Resource Planning
Representative Projects
Mt. Tamalpais Watershed Road and Trail Management Plan (Marin County)
This plan identifies erosion-control improvements for about 100 miles of fire roads and 105 miles of trails managed by the Marin Municipal Water District. The Program EIR assessed the impacts of hundreds of distinct projects to the level where additional CEQA work is not required for almost all the projects. PDF Here.
Vegetation Management Plan Update for the Mount Tamalpais Area (Marin County)
LCA is currently preparing the Vegetation Management Plan Update for the three watersheds owned by the Marin Municipal Water District. This plan will address managing vegetation to reduce fire hazard, since the district borders hundreds of homes in southern Marin County. This fire hazard element is an update of the 1995 plan (link) also prepared by LCA. The update focuses on the District's aim to control French broom and other invasive weeds. Broom currently inhabits about 1,200 acres of the main watershed and is expanding. The District was using herbicides to control the spread of the weed, but decided to suspend its use due to public opposition. A major purpose of this plan is to examine the environmental hazards and impacts of herbicide use and to compare these impacts and costs to control techniques that do not include the use of herbicides. This project is undergoing substantial public scrutiny. The plan will be completed in late 2009, and LCA will then prepare an EIR on the plan.
Sea Ranch Fire Plan (Sonoma County)
LCA worked in tandem with Wildland Resource Management to prepare an update to the fire management plan for the unincorporated community of Sea Ranch on the northern Sonoma County coast. The plan identified fuelbreaks and other vegetation management tools, including grazing, to reduce fire hazard in this world-renowned community.
1995 Vegetation Management Plan for the Mount Tamalpais Area (Marin County)
LCA was hired to prepare a detailed Vegetation Management Plan and the EIR for that Plan on 21,000 acres belonging to the Marin Municipal Water District and the Marin County Open Space District. A primary goal of this Plan was to determine measures to decrease the fire hazard on the Study Area. The Districts were extremely concerned about the potential for wildfire starting on or crossing their property and destroying expensive residences in the seven miles of interface. Additional concerns addressed in the Plan included potential wildfire damage to the watershed, water quality, sensitive plant and wildlife species, views, and recreational resources. A full EIR on the Plan was prepared conterminously with Plan preparation. A full, formal public participation process, including interviews, newsletters, press releases, community workshops, and a community survey, was included due to the controversial nature of certain fire hazard reduction methods, in particular prescribed burning.
Harris Quarry (Mendocino County)
LCA is nearing completion of an EIR for the County of Mendocino on the expansion of a large quarry adjacent to Highway 101 between Ukiah and Willits. Also included in this very controversial project, located near a rural residential development, is the development of both a concrete plant and asphalt plant. The EIR will include a full analysis of water quality impacts to a salmonid stream, impacts on groundwater and nearby wells and springs, loss of biological habitat, impacts on traffic, noise, air, and odor, as well as visual impacts (includes preparation of photo-simulations), and fire impacts. An extensive range of project alternatives is being assessed.
Blue Rock Quarry (Sonoma County)
The proposed expansion of a hard rock quarry near Forestville was a controversial project, and the EIR was forced by a legal challenge. The EIR contained a full analysis of impacts to on-site and off-site natural resources. Particular emphases were sedimentation and water pollutant impacts to steelhead and salmon, traffic impacts, diesel particulate impacts on Forestville residents, and noise. A full assessment of cumulative impacts was required due to the proposed expansion of another large quarry across Highway 116 from the site.