HFQLG
Project Evaluation Form
Project Name: Mabie Defensible Fuel Profile Zone Project and Ross Ranch Meadow Restoration Project
Project Type: Mabie Project created a Defensible Fuel Profile Zone (DFPZ).
The Ross Ranch Meadow Restoration Project implemented hydrologic engineering, channel
filling and bioengineering to arrest soil erosion and restore hydrology to a meadow system. The
project also implemented stream bank restoration and revegetation activities.
Forest: Plumas Ranger District: Beckwourth Date: September 30, 2010
Attendance: 38 people
Agency- 4 people - Dan Martynn and Kristin Dalldorf, USDA, Natural Resources Conservation Service; Tim
Holabird, U.S. Congressman Tom McClintock office representative; Todd Hillaire, Department of Water
Resources
Public – 10 people - Lori Simpson, Plumas County Supervisor; John Sheehan, Plumas Fire Safe Council; Frank
Stewart, Counties Forester and Quincy Library Group; Mike McCourt, Sloat Resident; Caroline Caum, Brazilian
Student Intern; Wes Daniels, Reno Resident; Kim Webster, Reno Resident; John Preschutti, Plumas Forest
Project; Todd York, Cattle Permittee in project area; Donna McElroy, Women in Timber.
USFS- 24 people - Deb Bumpus, District Ranger; Barbara Boaz, Ecosystem Manager; Sabrina Stadler, Senior
NEPA Planner; Antonio Dueñas, District Hydrologist; Russell Nickerson, Wildlife Biologist; Debbie Bliss, Asst
Wildlife Biologist; Don Fregulia, District Fuels Officer; Sara Billings, Asst District Fuels Officer; Pete Duncan,
Forest Fuels Officer; Mike Friend, District Botanist; Geoff Kaeberle, Silviculturist; Nancy Francine, Forest
Ecosystems Officer; Dave Wood, HFQLG Team Leader; Colin Dillingham, HFQLG Monitoring Team Leader; Kyla
Sabo, NEPA Planner; Eric Bredemann, Asst District Archeologist; David Pilz, Lassen National Forest Planner;
Matt Jedra, Forester; Wade McMaster, Forest Tribal Liaison; Lucas MacMath, Lookout on Tahoe National
Forest; Micki Smith, Public Services Staff Officer; David Tewksbury, Occupational Safety and Health; Scott Lusk,
Forest Range Manager; Dave Hart, Skid Steer Masticator operator.
Type of treatment and acres:
The Mabie Defensible Fuel Profile Zone project started implementation in 2004 and the pile burning is still
ongoing. The project created 5,956 acres of Defensible Fuel Profile Zones (DFPZ).
DFPZ construction involved both precommercial and commercial mechanical thinning from below, retaining
trees greater than 30” diameter, removing sawlogs as well as smaller material (limbs, tops, small diameter
understory trees) as biomass wood product (chips). Wood chips were delivered to cogeneration plant to create
electricity in some areas and piled into burn piles in other areas where economics prevented biomass removal.
Prescribed fire has been and continues to be implemented.
The Ross Ranch Meadow Restoration Project implemented hydrologic engineering, channel filling and
bioengineering to arrest soil erosion and restore hydrology to a meadow system. The project also implemented
stream bank restoration and revegetation activities.
Resource
Area
Attribute
Objective
Source of
Objective
Objectives
Met?
Fuels
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
Smoke
Management
Prevent
contributing to
exceedence of
particulate matter
standards in Portola
Community
Air Quality
Control Board
Yes
Soils
Productivity
Prevent excessive
compaction and
maintain soil
nutrients
Plumas LRMP
Yes
Archeology
Site
protection
Protect Archeology
Site
Ross Ranch
Meadow NEPA
Yes
Botany
Native Grass
Reduce noxious
weeds and bare
ground and
increase native
grass component
Ross Ranch
Meadow NEPA
Hydrology
Stream
Channel
Stop head cutting in
stream areas.
Ross Ranch
Meadow NEPA
Yes
Hydrology
Erosion
Prevent Road
Surface Erosion
Ross Ranch
Meadow NEPA
Yes
Smoke
Yes
Comments
Both chainsaw thinned
and burned pile stands
and underburn areas
looked excellent.
