Mattole–Lost Coast Planning Unit Action Plan
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HUMBOLDT COUNTY COMMUNITY WILDFIRE PROTECTION PLAN, 2019 MATTOLE–LOST COAST PLANNING UNIT ACTION PLAN Mattole River. Photo: Mattole Restoration Council. Chapter 4.12: Mattole–Lost Coast Planning Unit Action Plan – Revised Nov. 26, 2019 HUMBOLDT COUNTY COMMUNITY WILDFIRE PROTECTION PLAN, 2019 Table of Contents — Mattole–Lost Coast Planning Unit Action Plan 4.12 Mattole–Lost Coast Planning Unit Action Plan 4.12.1 Mattole–Lost Coast Planning Unit Description ................................................................. 4.12-1 4.12.2 Mattole–Lost Coast Assets and Values at Risk .................................................................. 4.12-2 4.12.3 Mattole–Lost Coast Fire Environment .............................................................................. 4.12-3 4.12.4 Mattole–Lost Coast Wildfire Protection Capabilities ........................................................ 4.12-7 4.12.5 Mattole–Lost Coast Evacuation ......................................................................................... 4.12-8 4.12.6 Mattole–Lost Coast Community Preparedness............................................................... 4.12-11 4.12.7 Mattole–Lost Coast Local Wildfire Prevention Plans ...................................................... 4.12-13 4.12.8 Mattole–Lost Coast Community Identified Potential Projects ....................................... 4.12-14 4.12.9 Mattole–Lost Coast Action Plan ...................................................................................... 4.12-16 Figures Figure 4.12.1 Mattole–Lost Coast: Community-Identified Assets at Risk ......................................... 4.12-2 Figure 4.12.2 Mattole–Lost Coast: Fires Over 10 Acres 1997-2017 ................................................. 4.12-5 Figure 4.12.3 Mattole–Lost Coast: Fire Protection Resources ......................................................... 4.12-8 Figure 4.12.4 Mattole–Lost Coast: Potential Evacuation Routes ..................................................... 4.12-9 Figure 4.12.5 Mattole–Lost Coast: Fire Prevention Accomplishments ........................................... 4.12-12 Figure 4.12.6 Mattole–Lost Coast: Community-Identified Proposed Projects ............................... 4.12-14 Figure 4.12.7 Mattole–Lost Coast: Community-Identified Priority Projects .................................. 4.12-15 Helpful Links MATTOLE RESTORATION COUNCIL: http://www.mattole.org LOWER MATTOLE FIRE SAFE COUNCIL: https://humboldtgov.org/640/Lower-Mattole-FSC HONEYDEW FIREWISE: https://humboldtgov.org/727/Honeydew PETROLIA FIREWISE: https://humboldtgov.org/739/Petrolia CAL FIRE HUMBOLDT-DEL NORTE UNIT: http://www.fire.ca.gov/HUU HUMBOLDT COUNTY WEBGIS: https://webgis.co.humboldt.ca.us/HCEGIS2.6_CWPP HUMBOLDT COUNTY FIRE SAFE COUNCIL (HCFSC): https://humboldtgov.org/FireSafeCouncil HCFSC REPRESENTATIVE, CYBELLE IMMITT: [email protected] Chapter 4.12: Mattole–Lost Coast Planning Unit Action Plan – Revised Nov. 26, 2019 HUMBOLDT COUNTY COMMUNITY WILDFIRE PROTECTION PLAN, 2019 4.12 MATTOLE–LOST COAST PLANNING UNIT ACTION PLAN 4.12.1 MATTOLE–LOST COAST PLANNING UNIT DESCRIPTION The Mattole–Lost Coast Planning Unit encompasses over 200,000 acres situated in the southwestern coastal region of Humboldt County, located west of the Humboldt Redwoods State Park. Although no major highways exist in this planning unit, both routine and emergency transportation needs are served by three separate, distinct, and interconnected county roads. These three roads are “Mattole,” “Bull Creek,” and “Wilder Ridge,” with the town of Honeydew at the origin or terminus of all three. The Unit is part of the Mattole watershed, which is characterized as “an extremely geologically active and unstable watershed.”1 The terrain is mostly mountainous with steep valleys formed by tributaries of the Mattole River. The Mattole River comes into the Unit south of Honeydew, flows alongside Mattole Road, and joins the Pacific Ocean A larger map of this planning unit can be viewed just south of Petrolia. in Map 4.12.1, Mattole–Lost Coast Planning Unit. Petrolia and Honeydew are the community centers shown on most maps within this planning Watershed: All of the land that drains water unit, with populations of about 500 and 600, runoff into a specific body of water. Watersheds respectively. However, there are other significant may be referred to as drainage areas or drainage basins. Ridges of higher elevation usually form the neighborhood clusters and individual homesteads boundaries between watersheds by directing the scattered throughout the Unit. Well-known water to one side of the ridge or the other. The neighborhoods located along, or on offshoots of, the water then flows to the low point of