Tahoe National Forest Seeks Public Input Regarding Forest Health Treatments Near Camptonville and New Bullard’s Bar Reservoir

Tahoe National Forest (TNF) is seeking public comment regarding proposed forest health and wildfire risk reduction treatments around the community of Camptonville and New Bullard’s Bar Reservoir. The Forest Service is seeking input on the planned actions within TNF’s subproject area #2 of the North Yuba Landscape Resilience Project (NYLRP).

The 275,000-acre NYLRP is a landscape-scale vegetation and fuels management project
designed to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire, create fire adapted communities, improve
forest health and promote mature and old growth forest characteristics that are resilient to
fire, drought, insects and disease. Project planning began in 2018, with implementation
expected over 15 to 20 years. The project was informed by collaboration with the North Yuba
Forest Partnership, which includes SYRCL and a diverse group of partners working to reduce the risk of wildfire and improve forest health within the North Yuba River watershed.

The NYLRP is being implemented in several phases through a staged-decision approach,
providing flexibility to adjust treatments based on field conditions and monitoring while still
meeting landscape-scale goals. The project’s record of decision for its first phase of
implementation (subproject area #1), treating approximately 32,000 acres, was issued in July, 2023

Public comment is now open for the project’s second phase (subproject area #2), which
will treat approximately 29,000 acres.

“This next record of decision on the North Yuba landscape continues our path to dramatically
increase the scale and pace of forest health treatments for those communities surrounded by
dense and overgrown forested land directly in, and reliant on, the North Yuba watershed,” said
acting Tahoe National Forest Supervisor Heather Noel. “We are heavily invested in creating a
more resilient fire-adapted forest by taking necessary measures to reduce the potential for
extreme fire behavior.”

Wildfire risk reduction efforts within the North Yuba landscape are being prioritized in alignment with the U.S. Forest Service’s Wildfire Crisis Strategy, a gameplan to address the growing risk of catastrophic wildfire across the United States. The North Yuba project footprint encompasses several communities surrounded by the largest area of unburned forest in the Central Sierra Nevada, placing it at a high risk for destructive wildfire.

Two in-person public open houses will be held to discuss this preliminary draft record of decision and answer questions:

• Jan. 28, 5:30 to 7 p.m., North San Juan Community Center, 29190 State Highway 49,
  North San Juan, Calif., 95960
• Jan. 30, 5:30 to 7 p.m., Camptonville Community Center, 15333 Cleveland Ave,
  Camptonville, Calif., 95922

If you would like to provide comments on this preliminary draft record of decision for NYLRP
subproject area #2, please submit through any of the following methods:

• Mail: Heather Noel, Acting Tahoe National Forest Supervisor c/o Nicole Gemmell, Attn:
  North Yuba Landscape Resilience Project, 631 Coyote Street, Nevada City, CA 95959
• Hand delivered: Tahoe National Forest Headquarters, 631 Coyote Street, Nevada City
  CA 95959. Office hours for those who wish to hand deliver their written comments are
  8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday-Friday (except federal holidays).
• Email: Send text or html e-mail, Adobe portable document format (PDF), and formats
  viewable in Microsoft Office applications (.doc or .docx). to nicole.gemmell@usda.gov
  with the subject “North Yuba ROD 2”.

Submitted comments should include:

• Name, address and telephone number of the commenter and, if applicable, the
  organization represented
• A heading or subject line of “North Yuba ROD 2”
• Specific concerns, issues or suggestions related to the decision and the reasons for any
  concerns or suggestions.

Additional information regarding this project can be obtained by emailing Nicole Gemmell,
Environmental Coordinator, at nicole.gemmell@usda.gov.