NEVADA CITY, CALIF. (April 7, 2023) — The Tahoe National Forest today announced the public release of the final environmental impact statement (FEIS) and draft record of decision (ROD) for the North Yuba Landscape Resilience Project (NYLRP). This project has been developed in collaboration with North Yuba Forest Partnership (NYFP), which includes a diverse group of eight partners.
The 275,000-acre NYLRP includes forest impacted by insects, disease, drought and wildland fire exacerbated by climate change and unsustainable forest conditions. Resources within the landscape include clean water for downstream users, clean air, recreation opportunities and other vital ecosystem services.
Selected by the Forest Service as one of 10 initial landscapes for Bipartisan Infrastructure Law investments, NYLRP is a landscape-scale, vegetation and fuels management project designed to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire and its impacts to the human and natural environment. The project will promote fire adapted communities, improve biodiversity and protect and preserve watershed reliability through a balance of timber harvest, thinning and prescribed fire in the North Yuba watershed.
The North Yuba watershed includes thousands of acres of forest habitat, supports high biodiversity, is home to many communities, offers excellent opportunities for recreation, and is an important source of water to downstream users including the densely populated Sacramento region. The project aims to improve watershed resilience by protecting 260,000 acre-feet of water supply for 60,000 acres of productive farmland while also protecting water quality in the Sacramento Delta. Using the best available science and data, proposed treatments for the NYLRP are key steps in implementing the Forest Service’s Wildfire Crisis Strategy on a landscape-scale.
“The North Yuba Landscape Resilience Project is a unique and exciting project in the country, bringing together a great group of partners with the best science to chart a course for a better forest future,” said Tahoe National Forest Supervisor Eli Ilano. “We have collaborated with partners on the project from concept to implementation. These relationships are already beginning to move us toward protecting communities and water and power infrastructure using ecologically-based forest management. The national and local funding, coupled with innovative conservation financing, are enabling faster completion of work, with on the ground implementation beginning immediately when project decisions are signed.”
To view the FEIS and the Draft ROD please visit the project website at: https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=59693.
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