Mail Ridge Forest Health and Wildfire Resilience Project CalVTP PEIR PSA & Addendum
Mail Ridge is a ridgeline in southern Humboldt County, northern Mendocino County, and southwestern Trinity County of strategic importance against catastrophic, northeasterly wind-driven wildfire events such as the August Complex Fire in 2020 due to its north-south alignment, ecological value, contiguous length, and location northeast of Highway 101 population centers. In southern Humboldt, Mail Ridge runs 32 miles from the confluence of the main stem and South Fork Eel Rivers to the Mendocino County Line.
In partnership with the Southern Humboldt Fire Safe Council (SHFSC), California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) Humboldt-Del Norte Unit, and local volunteer fire departments (VFD), HCRCD proposes up to 20,000 acres of vegetation treatments within the approximately 50,000-acre Mail Ridge Forest Health and Wildfire Resilience Project Study Area, implemented at a rate of approximately 2,000 acres annually for 10 years.
The proposed treatment types and treatment activities are consistent with those analyzed in the certified California Vegetation Treatment Program (CalVTP) Program EIR. Treatment types that would be implemented in the project area are Ecological Restoration, Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI), and Shaded Fuel Break; and the treatment activities that would be used to implement these treatment types are mechanical and manual treatment, prescribed fire (pile burn, broadcast burn), prescribed herbivory, and herbicide application.
HCRCD has completed environmental review of the proposal in compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act and Guidelines (CEQA), and consistent with the CalVTP. On July 10, 2025, the HCRCD may act to certify that the Project-Specific Analysis (PSA) and Addendum to the California Vegetation Treatment Program Environmental Impact Report comply with CEQA and State CEQA Guidelines and adopt the CEQA Findings and Statement of Overriding Considerations for Project-Specific Analysis and Addendum for the Mail Ridge Forest Health and Wildfire Resilience Project.
Mail Ridge Forest Health and Wildfire Resilience Project CalVTP PEIR PSA & Addendum
