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Brian Peters, Director COUNTY OF ALPINE Community Development June 5, 2020 PROPERTY OWNER Subject: Property Right-of-Entry Request for Upcoming Wildfire Fuels Treatment Project Dear PROPERTY OWNER: The Alpine County Community Development Department (County) has prepared a Wildfire Risk Mitigation Plan (WRMP), under a Fire Prevention Grant received from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE). The Fire Prevention Grants enable local governments and organizations to implement activities that address the risk of wildfire and reduce wildfire potential to communities. The WRMP utilized fire modeling techniques to identify high fire hazard areas throughout the County. The outcome of the work included identifying numerous projects to reduce fuels. The County prioritized three fuel treatment or project areas: Bear Valley, Manzanita, and Markleevillage. Specific fuel treatment activities to be implemented under the WRMP are being designed for each project area. The project area boundaries are provided in the attached map. Additional information about the project boundaries can be obtained from the County upon request. Now that the projects have been identified, the County is undertaking an environmental review process in compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), before the plan can be approved. When the CEQA documentation is completed and the plan is approved, the County will be able to pursue grant funding to conduct the fuels reduction work. You are being contacted because your property falls within one of the three project areas. While vegetation management does not stop or prevent fires, the work performed would offer a degree of increased fire safety to your property and benefits your community. The County is proposing these projects as a public action and work would be completed at no cost to landowners. The County is requesting your permission to enter your property located at ADDRESS, APN to conduct cultural resource and biological resource habitat verification surveys, which is an important part of the CEQA process. Surveys would be conducted by a registered professional archaeologist and/or an experienced biologist. Professional qualifications for survey personnel can be provided to interested landowners who request it from the County. Please sign the ---PAGE BREAK--- 50 Diamond Valley Road, Markleeville, CA 96120 (530) 694-2140 / Fax (530) 694-2149 www.alpinecountyca.gov attached request for entry agreement to allow for these surveys to be conducted. You may also complete the agreement online at the following link: Or use a QR reader enabled mobile device to scan the QR code below to go directly to the agreement form: The County understands that landowners may have questions about the project and this request for entry onto your property. A Frequently Asked Questions sheet has been included with this mailing and the County is available to answer additional questions. Please contact Zach Wood at (530) 694-1371 or [EMAIL REDACTED] with any questions or concerns. Your cooperation in our efforts to improve wildfire resiliency in your community are appreciated. Sincerely, Zach Wood Planner III Enclosure: Frequently Asked Questions Alpine County WRMP Project Boundaries Figure Right of Entry Agreement ---PAGE BREAK--- 50 Diamond Valley Road, Markleeville, CA 96120 (530) 694-2140 / Fax (530) 694-2149 www.alpinecountyca.gov Frequently Asked Questions Why do County staff need to perform surveys on my property? The Alpine County Community Development Department (County) is proposing fuel treatment projects in three locations of the county: Bear Valley, Manzanita, and Markleevillage. Cultural and biological surveys are required as part of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) process. The project is subject to CEQA as an undertaking by the County (a public entity) and to fulfill the requirements of the grant funding that was obtained to prepare the plan. Private landowners who conduct fuel reduction work on their private property are not required to complete these types of surveys. What will survey personnel be looking for when surveying my property? Cultural resource surveys will be conducted on all undeveloped, unpaved, outdoor areas that are included in this project. Cultural resource surveys will involve a small crew of one to two archaeologists who will walk in lines on your property looking for cultural and historical resources. Common examples of cultural or historical resources include artifacts, buildings or structures, and debris such as bottles or coins. Cultural resources may relate to remains and sites associated with California’s Native American societies. Additional examples of cultural resources are archaeological sites and artifacts from prehistoric and historic periods, human constructed or altered landscapes, and traditional cultural properties which are areas of the natural landscape that have cultural significance. Any cultural or historic resources found on your property will remain in place and detailed information about resources discovered must be kept confidential by law (see below). Biological surveys will not be conducted on all properties. On applicable sites, a single biologist will walk specific locations of the site to verify the biological site conditions identified in an initial desktop review. The biologist will identify plant types, animal burrows, and nesting habitat and assess boundaries of vegetation communities, wetlands, and other water bodies to ensure that the project activities will not impact sensitive biological resources. What happens if the surveyors find cultural resources or sensitive biological resources on my property? State and federal law requires that the location and nature of archaeological resource deposits must be kept confidential. Environmentally sensitive areas may be designated on the property and avoided during project implementation, if necessary. Because the project is a public agency undertaking, different laws for protection of archaeological resources apply to