Surface fuels reduced to
less than 10 tons per
acre.
Both chainsaw thinned
and burned pile stands
and underburn areas
looked excellent.
Ladder fuels eliminated.
Mastication was used as
an alternative treatment
to reduce smoke.
Careful cooperation
with Air Quality Control
board prevented most
complaints.
Skid Steer masticator
has very low ground
pressure (2.6 pounds
per square inch) and is
almost unnoticeable in
dry soils.
Presence of site
prevented restoration
treatment of small area.
Noxious weed control
methods implemented
and seeding with native
species occurred and
were successful.
Filled head cut and
channel to repair
meadow hydrology
Aggregate surface and
low drainage crossing
rocked to eliminate
source of annual
sediment.
Discussions:
Portola Airshed Concerns with Smoke
– The Mabie Project produced
approximately 53,000 piles of slash during
the precommercial thinning operation.
Due to weather conditions in the winter,
smoke from wood stoves and forest
burning often settle in downtown Portola.
Careful management and coordination
with Air Quality Control Board has
allowed the district to burn and masticate
33,000 of the piles in the past 4 years.
Approximately 20,000 piles remain to be
treated which concerned member of the
public, Donna McElroy.
Mastication versus burning piles – To
eliminate smoke concerns, the district has
decided to masticate a portion of the piles in
an effort to reduce the fuel concerns in a
timely manner. Although the fuels are left
on site, the rearrangement of the fuels
would slow the rate of fire spread and keep
flame length low during a wildfire event.
Firefighters would have a good chance of
suppressing a wildfire. Although not as
desirable as burning piles, mastication is a
good alternative to treat the forest fuels
residue in a timely manner when faced with
smoke management concerns that limit the
number of piles that can be burned.
Mastication Equipment in
operation – This skid steer
masticator was in the process of
chipping an old pile of slash created
when the small diameter trees and
brush were piled by hand during the
precommercial thinning operation.
The pile was reduced to small chips
that were scattered throughout the
area and left on site to decompose.
This small masticator is mounted on
rubber skids and has a light
footprint on the ground, only 2.6
pounds per square inch.
Mastication Equipment in
operation – this photo illustrates
where a pile had been moments
before. The group was able to see
firsthand how the masticator
chipped up a pile of thinning slash
and saw the resultant scattered
wood chips. Because there were
only 20 – 25 piles per acre, the
amount of chips on site is relatively
low and the treatment still created
an effective DFPZ.
Completed Defensible Fuel Profile
Zone Network in the Mabie
Project vicinity – Colin Dillingham
and Sara Billings explain the
location of the second stop in
relationship to the completed Mabie
DFPZ network at the landscape
level. The map also illustrates the
completed projects on private land
and adjacent Sierraville Ranger
District. The DFPZ network is
nearing completion in the vicinity of
the Portola Area with the proposed
Jackson Project filling in a large gap
in the completed DFPZ network.
Mabie DFPZ completed
underburn unit – Fuels officers
Don Fregulia and Sara Billings
explain the completed underburn
treatment. Firestorm, a local
contractor, was hired to implement
the burn designed to complete the
follow-up treatment of a previous
mechanical thinning project. This
area meets all DFPZ fuels reduction
objectives. John Preschutti, from
Plumas Forest Project, examines the
area.
Ross Ranch Meadow Restoration
– District Hydrologist Antonio
Dueñas gives the group an overview
of the historical and pre-restoration
meadow conditions. He explained
how the channelization of the
meadow resulted in the long term
dewatering of the meadow system
and delivery of sediment from
channel erosion into the Middle
Fork of the Feather River. He
explained that the purpose of the
project was primarily to stop
erosion, repair eroded channels and
re-water the meadow system.
Completed Channel Restoration Hydrologist Antonio Dueñas
explains that this site previously had
a deep channel that was eroding up
the stream channel causing
additional sediment to run down to
the Middle Fork of the Feather
River. The restoration technique
implemented was to fill the channel
with soil and create an engineered
low rock berm that causes the
incoming water to spread out in an
even sheet of water across the
meadow. Native grasses were
seeded to stabilize the bare soil.
