In Partnership with the
California Department of Fish & Wildlife
and the
Tahoe National Forest
California Department of Fish & Wildlife
and the
Tahoe National Forest
Sierra Brooks - Smithneck WUI Fuels Reduction
"Funding for this project has been provided by the Sierra Nevada Conservancy, an agency of the State of California"
FUNDING SOURCE: Sierra Nevada Conservancy's Immediate Action Wildfire and Forest Resilience Grant Program, funding authority California Budget Act of 2020 (SB 85, 2021) Section 16. AGREEMENT TERM: July 15, 2021 through February 15, 2025.
BID ANNOUNCEMENT: A mandatory bid tour is scheduled for April 25, 2022 at 9am with a bid closure date of May 5, 2022 at 5pm. Please see our "Special Events & Announcements" page for details on the bid document and project map!
PROJECT SCOPE: The Sierra Valley Resource Conservation District's (SVRCD) Sierra Brooks-Smithneck WUI Fuels Reduction Project is located in Sierra County, one mile southeast of the community of Loyalton on 723 acres of state and federal lands. The Tahoe National Forest portion consists of 558 acres and the Smithneck Wildlife Management Area, managed by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), adds an additional 165 acres. The project area is adjacent to the Sierra Brooks Subdivision which is comprised of approximately 195 single family homes. The primary purposes of the project are to improve forest health, increase forest resiliency, reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire adjacent to the community, and provide for future opportunities for prescribed under burning.
The project site is representative of areas on Sierra Nevada's east side that are predominantly ponderosa pine with heavy fuel loading, dense brush, and forest stand conditions that are highly susceptible to wildfire danger. The primary treatment method will be mechanical mastication in the designated Wildland Urban Interface. The long-term goal of the project is to return the landscape to a condition within the range of natural variability allowing for prescribed under burns that will aid in sustainability of forest health conditions. The implementation of proposed treatments will benefit wildlife (critical winter range for the Truckee-Loyalton Deer Herd) and human communities, increase forest resiliency and resistance to destructive wildfire, disease, and insect infestation while protecting future water supply and quality. Treatments were identified as high priorities for fuels reduction in the Sierra County Community Wildfire Protection Plan by the Sierraville Ranger District and the Sierra Brooks Firewise Community. The project furthers the Integrated Regional Water Management Plan for the Upper Feather River Watershed and meets the goals of improving local water retention, improving water quality, and improving groundwater retention and storage.
Consistent with the SNC Watershed Improvement Program, SNC Strategic Plan and the California Budget Act of 2020, the Sierra Brooks-Smithneck project emulates SNC's effort to dramatically increase the pace and scale of science-based, ecological restoration in order to reduce the potential for catastrophic wildfire and the continued degradation of forest ecosystems. Smithneck Creek contributes to the municipal water supply for the disadvantaged communities of Sierra Brooks and Loyalton and the area contains domestic water supply infrastructure. Smithneck Creek also contributes to the Middle Fork Feather River and the State Water Project.
In Partnership with the
California Department of Fish & Wildlife
and the
Tahoe National Forest
Carman Watershed Restoration Project Phase 2
The Carman Creek Watershed Restoration Phase 2 project was funded under a California Department of Fish and Wildlife Proposition 1 Grant with the Sierra Valley Resource Conservation District as grantee, in cooperation with the Carman Valley Watershed Partnership, and the Tahoe National Forest Sierraville Ranger District. The grant term was January 1, 2018 - April 30, 2020. Phase 2 project sites include Site #1 Folchi Meadows, Site #2 Folchi Meadows Railroad Grade, Site #4 West Fork Carman Creek, and Site #8 East Fork Carman Creek. Project sites are located in Plumas and Sierra Counties in the northern portion of the TNF Sierraville Ranger District approximately 2-miles north of Calpine, California.
Total project funding available to implement the Carman Watershed Restoration Project Phase 2 was $681,732. Total funds actually used to implement and complete the project was $654,977.49. Funding included $589,732 from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife Proposition 1 Grant Wetland Restoration Grant Program and $92,000 of matching funds from the U.S. Forest Service Tahoe National Forest.
Large-scale meadow and stream channel restoration activities included filling eroded gullies (full gully fill) and removing railroad grade berms which had degraded the areas by lowering meadow ground water levels, truncating tributary drainage channels, and promoting conversion of wetland and riparian habitat to dry upland sagebrush scrublands. Restoration resulted in successfully reconnecting Folchi Meadows and West Fork Carman Creek remnant meadow channels and tributary drainages and restoring hydrologic function to the degraded East Fork Carman Creek area.
Approximately 10,000 lineal feet of gully was restored for all four sites combined with approximately 30,000 yds3 of upland and railroad grade borrow soil material placed into eroded gullies and incised channels. Successful restoration of the degraded meadows and streams/drainages effectively resulted in direct ecological functional benefit of over 375 acres of mountain meadow habitat and approximately 2 miles of Carman Creek stream corridors within the Carman Watershed.
