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The trestle forest Health Project

The trestle forest Health Project. By: David Candia, Michael Rafanan, Francisco Torres. What is the trestle project?. Location 16,764 acres in El Dorado County – includes Grizzly Flats and Leoni Meadows Purpose Reduce the chance of high-intensity fires by removing fuels

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The trestle forest Health Project

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  1. The trestle forest Health Project By: David Candia, Michael Rafanan, Francisco Torres

  2. What is the trestle project? • Location • 16,764 acres in El Dorado County – includes Grizzly Flats and Leoni Meadows • Purpose • Reduce the chance of high-intensity fires by removing fuels • Create a more resilient forest (pests, disease, etc.) • Create a diverse forest • All while improving conditions for wildlife (spotted owl)

  3. Trestle Project Area

  4. Nepa process National Environmental Policy Act • Three routes of approved action • Categorical Exclusion - CE • Environmental Assessment - EA • Environmental Impact Statement – EIS • Time frame ranges from days to years!

  5. Nepa Graphic

  6. Nepa process - Trestle Project • Trestle Project • Began in 2012 as an EA • Escalated to an EIS due to raising public concerns • Accepted Alternative 5: • Chosen Sept. 2017 • Probable low risk of reducing owl occupancy • Provides for an effective fire modification strategy • Can be implemented in a relatively short time frame

  7. Controversy over alt. 5 Chris Dow – Professional Forester • Owl areas are protected “too much” with large barriers around habitats • Protected area will remain susceptible to intense fires • Spotted owls don’t benefit as much as assumed Ricky Shurtz – Professional Forester • Thinning and Group selection (GS) gives spotted owls space to hunt • Wood rats thrive in post-harvest area Tim Treichelt - Professional Forester • Main goal of Trestle Project is fire prevention • GS would prevent fires and create economic growth • GS would allow for a better habitat for spotted owls and wood rats

  8. Pre-Fire prevention 1920 2017

  9. Data collection - methodology • Objective • To get information and inventory of a forest as accurate and efficient as possible • Gathered data to summarize 2017 forest health • Sampling area • Unit 623417 • 1/5 acre plots • 27 plots

  10. Sample methods 27 26 25 24 23 22 1 21 20 19 2 18 3 17 4 16 5 6 15 7 14 8 9 13 10 11 D 12 1

  11. Data collection - methodology • Process • Radius = 52.7 ft • Sampled any tree > 7 inches dbh • Categorized live w/ mark, live w/o mark, recently dead, and long dead. • Compared data to original samples from 2013

  12. Issues with data collection • 2013 data was collected throughout all Unit 623417 • We collected data in green area. • 2013 – • 147 live trees per acre • 345 square feet basal area per acre • 2017 – • 66 live trees per acre • 263 square feet basal area per acre • 198 square feet of unmarked basal area per acre

  13. Issues with alt. 5 • From the Trestle Project description: “[Alternative 5] was developed based on comments proposing that the thinning of California spotted owl habitats could negatively affect owl populations” • Evidence is under debate • Large areas will remain at risk for high-intensity wildfire

  14. Spotted owl logic sequence

  15. Therefore… Alt. 5 needs to consider… • Group selection as well as thinning • Closer boundaries around spotted owl habitats Overall… • More studies on spotted owls need to be done • Recollection of data throughout all of the Trestle Proj. area

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