Prevention of Off Highway
Vehicle damage to Ross Ranch
Meadow - In order to prevent
impacts from off road vehicles
traveling through the meadow
system, rock barriers have been
placed and an unneeded road that
allowed direct meadow access was
eliminated. Several annual repairs
and additions to the rock barrier
have proven necessary to address
continued problems with violations
of the closure.
Successes and Shortcomings:
A safe and effective Defensible Fuel Profile Zone was constructed to protect the communities of Portola and
Calpine.
The Ross Ranch Meadow restoration project repaired head cuts and gullies in the meadow system. The meadow
system appears wetter post-treatment than pre-treatment. No intensive monitoring plots were established to
determine degree of change.
The cattle permittee should have had better notification during the meadow restoration treatments and before
the 2 years of planned rest from cattle grazing.
Follow up actions:
Hand pile removal through burning and mastication is planned to complete surface fuel treatments in Mabie
DFPZ units.
Notes prepared by:
HFQLG Monitoring Team Leader: /s/
Reviewed by District Ranger:
Colin Dillingham
__/s/ Deb Bumpus
Date: October 1, 2010
Date: October 4, 2010
Appendix 1. Field trip handout.
Ross Ranch Meadow Improvement Project
Implementation 2005 - 2006
Beckwourth Ranger District
Plumas National Forest
PURPOSE
The USDA Forest Service, Plumas National Forest, Beckwourth Ranger District, proposed to
improve the condition of Ross Meadow by enhancing the herbaceous cover within the meadow,
reducing soil and stream channel erosion, and reducing sedimentation levels within the Middle
Fork of the Feather River. This action is consistent with the direction for riparian management
described in the Herger-Feinstein Quincy Library Group Forest Recovery Act (the Act) to provide “a
program of riparian management, including wide protection zones and riparian restoration”. In
addition, it addresses the direction in the environmental impact statement for the Act that riparian
areas should be managed to sustain “healthy aquatic and riparian ecosystems protected from the
impacts of land use activities, but able to adjust to impacts caused by natural-occurring
disturbance processes such as wildfire, flood and drought”. This action is also consistent with the
direction for riparian management described in the Sierra Nevada Forest Plan Amendment, Final
Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement, Appendix A: Management Direction, Management
Goals and Strategies; Aquatic, Riparian, and Meadow Ecosystems and Associated Species to
“maintain and restore, water quality, floodplains and water tables, watershed connectivity,
watershed condition, streamflow patterns and sediment regimes, streambanks and shorelines.”
NEED
In the late 1800s, ditches were constructed to drain the Ross Meadow for hay production. Over
time, these ditches have down cut and contributed to the degradation of the channels within the
meadow (Figure 2). Over the past 20 years, several attempts have been made to stabilize both the
ditches and the channel system within the meadow. Numerous rock and grade control structures
had been constructed to slow accelerated gully erosion within the meadow. Some of these
structures are still functioning. However, many had failed over time from lack of maintenance and
grazing impacts. Some of this work was successful in raising the base level of the channel in
localized areas or in stopping up-meadow migration of head cuts. Overall, these structures were
successful at restoring meadow function and circumventing accelerated gully erosion within the
meadow. It was hypothesized that low flow and peak flow conditions, fishery habitat within the
Middle Fork of the Feather River, meadow species composition and cover and water quality could
be improved through channel/meadow restoration, road improvements and improved forest and
range management practices throughout the watershed.
ACTION TAKEN
Restoration
The project included lowering the surface elevation in parts of the meadow to restore sheetflow,
construction of two water road crossings, elimination of one ditch and a levee, treatment of several
channels, and recontouring 2500 feet of non-system road. Sections of the east and west stream
channel and ditch were well incised into the meadow, resulting in gully erosion and meadow
decline. Individual headcuts had formed in channels and were treated to stop up-meadow
migration (Figure 1). Unstable stream banks existed throughout the meadow systems. Bank slope
modification expedited natural process and mitigated continued erosion of sediment into the
system. The design utilized bioengineering techniques that perform well and do not require
frequent maintenance.
