Memorandum
Date: June 23, 2026
To: The Honorable Brad Rasmussen, Chair, Lake County Board of Supervisors
From: Eddie Crandell, District 3 Supervisor
Terre Logsdon, Chief Climate Resiliency Officer
Subject: Approve a Letter of Support for the “Mendocino National Forest Habitat Enhancement and Hazardous Fuels Reduction Project, Phase I” of the Lake County Resource Conservation District and authorize the Chair to sign
Executive Summary:
In 2018 and 2020, the August and Mendocino Complex fires burned more than 90% of the Mendocino National Forest (MNF) in Lake County, including mature mixed-conifer stands and numerous residences on private inholdings. These events decimated the MNF, emitting centuries-long carbon stores and dramatically reducing these forestlands’ abilities to sequester carbon, converting entire landscapes from forests into brush fields. Protecting the remaining green islands that did not or burned at low intensity during these wildfires is imperative, as is ensuring forest persistence and community safety in this remote and under-resourced corner of Lake County. Moreover, the state- and federally listed northern spotted owl (NSO) was found in MNF as recently as March 2026. The NSO’s continued use of the forest post-fire further emphasizes the need to project and enhance habitat conditions for this old-growth associated species while initiating additional efforts to restore severely burned areas and rebuild carbon sequestration capacity.
The proposed project will directly and holistically address the above needs through the following landscape-scale treatments across more than 900 acres of federal and private lands: (1) 642 acres of green island protection and forest health improvement, including habitat quality enhancement for the NSO, in the Packsaddle/Pine Mountain Wilderness; (2) implementation of the 4.6-mile Booth Crossing shaded fuel break on private acres bordering or within the Lake Pillsbury Ranch POA (LPRPOA), which will be complemented by implementation on adjacent public acres utilizing Good Neighbor Authority match funding; (3) strategic fuels reduction efforts on the Floating 40, a U.S. Forest Service (USFS)-owned parcel entirely within the LPRPOA that poses a serious wildfire risk to adjacent homes; and (4) hazardous fuels reduction efforts in the private Rice Fork Homes, which will offer the additional benefit of improving evacuation safety for residents.
This Phase I project will also include site preparation for future reforestation activities as well as planning and environmental permitting activities for Phase II, which will include a large-scale reforestation effort to prevent further type conversion to brush fields and establish tree cover in severely burned areas. Maintenance treatments ensuring the durability of Phase I implementation activities are also included.
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Recommended Action: Approve a Letter of Support for the “Mendocino National Forest Habitat Enhancement and Hazardous Fuels Reduction Project, Phase I” of the Lake County Resource Conservation District and authorize the Chair to sign.