HFQLG
Project Evaluation Form
Project Name: Freeman Defensible Fuel Profile Zone Project and Cow Creek Restoration Project
Project Type: Freeman Stewardship Project created a Defensible Fuel Profile Zone (DFPZ).
The Cow Creek Restoration Project implemented hydrologic engineering, stream bank restoration
and revegetation activities.
Forest: Plumas
Ranger District: Beckwourth
Date:
August 11, 2011
Attendance: 26 people
Agency- 2 people – Gale Dupree, Sierra Valley Resources Conservation District and Sierra Valley Fish and
Wildlife Commission; Jerry DeVore, Portola Chamber of Commerce.
Public – 8 people –Wes Daniels, Reno and Frenchman Lake property owner; Kim Webster, Reno and Frenchman
Lake property owner; Neil McGuire, Reno and Frenchman Lake property owner; Ford Webster, Reno and
Frenchman Lake property owner; Frank Stewart, Counties Forester and Quincy Library Group; Trish Taylor,
Quincy resident and Portola Reporter staff; Paul Roen, Calpine resident and Freeman Stewardship operator;
John Roen, Freeman Stewardship operator.
USFS- 16 people - Deb Bumpus, Beckwourth District Ranger; Quentin Youngblood, District Ranger of Sierraville
Ranger District, Tahoe National Forest; Barbara Boaz, Ecosystem Manager; Don Kozlowski, Hydrologist; Russell
Nickerson, Wildlife Biologist; Sara Billings, Fire Ecologist; Brandon Hostetter, Fuels Technician; Eric Petterson,
Fuels Management Officer; Thoebe Oestreich, Forest Service Representative; Karen Newsted, Contract Officer’s
Representative; Mike Friend, District Botanist; Geoff Kaeberle, Silviculturist; Terri Simon-Jackson, Forest
Planning Staff Officer and acting Mt Hough District Ranger; Dave Wood, HFQLG Team Leader; Jeff Watson,
HFQLG Management Analyst; Colin Dillingham, HFQLG Monitoring Team Leader.
Type of treatment and acres:
The Freeman Project Environmental Impact Statement was signed in September 2006.
First timber sale contracts were awarded in summer 2007, and the project has been implemented through a
variety of contracts such as timber sales, stewardship contracts and service contracts, as well as Forest Service
crews.
The Freeman Stewardship contract created 720 acres of Defensible Fuel Profile Zones (DFPZ). Additional acres
were treated in other service contracts and timber sales.
DFPZ construction involved precommercial thinning from below, cutting trees up to 12 inches or 8 inches
depending on the unit objectives. Prescribed fire is planned during follow-up entries.
The Cow Creek Restoration Project implemented projects between 2010 and 2012 using hydrologic engineering,
stream bank restoration and revegetation techniques. The purpose was to reduce soil and stream channel
erosion, enhance the herbaceous and woody cover within the channel, reduce sedimentation to Lake Davis, and
improve fish passage. Stream bank modification and floodplain expansion expedited natural processes and
mitigated continued erosion of sediment into the system. The design utilized bioengineering techniques that
perform well and do not require frequent maintenance. Raw exposed banks were seeded and covered with
erosion cloth. Approximately 0.5 mile of stream channel was restored.
Attribute
Objective
Fuels,
Freeman
Stewardship
Project
DFPZ, surface
fuels
Create a safe and
effective DFPZ,
remove surface
fuels
HFQLG
Appendix J
Yes
Fuels
DFPZ, ladder
fuels
Create a safe and
effective DFPZ,
eliminate ladder
fuels
HFQLG
Appendix J
Yes
Silviculture
Tree Growth
EIS,
Silviculture
Prescription
Yes
Resource
Area
Smoke
Soils,
Freeman
Stewardship
Project
Smoke
Management
Increase tree
growth through
management
Prevent
contributing to
exceedence of
particulate matter
standards in
Portola Community
Source of
Objective
Air Quality
Control Board
Objectives
Met?
Yes
Soil Cover
Prevent excessive
erosion by
maintaining
organic soil cover
Plumas LRMP
Yes
Hydrology,
Cow Creek
Stream
Channel
Stop head cutting in
stream areas.
Cow Creek
NEPA
Yes
Hydrology,
Cow Creek
Erosion
Stop Stream
Channel Erosion
Cow Creek
NEPA
Yes
Comments
Chainsaw thinned and
grapple pile and hand
pile burned stands
looked excellent.
Surface fuels reduced to
desired conditions
Chainsaw thinned and
grapple pile and hand
pile burned stands
looked excellent.
Ladder fuels removed.
Removed brush and
thinned trees to
accelerate growth
Careful cooperation
with Air Quality Control
board prevented most
complaints. “Nonattainment” avoided.
Grapple pile operation
maintained high soil
cover. Follow-up burn
prescriptions plan to
retain portion of soil
duff and litter layer.