the actions taken by the County than apply to actions taken by a private landowner. Archaeological resources are generally not protected on private lands. The conditions that apply to the County when performing the work to avoid archaeological ---PAGE BREAK--- 50 Diamond Valley Road, Markleeville, CA 96120 (530) 694-2140 / Fax (530) 694-2149 www.alpinecountyca.gov resources would not apply to a private landowner’s actions. If resources are discovered, it should not affect the landowners’ actions on their own lands. The Endangered Species Act prohibits anyone from harming or killing an endangered wildlife species, even on private land. If potential for endangered or other special status wildlife species is discovered on your property, actions will be taken to ensure that these species are not harmed during performance of the work. What kind of fuel treatment might the County conduct on my property? Several types of fuel treatment methods may be implemented in the project areas, including mechanical methods and hand thinning. Mechanical methods may include mechanical mastication completed by excavator or similar equipment. Mechanical treatment methods would be used for larger scale vegetation removal activities. Hand thinning methods may be used for thinning stands of small-diameter trees and shrubs. Hand thinning treatments would include the use of powered hand tools, such as chainsaws, and non-powered tools, such as pruners and hand saws. If you are concerned about the fuel treatment methods that would be used on your property or the amount of vegetation removal, please contact the County to discuss a potential scaled-back approach that meets the project objectives. In subdivisions, the focus of fuel treatment activities will be on creating defensible space around residences and other structures located in the wildland-urban interface. Within larger parcels, treatment activities will be focused on thinning fuels to support ecological restoration. Ecological restoration improves fire resiliency by creating forest conditions more closely associated with pre-fire suppression conditions and treating areas with excess fire fuel buildup. Will the fuel treatment on private property involve removal of my landscaping? No. Property owners can participate in fuel treatment activities at whatever level they like. Fuel reduction activities will be targeted in areas where excess wildfire fuel buildup and spreading of non-native invasive plants has occurred. Landscaping will not be altered during these fuel treatment activities. If I authorize surveys on my property, can I change my mind in the future about fuel treatment? Yes. If you are not sure if you would like to participate in the fuel reduction work, the County would still like to consider your property in the surveys and the environmental document. Completion of environmental surveys will allow the most flexibility for implementing fuel treatment activities and coverage within your property. Property owners may exclude themselves from the project activities at any time by contacting the County; Zach Wood: (530) 694-1371 or [EMAIL REDACTED]. However, once a property is excluded from the project, it cannot be added back if surveys were not completed. ---PAGE BREAK--- 50 Diamond Valley Road, Markleeville, CA 96120 (530) 694-2140 / Fax (530) 694-2149 www.alpinecountyca.gov If I choose to participate in the project, when would the work occur? At this time, there is no date set for when work crews would begin fuel treatment work. The County must complete the environmental review and the County Board of Supervisors must formally approve the project before any work may occur. Additionally, the County has not allocated any funding to do the fuel treatments at this time. Local funding or grant funding must be secured before the work can be contracted. Participating landowners would be informed of all major developments in the project implementation schedule. ---PAGE BREAK--- ---PAGE BREAK--- 50 Diamond Valley Road, Markleeville, CA 96120 (530) 694-2140 / Fax (530) 694-2149 www.alpinecountyca.gov RIGHT-OF-ENTRY I, the undersigned, do hereby grant permission to the County of Alpine, its agents or consultants, to enter upon the property identified as APN or address 41 OXBOW CT , APN for the purpose of performing environmental surveys and cultural resource surveys needed for the Alpine County Wildfire Risk Mitigation Plan. It is my understanding that the tasks to be done as part of this Right-of-Entry may include: Entry onto the property by environmental specialists in order to visually inspect the project area, take minor soil samples, plant samples and other sampling as may be necessary to assess the potential impact to the project on the property and any biological resources that may exist in the project area. Entry onto the property by one to two cultural resource specialists who will walk in lines on the property in order to visually inspect the project area for cultural or historical resources. Any area disturbed as a result of the entry on to the property will be minor, restored, and left in a comparable condition as found prior to entry. Any and all landscaping and other improvements will be protected in place. Fenced properties will remain stock-tight during and upon conclusion of the County's entry onto the property. This Right-of-Entry shall automatically expire upon completion of the environmental and design phase of the project or March 31, 2021, whichever comes first. The County of Alpine will make every effort to contact the person designated below at least 24 hours before every entry onto the above described property by both phone and e-mail using the following designated information: Designated Contact Person: Contact Phone Number(s): Contact E-mail Address: Special Instructions: Brian Peters, Director COUNTY OF ALPINE Community Development ---PAGE BREAK--- 50 Diamond Valley Road, Markleeville, CA 96120 (530) 694-2140 / Fax (530) 694-2149 www.alpinecountyca.gov Signature Date Printed Name ACCEPTED by County of Alpine: By: Date: Alpine County Community Development Department