Eagle Ranch Vegetation Management EPP
Summary
SCH Number
2026090700
Public Agency
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection
(CAL FIRE)
Document Title
Eagle Ranch Vegetation Management EPP
Document Type
NOE - Notice of Exemption
Received
Posted
9/16/2026
Document Description
The Eagle Ranch project will create a mosaic of mixed age class vegetation in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone (FHSZ) area with rural ranch sites, adjacent to the more densely populated community of Atascadero, by reducing high fuel loading and breaking up fuel continuity. The operational area is broken into three independent treatment units for a total of 250 acres. Primary treatment will be dozer crushing/mastication in chamise chaparral with broadcast burning of the slash within crushed areas along with adjacent areas where fuels and topography are suitable for prescribed burning. Mastication and additional hand crew work will be conducted in areas planned for broadcast burning in order to strengthen control lines and mow ladder fuels around trees and mature shrubs. CAL FIRE will also conduct thinning of grey pine. Retention of native oaks, except for very limited hazardous trees, is a project goal. CAL FIRE Hand crew will be used along the existing access roads to trim oak trees to improve the access/evacuation route; and as needed in equipment exclusion zones. Treatment activities include dozer crushing, fire control line construction, prescribed burning, hand crew thinning, chipping, pile burning, pruning, hazard tree removal, and mechanical mastication. Ultimately, reducing the threat of catastrophic wildfires in this area in cooperation with landowner objectives will result in ecological restoration, hazard reduction and range improvement.
Contact Information
Name
David Erickson
Agency Name
CAL FIRE
Job Title
Forester 1
Contact Types
Lead/Public Agency
Phone
Location
Cities
Atascadero
Counties
San Luis Obispo
Regions
Southern California
Zip
93422
Total Acres
250
Township
T28S
Range
R12E
Section
33
Base
MDBM
Other Location Info
Atascadero, T28S, R12E (Section 33, 34, 35); and T29S, R12E (Section
1 & 2) MDBM
Notice of Exemption
Exempt Status
Declared Emergency
Type, Section or Code
Sec. 21080(b)(4); 15269(c)
Reasons for Exemption
Pursuant to CEQA Section 21080(b)(4) and CEQA Guidelines Section 15269 (c) a project is exempt from CEQA if it is a “specific action necessary to prevent or mitigate an emergency.” On March 1, 2025, Governor Gavin Newsom proclaimed a State of Emergency to exist due to catastrophic wildfire risks created by forest conditions and found that conditions of extreme peril to the safety of persons and property exist within the State of California due to these conditions. Pursuant to the Emergency Proclamation, a critical fuels reduction project qualifies for CEQA exemption if: (1) it has as one of its primary objectives at least one of the following activities: (a) removal of hazardous, dead, and/or dying trees; (b) removal of vegetation for the creation of strategic fuel breaks as identified by approved fire prevention plans, including without limitation CAL FIRE Unit Fire Plans or Community Wildfire Preparedness Plans; (c) removal of vegetation for community defensible space; (d) removal of vegetation along roadways, highways, and freeways for the creation of safer ingress and egress routes for the public and responders and to reduce roadside ignitions; (e) removal of vegetation using cultural traditional ecological knowledge for cultural burning and/or prescribed fire treatments for fuels reduction; or (f) maintenance of previously-established fuel breaks or fuels modification projects; (2) has been approved by the appropriate Agency Secretary, or their designee, as being eligible to be conducted under the suspension; and (3) is conducted in accordance with the State Environmental Protection Plan (EPP). This project has as its primary purpose (removal of vegetation using prescribed fire treatments for fuels reduction), has been approved by the Secretary of Natural Resources as being eligible to be conducted under the suspension, and will be conducted in accordance with the EPP. The action is therefore exempt from CEQA. Documentation of the environmental review completed by the Department is kept on file at CAL FIRE SLU, Cal Poly - Technology Park II, 1 Grand Avenue, Building 84, Rm. 214, San Luis Obispo, CA 93407.
County Clerk
San Luis Obispo
Attachments
Notice of Exemption
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