Filled scour pools to
repair meadow
hydrology
Steep stream banks laid
back to create wider
flood plain and stop
bank and gully erosion
Discussions:
Freeman Stewardship Unit 146 – Neil
McGuire, landowner near Frenchman Lake,
asks why on private land they are required to
burn piles within 1 year of pile creation, but
Forest Service created burn piles are on the
landscape for years. He specifically mentioned
some large piles in the Crystal Adams area.
District Ranger Deb Bumpus explained that the
contractor for Crystal Adams defaulted on that
contract, so that was the specific reason those
piles remained for a long time. It was also
explained that the Forest Service is under
different rules than private landowners.
Freeman Stewardship Unit 146 – Fuels Technician Brandon Hostetter and Fire Ecologist Sara
Billings explain that they create approximately the same number of piles each year as they burn.
Grapple piles, such as the one on the right created in this Freeman Stewardship contract, would be
burned this fall or winter. The district can only burn approximately 10 acres per day before they start
to risk exceeding the allowable smoke emissions to the community of Portola.
Freeman Stewardship Unit 146 – Karen
Newsted, Contract Officer’s Representative,
explains the prescription to thin the forest and
create a Defensible Fuel Profile Zone in the
Lake Davis area. The prescription thinned the
forest to approximately 20 ft X 20 ft spacing
and removed brush over 1 inch in diameter
which will allow for the trees to put on
approximately 4 inches of growth in diameter
every 10 years. District Silviculturist Geoff
Kaeberle explained that the treatment doubled
the growth rate of the retained trees.
Freeman Stewardship Unit 146 – Sierra Valley Resources Conservation District representative Gale
Dupree asked why the Forest Service doesn’t prune the trees to reduce the flammability of the forest. It
was explained that although the lower dead limbs do pose a minor risk, it is the live limbs that are a
more serious risk. The cost of pruning the lower limbs is too expensive to justify the minor increase in
fuel treatment effectiveness. Around homes, especially when pruning live limbs, it is a far more useful
and justifiable technique.
Creation of Defensible Fuel Profile Zone
(DFPZ) network – Colin Dillingham,
monitoring coordinator, and Counties QLG
forester Frank Stewart explained the purpose of
the system of fuel reduction projects on the
network.
When asked if the network works when tested by wildfire, Frank explained that the HFQLG
monitoring program has completed an assessment of 20 wildfires that burned into DFPZs and they
have been shown to be effective. Frank suggested people review the report (see link below)
http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/hfqlg/monitoring/resource_reports/fire_and_smoke/dfpz_effectiveness/HFQ
LG%20treatment%20effectiveness%20report.pdf
Freeman Stewardship Unit 122 – Fuels ecologist
Sara Billings explained the completed chainsaw
thinning, hand piling and pile burning treatment that
had been completed in this area. Forest Service
firefighting crews treated this 10-acre unit to create a
portion of the shaded fuel break network. The piles
were burned in 2009 (one burned pile is located under
the man with the white hat) and the completed
treatment is considered a safe place to fight fires from
the ground. There is a cost-benefit to using ground
crews instead of helicopters and air tankers.
Cow Creek Stream Restoration –Hydrologist
Don Kozlowski gives the group an overview of
the historical and pre-restoration stream and
meadow conditions. He explained how the
delivery of sediment from channel erosion into
Lake Davis affected the trout fishery. He
explained that the purpose of the project was
primarily to stop erosion, repair eroded
channels, restore vegetation on the stream
banks, and improve fish passage. The group
stands on a rock grade control structure, which
doubled as an equipment stream crossing
location.
Cow Creek Stream Restoration –Raw
exposed banks were seeded and covered with
erosion cloth to prevent sediment delivery
from un-vegetated banks caused by
construction activity.
Cow Creek Stream Restoration – willow
cuttings from Freeman Creek were planted
in newly constructed floodplain and lower
contoured bank areas to provide stability and
flow resistance when they mature.
Rehabilitation through revegetation is
critical to soil protection, habitat
enhancement, and reduction of overland
flow velocities.
Cow Creek Stream Restoration – the
project filled deep scour pools within the
overflow channel. Sections of the
overflow stream channel were well
incised into the meadow, resulting in
gully erosion and meadow decline.
Individual headcuts had formed in the
channel and were treated to stop upmeadow migration.
Cow Creek Stream Restoration – The
treatment was initially successful. Despite
the higher and longer than average flows that
occurred in spring of 2011, channel erosion
was minimal in the overflow channel and
only a couple of re-contoured banks exhibited
any erosion. Willows have begun to sprout
and fine sediment is depositing on the newly
formed floodplains, reducing sediment
delivery to Lake Davis and helping to shape
the evolving channel. This process will
accelerate as more vegetation establishes on
the new floodplains.
Successes and Shortcomings:
A safe and effective Defensible Fuel Profile Zone was constructed to protect the National Forest and nearby
communities
The Cow Creek restoration project repaired head cuts and gullies in the stream system.
Follow up actions:
Under burn treatments are planned to complete surface fuel treatments in Freeman DFPZ units.
Notes prepared by:
HFQLG Monitoring Team Leader: /s/
Reviewed by District Ranger:
Colin Dillingham
__/s/ Deb Bumpus
Date: August 11, 2011
Date: August 15, 2011