative Maintenance Project signed on August 8, 2025.
County Clerk
Calaveras
Attachments
Notice of Exemption
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