Michigan Bluff Community Protection Project - SNC 1322

The Sierra Nevada Conservancy is amending grant agreement #1322 to provide funding to the National Forest Foundation for collaboration with the U.S. Forest Service, Tahoe National Forest, to implement strategic fuel breaks along multiple roadside corridors extending from Michigan Bluff to Sugar Pine Reservoir. The project aims to enhance community protection in the Wildland Urban Intermix by reducing hazardous fuel loads through targeted treatments on 89.5 acres along Iowa Hill Road, Finning Hill Road, Sugar Hill Road, and Brimstone Road, as authorized by the Sugar Pine Roadside Fuel Break Decision Memo Update dated January 6, 2026. Activities include piling biomass previously cleared by the U.S. Forest Service along Elliot Ranch Road and conducting comprehensive fuel break treatments designed to be up to 600 feet wide, with 300 feet on each side of the roads. The methods employed will involve mastication, cutting and piling, pruning, pile burning, and broadcast prescribed fire, focusing on surface and ladder fuels, conifer materials under 10 inches in diameter at breast height, and clusters of standing dead trees to mitigate wildfire risk. This initiative supports safe access and evacuation routes for local communities by reducing the potential for intense ground and crown fires to transition into roadway corridors. The amendment authorizes the use of existing grant funds exclusively for these specified activities and aligns with long-term forest health and fire resilience goals. The project is being managed by the Sierra Nevada Conservancy’s Field Operations & Grants Division, with Andy Fristensky as the primary point of contact and Anne Graham from the National Forest Foundation serving in a coordination role. The work will occur in California and is part of broader regional efforts to reduce wildfire threats in high-risk areas.