Bowerman Cooperative Fuel Break Forest Health Project

Trinity County Resource Conservation District (the District) plans to implement fuels reduction activities in the form of manual thinning, roadside chipping and pile burning on an approximately 608-acre footprint. The project area is with National Forest Lands near the community of Trinity Center, and along State Route 3, stretching seven miles south to the community of Covington Mill. This project’s NEPA coverage is under a Categorical Exclusion, 36 CFR 220.6 (e)(6), signed May 6th, 2025. This project is an integral part of the District’s landscape strategy aimed at protecting Trinity County communities from future catastrophic wildfire events and returning the landscape to a healthy, less hazardous state. Fuel reduction treatments will be strategically implemented along roadsides, adjacent to critical infrastructure and as needed where access is feasible, to protect the life and property of residents of Trinity Center and Covington Mill as well as to provide safe evacuation routes and ease of firefighter access and suppression efforts. Our objective is to treat approximately 608 acres over a 3-year period beginning in 2025. 565 acres of manual thinning, 523 acres of piling, and 42 acres of chipping will take place along roadsides and in areas where established road systems and topography are not conducive to mechanical equipment access. Pile burning will take place on up to 523 acres; 111 acres of broadcast burning will also be completed, with the District and the Watershed Resource and Training Center staff and the Trinity County Volunteer Fire Department providing support under a United States Forest Service burn boss. These treatments will take place in the 2026-2029 burn seasons as other treatments are completed. The prescription includes manual thinning of small diameter conifers up to 10-inch DBH and 35-foot spacing; single and clumped hardwood tress up to 4-inch DBH and 20-foot spacing (clumped hardwoods down to 2-3 main stems); and brush species greater than 1-inch diameter and less than 6 feet high. Remaining trees will be pruned up to 7 feet from the ground or no more than half the live tree crown. Any brush or small-diameter trees (ladder fuels) under the drip line of leave trees will be cut and removed, which will reduce the likelihood of high-intensity crown fires in the future. Natural- and activity-created slash will be piled and burned or removed to meet desired fuel levels. Chippers may be used on up to 42 acres where roadside access is available. Broadcast burning will occur on 111 acres following the completion of manual thinning treatments. Desired conditions will be maintained with a combination of broadcast burning, understory burning, and/or jackpot burning at return intervals of 3-10 years. Additional manual thinning, and chipping may also be necessary to facilitate prescribed fire activities.