Owens Valley Conservation Camp Perimeter Fuel Break and Hazardous Tree Removal

Owens Valley Conservation Camp Perimeter Fuel Break and Hazardous Tree Removal

This project is located at the Owens Valley Conservation Camp (OVCC), a CAL FIRE/California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) facility located northwest of the town of Bishop, CA at 2781 South Round Valley Road, Bishop, California 93514. The property is primarily surrounded by open space owned and managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) or the Los Angeles Department of Power and Water (LADWP). The project site encompasses the entire property but treatment is limited to the perimeter/property boundary and eight individually identified dying cottonwood (Populous spp.) trees. Project implementation will result in the creation and maintenance a fuel break along the entire perimeter/property boundary. The fuel break will be an average of 30 feet wide, for a total of approximately 13 acres. Fuel break creation and maintenance will occur via hand removal of vegetation (e.g., via the use of hand-tools such as chainsaws, loppers, etc), which will be chipped on site if necessary. Within previously disturbed and/or improved areas, or areas of non-native/landscaped vegetation, up to 100% of ground cover may be cleared. In areas of disturbed and/or intact sage scrub, up to 85% of ground cover may be treated in a mosaic pattern, leaving vegetation islands of various sizes and shapes intact to maintain a natural appearance and retain habitat function. Intact trees within the fuel break footprint will not be removed; dead and dying trees within the footprint will be felled. Residual trees may be pruned to a height of eight feet, or half their height, whichever is less. Large diameter brush that is removed by hand will be chipped onsite; chip depth will not exceed four inches or cover more than 75% of the ground. Where a watercourse crosses the northwest corner of the property, the stream course and associated riparian area will be avoided and provided a 50-foot buffer from treatment. The project will also include the removal of eight dying cottonwood trees on site. These trees are located in a residential area of the property. These trees pose both a hazardous fuel threat, as well as a hazard (i.e., fall threat) to human life and both public and private property. Trees will be fully removed. Smaller diameter branches will be chipped onsite; the trunk and larger diameter branches will be bucked and cut to size for use at the OVCC facility.

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