Information from the USFS about the South Fork Sacramento Project

Good morning,

The Shasta-Trinity National Forest, Shasta McCloud Management Unit invites your comments on the draft Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for the South Fork Sacramento Public Safety and Forest Restoration Project. The project proposes the implementation of public safety, fire resilience, and recreation management activities on National Forest System Lands. The project area falls entirely within two high-risk firesheds and the need for action is influenced and supported by the Wildfire Crisis Strategy. The project area is above Lake Siskiyou, approximately 3 miles west of Mount Shasta, California, and includes the land along Castle Lake Road, South Fork Sacramento Road, and southwest to Gumboot Lake. The project’s purpose is to improve public safety and fire resilience of forested ecosystems to mitigate the potential of a large wildfire and to improve recreational opportunities. The Forest’s preferred alternative is Alternative 4, which was designed to address concerns over effects to northern spotted owls, northern spotted owl habitat, goshawk, fishers, late-successional/old-growth (LSOG) associated wildlife, and LSOG in Late Successional Reserve and/or Managed Late Successional Areas (MLSA).

Shasta-Trinity is seeking authorization to use the Western Firesheds Emergency Action Declaration (Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Section 40807). The draft Environmental Assessment provides public notice of the emergency authority being considered and an opportunity for public comment.

A legal notice has been published in the newspaper of record, the Record Searchlight: https://www.redding.com/public-notices/notice/07/21/2023/legal-notice-for-comment-usda-forest-2023-07-21-redding-record-searchlight-california-18976bacaa1. Public comments on the drafts may be submitted up to 30 days from the publishing date of the legal notice. Electronic comments, in acceptable [plain text (.txt), rich text (.rtf), or Word (.doc)] formats, may be submitted to STNF-comments-SMMU@usda.gov (please include “SFS” in the subject line). For more information, please visit the project webpage: https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/stnf/?project=61863.

Looking forward to hearing from you!