USFS to open fuels-reduction program to the public

The U.S. Forest Service will host an open house presentation on their Healthy Forest Restoration Act project at the South Shore office Wednesday.

At 6:15 p.m., Forest Supervisor Terri Marceron will host an overview of the proposed forest fuels reduction program under design.

A half-hour presentation on the details of the project will follow. Attendees will then be given the opportunity to ask questions and talk to team members at work on the project.

While the open house is not a public hearing, its purpose is to provide project design information to the public before the second year of surveys and environmental analysis begins.

Among the 40,200 acres contained within the project area between Stateline and Cascade Lake, there are 12,525 acres in the wildland urban intermix identified for treatment.

Treatment includes a combination of hand-and mechanical thinning and prescribed burns.

The project will include fuels reduction within California spotted owl and Northern goshawk habitat, as well as work in stream environment zones.

A draft proposal and maps of the project area are available for review at www.fs.fed.us/r5/ltbmu/projects.

Printed copies of the draft proposal and maps are also available through Duncan Leao at (530) 543-2660.