Final Environmental United States Department of Impact Statement Agriculture Forest Service Strategic Community Fuelbreak May 2018 Improvement Project Monterey Ranger District, Los Padres National Forest, Monterey County, California In accordance with Federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, the USDA, its Agencies, offices, and employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity (including gender expression), sexual orientation, disability, age, marital status, family/parental status, income derived from a public assistance program, political beliefs, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity, in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA (not all bases apply to all programs). Remedies and complaint filing deadlines vary by program or incident. 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Submit your completed form or letter to USDA by: (1) mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20250-9410; (2) fax: (202) 690-7442; or (3) email: [email protected] . USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer and lender. Los Padres National Forest – Strategic Community Fuelbreak Improvement Project FEIS Strategic Community Fuelbreak Improvement Project Final Environmental Impact Statement Lead Agency: USDA Forest Service Responsible Official: Kevin B. Elliott, Forest Supervisor Los Padres National Forest 6750 Navigator Way, Suite 150, Goleta, CA 93117 For Information Contact: Nic Elmquist, Prescribed Fire & Fuels Specialist at 805-968-6640 or Kyle Kinports, NEPA Coordinator at 805-961-5710 Los Padres National Forest 6750 Navigator Way, Suite 150, Goleta, CA 93117 Abstract: The Los Padres National Forest proposes to re-establish and maintain approximately 24 miles of historically used fuelbreaks – all of which originated as firelines – on strategic ridgelines within the wildland interface on the periphery of the Monterey District; approximately 10.4 miles within the Ventana Wilderness and 13.6 miles outside of wilderness. Alternative 1 is the No Action Alternative: No change from current management practices. Alternative 2 is the Proposed Action: Re-establish and maintain approximately 24 miles of historically used firebreaks. Wilderness fuelbreaks would be re-established manually with handheld motorized tools, then maintained with traditional tools. Non-wilderness lands would be re-established and maintained with a combination of handheld motorized tools and machine equipment such as excavators. Alternative 3 would use traditional tools only in wilderness, both for re-establishment and maintenance. Treatments outside of wilderness would be the same as Alternative 2. Alternative 4 is the Agency’s preferred alternative. This alternative was developed in response to public comments. Wilderness fuelbreaks would be re-established and maintained manually with a combination of traditional tools and handheld motorized tools. Non-wilderness lands would be re-established and maintained with a combination of handheld motorized tools, machine equipment such as excavators, and use of herbicide. Executive Summary i Los Padres National Forest – Strategic Community Fuelbreak Improvement Project FEIS Executive Summary The Monterey Ranger District of the Los Padres National Forest proposes to re-establish and maintain a series of fuelbreaks1 on ridgelines that extend in and out of the Ventana Wilderness, all of which are historically-used strategic firelines2 within the wildland urban interface. The fuelbreaks would facilitate wildfire suppression actions and reinforce defensible locations by providing areas of lower fire intensities, improve firefighter access and enhance fireline production rates. The ridgeline locations (Figure 2 Vicinity Map) are the only strategically located geographic ridges that effectively parallel communities at- risk from wildfire originating on the national forest. Each time these locations have been used in fire suppression operations over the past four decades, they were successful in preventing wildfire spread from the national forest into the urban interface. During the summer of 2016, firelines were again constructed on most of these same ridgelines to help contain the Soberanes Fire within the national forest. Studies3 indicate the risk of fires approaching these ridgelines again is high. The Strategic Community Fuelbreak Improvement Project is an outcome of Firescape Monterey as a way to design and establish fuelbreaks in a non-emergency environment to both enhance protection for at-risk communities and preserve wilderness character. Firescape Monterey is a local collaborative effort that has brought together local community members, a diversity of environmental organizations, federal, state and local governments, and others to help focus and prioritize our fire management practices. The primary communities shielded by the proposed fuelbreaks are Big Sur, Palo Colorado, Cachagua, and Jamesburg. All of these communities are at-risk from wildfire based on fire probability (fire history) and hazard or expected fire behavior (fuels, weather, topography, and on-the-ground firefighter experience), and meet the definition of “communities at-risk” pursuant to the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003. In wilderness, wilderness character is diminished when firelines are re-opened by bulldozers during emergency suppression of wildfires. Bulldozers scrape firelines down to mineral soil removing all vegetation and combustible material. By proactively designing and establishing strategic fuelbreaks during a non-emergency environment, the Forest Service can reduce the reliance on mechanized equipment and subsequently reduce the adverse fire suppression impacts on the wilderness landscape. 1 Fuelbreaks are strategically placed strips or blocks of land on which a cover of dense, heavy, or flammable vegetation has been changed to one of lower fuel volume or reduced flammability while maintaining the existing overstory. 2 Firelines are a strategically placed strip or block of land scraped by bulldozers down to mineral soil to remove all vegetation and combustible material. 3 Drury 2014, Metzger 2015 Executive Summary ii Los Padres National Forest – Strategic Community Fuelbreak Improvement Project FEIS Public involvement has identified impacts on wilderness character (compliance with Wilderness Act) as a signficant issue if fuelbreaks are maintained in wilderness. Impacts include noise, visuals, use of motorized equipment, and manipulation of vegetation. To mitigate impacts on wilderenss character, an interdisciplinary team of relevant specialists developed additional alternatives and project design standards. The alternatives studied in detail are summarized below: . Under the No Action (Alternative 1) no fuelbreaks would be re-established or maintained to accomplish the purpose and need. During wildfire emergency response, fireline construction would likely continue with heavy equipment along the strategic ridglines. The Proposed Action (Alternative 2) would re-establish and maintain 24 miles (approximately 542 acres) of historically used fuelbreaks – all of which originated as firelines - extending inside and outside of designated wilderness. Non-wilderness treatments include a combination of handheld motorized tools, mastication, machine or hand piling, and prescribed fire. Wilderness treatments include a combinaiton of handheld motorized tools and traditional tools: handheld motorized tools for initial re-establishment, then traditional tools only for maintenance.This alternative includes a monitoring plan that will assess the project over time and identify any necessary management adjustments. Alternative 3 is a non-motorized wilderness treatment alternative. It is the same as the Proposed Action with the exception that all wilderness treatments would utilize traditional handtools only. The Preferred Alternative (Alternative 4) is the same as the Proposed Action, with exceptions: herbicide treatment would be allowed on non-wilderness fuelbreaks, and traditional handtools will be emphasized in wilderness with the option to use handheld motorized tools for both re-establishment and maintenance. Three other alternatives were considered but were eliminated from detailed study because they were determined to be have been outside the scope of the need to develop effective and efficient wildland fire suppression strategies near the wildland interface or reduce fire suppression impacts on the landscape, duplicative of the alternatives considered in detail, would cause unnecessary