Secondary project benefits include expanding and enhancing wetland an riparian habitat for sensitive plant and wildlife species including State Listed Threatened and Endangered (T&E) species such as the endangered Willow flycatcher (Empidonax traillii) and State and Federally listed Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog (Rana mucosa). Forest Service listed sensitive plant species such as Plumas ivesia (Ivesia sericoleuca) and sticky goldenweed (Pyrrocoma lucida) will also benefit from improved soil and hydrology condition. Peat wetland-dependent sensitive plants such as Botrychium spp., Meesia triquetra, and M. uliginosa are expected to increase in frequency in hydrologically enhanced raised peat bog spring complexes located within the Folchi Meadows area.
Total project funding available to implement the Carman Watershed Restoration Project Phase 2 was $681,732. Total funds actually used to implement and complete the project was $654,977.49. Funding included $589,732 from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife Proposition 1 Grant Wetland Restoration Grant Program and $92,000 of matching funds from the U.S. Forest Service Tahoe National Forest.
Large-scale meadow and stream channel restoration activities included filling eroded gullies (full gully fill) and removing railroad grade berms which had degraded the areas by lowering meadow ground water levels, truncating tributary drainage channels, and promoting conversion of wetland and riparian habitat to dry upland sagebrush scrublands. Restoration resulted in successfully reconnecting Folchi Meadows and West Fork Carman Creek remnant meadow channels and tributary drainages and restoring hydrologic function to the degraded East Fork Carman Creek area.
Approximately 10,000 lineal feet of gully was restored for all four sites combined with approximately 30,000 yds3 of upland and railroad grade borrow soil material placed into eroded gullies and incised channels. Successful restoration of the degraded meadows and streams/drainages effectively resulted in direct ecological functional benefit of over 375 acres of mountain meadow habitat and approximately 2 miles of Carman Creek stream corridors within the Carman Watershed.
Secondary project benefits include expanding and enhancing wetland an riparian habitat for sensitive plant and wildlife species including State Listed Threatened and Endangered (T&E) species such as the endangered Willow flycatcher (Empidonax traillii) and State and Federally listed Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog (Rana mucosa). Forest Service listed sensitive plant species such as Plumas ivesia (Ivesia sericoleuca) and sticky goldenweed (Pyrrocoma lucida) will also benefit from improved soil and hydrology condition. Peat wetland-dependent sensitive plants such as Botrychium spp., Meesia triquetra, and M. uliginosa are expected to increase in frequency in hydrologically enhanced raised peat bog spring complexes located within the Folchi Meadows area.
| carmancreekwatershedrstp2monitoringreportkaspp2-21-2020.pdf |
| svrcdcarmanwatershedp2postmonreportkaspp3-17-2020.pdf |
| svrcdcarmanp2close-outrep3-25-2020.pdf |
In Partnership with the
Sierra Nevada Conservancy, Tahoe National Forest
and the
Plumas National Forest
SIERRA VALLEY AGRICULTURAL WATER QUALITY & HABITAT ENHANCEMENT PROJECT
The Sierra Valley Agricultural Water Quality and Habitat Enhancement Project was funded by the Sierra Nevada Conservancy through Proposition 84 funding. Additional funding was secured through the Sierra RAC and Plumas RAC bolstering the SVRCD's initiative to: improve water quality; reduce erosion; improve water conservation and water use efficiency; restore healthy vegetation biodiversity through noxious weed containment and control; enhance riparian and habitat areas along waterways and natural springs within the various project sites; and provide educational outreach to the landowners in and around Sierra Valley.
Treatments techniques included non-restricted herbicide, hand pulling and goat grazing for certified organic farms. In addition to this, the project included 5 site improvements and grazing management components to protect the riparian, reduce erosion and enhance water quality and forage diversity. This project was completed in 2017.
For more information visit SNC's website and select the "Searchable Grants Map" link located under "Our Region- Maps":
https://sierranevada.ca.gov/our-region/maps/
Treatments techniques included non-restricted herbicide, hand pulling and goat grazing for certified organic farms. In addition to this, the project included 5 site improvements and grazing management components to protect the riparian, reduce erosion and enhance water quality and forage diversity. This project was completed in 2017.
For more information visit SNC's website and select the "Searchable Grants Map" link located under "Our Region- Maps":
https://sierranevada.ca.gov/our-region/maps/
In Partnership with the
Sierra Nevada Conservancy
and the
Tahoe National Forest
CARMEN CREEK WATERSHED FOREST ECOSYSTEM HEALTH IMPROVEMENT PROJECT
The Carmen Creek Watershed Forest Ecosystem Health Improvement Project was funded by the Sierra Nevada Conservancy through Proposition 84 funding. In partnership with the Tahoe National Forest and the Sierra Nevada Conservancy, the Sierra Valley Resource Conservation District administered hand thinning and fuels reduction treatments on approximately 120 acres of the land identified in this project, as well as, improved approximately 30 acres of riparian habitat and 1.1 miles of stream within the West Fork drainage of Carmen Creek. This project was completed in 2015.
For more information visit SNC's website and select the "Searchable Grants Map" link located under "Our Region- Maps":
https://sierranevada.ca.gov/our-region/maps/
For more information visit SNC's website and select the "Searchable Grants Map" link located under "Our Region- Maps":
https://sierranevada.ca.gov/our-region/maps/