Low Gap Road Forest Resilience Project

The Low Gap Road Forest Resilience Project is a county-led initiative in Mendocino County, focused on improving forest health and wildfire resilience along a strategic ridge west of Ukiah, where the Big, Navarro, and upper Russian River basins converge. The area is currently dominated by densely packed small-diameter trees and thick underbrush, which pose a high risk of fire spreading across watersheds, while invasive species and Douglas-fir encroachment threaten remaining oak woodlands that transition from eastern grasslands to western mixed conifer forests. The project seeks to establish contiguous, fire-resilient forest conditions across thousands of acres, enhancing public safety and restoring critical oak woodland habitats. To achieve these goals, selective vegetation management will be conducted, including the controlled use of herbicides on up to 500 acres within previously treated zones to suppress shrub regrowth and reduce fuel loads. This herbicide component, not originally included in the CalVTP PSA, has been formally amended and is fully consistent with the environmental analysis conducted under the CalVTP PEIR, meaning no additional mitigation or project-specific environmental review is required. The initiative is managed by the Mendocino County Resource Conservation District, with primary contact information provided for forestry and stewardship staff.