Cottrell Ranch, LLC, “Butte Creek / Buck Mountain Forest Health Project” - Butte Creek Road Vegetation Management
Summary
SCH Number
2026071155
Public Agency
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection
(CAL FIRE)
Document Title
Cottrell Ranch, LLC, “Butte Creek / Buck Mountain Forest Health Project” - Butte Creek Road Vegetation Management
Document Type
NOE - Notice of Exemption
Received
Posted
7/29/2026
Document Description
CAL FIRE is providing funding to Cottrell Ranch, LLC to implement forest fuel reduction activities on the Butte Creek Ranch and Buck Mountain Ranch properties, including the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) easement area along Butte Creek Road (also known as “Hidden Vally Road”) in Humboldt County. Easement treatment activities include removing dead and dying trees, shrubs, and live conifers from overstocked stands and oak woodlands, and include a full range of treatment options including manual removal, chipping, mastication, and/or biomass removal using ground-based equipment. These activities will complete a shaded fuel break to decrease the severity of wildfire, help protect the communities surrounding the project area from wildfire, increase fire resilience, and help develop safe ingress and egress routes for residents, members of the public, and firefighters during a wildfire event.
Contact Information
Name
Shannon Johnson
Agency Name
California Department of Foresty and Fire Protection
Job Title
Staff Chief
Contact Types
Lead/Public Agency
Phone
Name
Leslie Moore
Agency Name
Cottrell Ranch, LLC
Job Title
Member
Contact Types
Project Applicant / Parties Undertaking Project
Address
Phone
Email
Location
Cities
Bridgeville
Counties
Humboldt
Regions
Northern California
Total Acres
13
Other Location Info
Portions of Butte Creek Road - BLM managed easement through T1N, R4E Sec 25, 35, and 36 HBM.
Notice of Exemption
Exempt Status
Statutory Exemption
Type, Section or Code
PRC 4799.05(d)(1)
Reasons for Exemption
CEQA does not apply to fuel reduction, reforestation, & habitat restoration projects 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 proposed project was reviewed under the NEPA Hazard Removal and Vegetation Management Programmatic Environmental Assessment (DOI-BLM-CA-9000-2018-0002-EA, finalized February 2019) and Determination of NEPA Adequacy (DNA) prepared by the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Department of the Interior, singed February 24, 2026 (DOI-BLM-CA-N030-2026-004-DNA).
The NEPA record of project approval is available to the General Public at: https://eplanning.blm.gov/Project-Home/?id=c63eb2f3-ed18-f111-8342-001dd8084607
Attachments
Notice of Exemption
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