the three primary roads listed above include Wilder watershed. Ridge, Panther Gap, Windy Nip/Doreen Drive, Green Fir/New Jerusalem, Conklin Creek, Lower North Fork, Lighthouse Road, and Prosper Ridge.2 Many of the residences associated with these neighborhoods are located miles off of the main transportation corridors, along rough gravel roads. Private lands are the dominant ownership pattern in this unit; these include residential parcels, medium to large tracts of ranchland, and land owned by industrial timber companies in the northeastern portion of the Unit (primarily Humboldt Redwood Company with a scattering of properties owned by R.H. Emmerson & Son LLC). This unit also contains a large portion of public land belonging to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)—the King Range National Conservation Area—which dominates the southwestern quadrant of the Unit. The Conservation Area is an environmentally significant area managed by the Arcata Field Office, which is responsible for the administration of natural resources, lands, and mineral programs.3 It is worth noting that the Humboldt Redwoods State Park is adjacent to the eastern boundary of this planning unit and wildfire activity and mitigation projects will have a direct impact on the residents and landscape of the Mattole-Lost Coast planning Unit. 1 Firewise Communities/USA® Recognition Program. (2011). Petrolia Community Assessment. (p. 4). 2 Lower Mattole Fire Safe Council. (2016) Lower Mattole Community Wildfire Protection Plan. Retrieved from http://www.mattole.org/resources/fire-fuels 3 Lower Mattole Fire Safe Council. (2016). 2016 Lower Mattole CWPP. (p. 20). Chapter 4.12: Mattole–Lost Coast Planning Unit Action Plan – Revised Nov. 26, 2019 4.12-1 HUMBOLDT COUNTY COMMUNITY WILDFIRE PROTECTION PLAN, 2019 4.12.2 MATTOLE–LOST COAST ASSETS AND VALUES AT RISK Assets and values at risk are those things that are important to quality of life that can be threatened with destruction or loss from wildfire. These include a variety of things such as homes, businesses, critical infrastructure, cultural sites, wildlife habitat, natural resources, air and water quality, recreational facilities and areas, historical structures, and any other important attribute that individual communities rely on for their well-being. The majority of assets at risk in this planning unit are residential homes and communities, along with a variety of commercial and service industries, community centers, medical clinics, schools, fire stations, churches, as well as infrastructure components, such as power lines and access roads. Significant recreation areas in the Unit include the Mattole Campground, the A.W. Way County Park, and the King Range National Conservation Area. Shell mounds of historical and cultural significance are in the westernmost part of the Unit. The Mattole River has important ecological significance as the Unit’s primary freshwater body; it is part of a federally and state-designated Area of Special Biological Significance and drains into a Critical Coastal Area and Marine Protected Area. Sensitive and listed species in this region include steelhead trout, Chinook salmon, coho salmon, martens, fishers, and northern spotted owls—to name a few. 4 Hardwood and coniferous forests are assets within this unit as well; they are valuable for subsistence, commercial livelihood, and ecological resources. Some areas, especially near Wilder Ridge, Panther Gap, Lighthouse Road, and the Lower and Upper North Fork, contain many of the last remaining old-growth forests in the lower Mattole Watershed.5 Map 4.12.2, found at the end of this Unit Action Plan, illustrates assets and values at risk to wildfire identified by community members at public workshops. More detailed descriptions of community- identified fire planning features can be found on the Humboldt County Web GIS6 Portal: webgis.co.humboldt.ca.us/HCEGIS2.6_CWPP. Community-identified assets at risk can be categorized as shown in the figure below. This list is not intended to be comprehensive and illustrates participating community members’ concerns. FIGURE 4.12.1 MATTOLE–LOST COAST: COMMUNITY-IDENTIFIED ASSETS AT RISK o A.W. Way Park o Mattole Valley Community Center o CAL FIRE Mattole Station o Mattole Valley Resource Center o Church of Scientology o Mill Creek Forest o Etter Enterprise Zone o Mount Pierce Communication Site o Gilham Butte Forest o Old South Maid Ranch House – Historical o Honeydew Fire Stations o Open Door satellite clinic o Honeydew Store and Post Office o Petrolia Fire Department o Mattole Camp o Petrolia Store and Post Office o Mattole Campground o Rainbow Ridge Cell tower repeater o Mattole Grange o Seven Day Adventist Church o Mattole Union School Campus (Triple o St. Patrick’s Church Junction High and Honeydew Elementary) o Mattole Salmon