Revegetation
Revegetation of restored sites included the utilization of existing plant material and a native seed
mixture developed by the District Botanist. Vegetation harvest from the project area was reused to
plant in repaired channel bottoms and along stream banks. Plant material salvaged for
revegetation consisted of mature and young willows, meadow sod, and top soil that contained a
seed bank. Application of native seed occurred prior to fall rains on disturbed soil within the
meadow and on the recontoured road. Rehabilitation through revegetation is critical to soil
protection, habitat enhancement, and reduction of overland flow velocities.
Range
The Ramelli Ranch Grazing Allotment was grazed in 2004, and after the project work was
completed, the project area below the fence was grazed for three weeks in 2005. The entire
allotment was allowed to rest in 2006 and 2007. In fall of 2007, the District Hydrologist, permitee,
and the Rangeland Management Specialist reviewed the project area and determined that an
extended rest period was no longer needed while the stream system continued to recover. Grazing
has occurred in 2008, 2009, and 2010 with the permitted numbers including 150 cow/calf pair.
IDENTIFIED RESOURCE CONCERNS
Heritage Resource: There were two sites in the project area. The project was designed to
completely avoid sites.
Botany: Sensitive Species: The sensitive species sites were flagged and avoided. This resulted in
some sections of channel not being treated.
Recreational Opportunities: A bike trail was incorporated into the road obliteration.
EFFECTIVENESS OF THE TREATMENT
With minor exception the treatment was successful. Sheet flow has been returned to the meadow
and sediment transport to the Middle Fork of the Feather River has been arrested. Xeric species
such as sagebrush are being replaced by meadow species. Hydrologic function throughout the
meadow and on a ½ mile of road has been improved.
ISSUES ADDRESSED
Revegetation
Revegetation of the hillslope did not occur as planned, three things contributed to this;
Issue 1- Soil Quality: Soil type and lack of organic matter contributed to reduced soil quality
Issue 2 – High Water Year: Much of the seed and mulch was washed down slope in the above
normal rain fall.
Issue 3, Wind: The surrounding topography causes wind speed to increase as it is funneled
through the meadow.
Solution: Applied “hydroseeder” mixture of water, seed and a witches brew of guar gum (natural
organic tackifer) and fertilizer to denuded areas. In addition, this was followed up with a hand
application of mulch (certified weed fee hay) that was then wetted down with water to help tackify
material to soil.
Off-Highway-Vehicle
OHV damage continues to be an issue in the meadow and on the bike trail. Shortly after the first
fall rain damage to the project from four-wheeling was documented. As soon as the ground was
frozen the District hydrologist worked with the fire dozer operator to repair the damage and reseed
the area. Two additional instances of OHVs driving in the meadow have been documented. Since
completion of the project it has been an ongoing effort to keep mechanized vehicles off the bike
trail. The District fire dozer operator resubsoiled the bike trail in June of 2006, and added addition
woody debris to the entire trail and refortified the entrances with additional wood and rock in an
effort to detour continued use.
Solution: Posted carsonite signs to educate the public and worked with law enforcement to
periodically patrol the area on weekends.
PROJECT BUDGET
Planning Budget
Planned
Salary Cost Travel &
Supplies & Fleet Costs Total Costs
Training
Other Costs
16,467
1,000
300
0
17,767
Spent
Salary Cost Travel &
Supplies & Fleet Costs Total Costs
Training
Other Costs
16,131
225
108
217
16,680
Implementation Budget
Planned
Salary Cost
Spent
22,354
Salary Cost
22,482
Travel &
Training
0
Travel &
Training
0
Supplies &
Other Costs
9,400
Supplies &
Other Costs
1,595
Fleet Costs
Total Costs
8,303
Fleet Costs
40,057
Total Costs
6,265
30,343
Total Project Cost: $47,023
Figure 1.0 – Ross Ranch Meadow Improvement Project digital ortho quad overview layout map.
Figure 2.0 – Pre-restoration pictures of degraded stream channels.