'Inimim Forest South Yuba Rim Little Deer Creek Round Mountain

Forest Health & Fuels Reduction

South Yuba Rim Hazardous Fuels Reduction Project

Active — Phase 2 surveysSouth Yuba River canyon, Nevada County, CA

A multi-phase, landscape-scale fuel reduction effort on the north rim of the South Yuba River canyon to reduce wildfire risk, improve evacuation routes, and build ecological resilience across 9,000+ acres of private and federal lands.

9,000+ acPlanning landscape

~1,032 acPhase 2 implementation

$950KCAL FIRE (committed)

$3.77MFEMA / CalOES (anticipated)

418Structures protected

The story

Why this place, why now

The South Yuba Rim project covers a 9,000+ acre planning landscape of private and BLM lands along the north canyon rim — the line where the canyon drops away to the river and where wildfire moving up-canyon hits the homes and ridgetop roads above.

Phase 1 planning, FEMA-funded and now complete, assessed ~7,320 acres and built consensus through a steering committee that included YWI, Nevada County OES, CAL FIRE, the North San Juan Fire Protection District, and Firewise Community representatives.

Phase 2 layers two funding sources on top of that planning. A $950K CAL FIRE grant is committed and funds treatments on feeder ridgelines and evacuation routes. A larger, anticipated ~$3.77M FEMA / CalOES grant (administered by Nevada County OES and Cal OES) would fund the canyon-rim fuel breaks — but that funding is not yet committed: it is contingent on FEMA's successful review of the planning deliverables produced in Phase 1. Together the two would create one connected 1,032-acre treatment network of shaded fuel breaks that lower fire intensity and improve firefighter access across the San Juan Ridge.

A separate Sierra Nevada Conservancy grant (#1512) funds the planning for BLM lands inside the project area. SNC awarded that grant to Nevada County — administered through its Office of Emergency Services — and YWI carries it out as subrecipient: botanical, cultural, raptor, and California spotted owl surveys plus NEPA compliance and project design across ~1,800 acres of federal land. This work brings BLM parcels through the same survey-and-design pipeline as the rest of the landscape, so federal lands are ready for implementation funding rather than left as a gap in the middle of the project area. It is on track for completion in March 2027.

Goals & approach

What we're after

01Build a connected, east–west fuel break system along the canyon rim that breaks up canopy continuity at the ridge.
02Treat secondary feeder ridgelines and evacuation routes that move fire (or people) on and off the rim.
03Protect the Pine Grove Reservoir, a PG&E transmission line, and 418 nearby structures.
04Coordinate cleanly with landowners — surveys, prescriptions, and individual treatment plans, parcel by parcel.

Timeline

Phases of work

The work moves in waves — planning, treatment, monitoring — across overlapping phases.

Phase 1 Planning· Complete

7,320 ac assessedFEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant

Steering committee assembled. Treatment priorities ranked. CalVTP PSA / Addendum approved May 2025. 1,472 acres of cultural surveys complete across 135 parcels; 136 cultural resources recorded for protection.

Phase 2 — FEMA (anticipated)· 2027–2029 (anticipated)

~800 ac~$3.77M FEMA / CalOES — not yet committed

Canyon-rim shaded fuel breaks — east–west linear treatment selected by the steering committee as highest priority. Mastication, cut & pile, cut & chip. This funding is anticipated but not yet committed: it depends on FEMA's successful review of the Phase 1 planning deliverables. If approved, work is likely to begin in 2027, though the timing is not certain.

Phase 2 — CAL FIRE· 2026–2029

232 ac$949,999.97 CAL FIRE (#5GG25128)

97 ac mechanical mastication on priority corridors + 135 ac hand thinning and pile burning in steep / sensitive terrain. CAL FIRE Wildfire Prevention Grant of $949,999.97 (Agreement #5GG25128). Treatments begin late 2026, complete by Feb 2029.

BLM Planning· Through Mar 2027

~1,800 acSNC #1512 → Nevada County (OES); YWI subrecipient

Collaborative planning with BLM for ~1,800 acres of additional federal land — botanical, cultural, raptor and California spotted owl surveys, NEPA, and project design. Funded by Sierra Nevada Conservancy grant #1512 to Nevada County (administered through OES), with YWI as subrecipient. On track for March 2027.

Map

Where it happens

Map of the South Yuba Rim Hazardous Fuels Reduction Project area — Three overlapping treatment areas along the canyon rim: FEMA Phase 2 fuel breaks (orange), CAL FIRE corridors (red mastication / blue hand work), and BLM SNC #1512 planning area.Approx. 1:48,000

Map showing FEMA-funded Phase 2 treatment units for the South Yuba Rim project

Map showing combined FEMA and CAL FIRE Phase 2 treatment areas for the South Yuba Rim project

Treatment data

What we do on the ground

Treatment	Acres	Notes
Canyon-rim fuel breaks	~800 ac	FEMA (anticipated, pending review) — mastication, cut & pile, cut & chip
Mechanical mastication	~97 ac	CAL FIRE — dense shrubs, small trees & surface fuels on priority corridors
Hand thin / pile burn	~135 ac	CAL FIRE — around sensitive resources & by landowner request
Cultural avoidance	136 sites	Protected during operations

Gallery

From the field

Partners & funders

Who we work with

Nevada County OESGrant recipient — FEMA Phase 1 & SNC #1512 BLM planning

FEMA / Cal OESAnticipated Phase 2 funder (pending review)

Bureau of Land ManagementFederal land manager

Sierra Nevada ConservancyBLM planning funder — grant #1512

CAL FIREPhase 2 grant

LFc

Local Firewise communitiesSteering committee

Documents

Plans, reports, data

Latest from this project

FAQ

Common questions

Only if you've signed a Right of Entry. Every participating landowner receives an individualized treatment prescription tailored to their parcel's vegetation, terrain, and preferences before any work begins.
All participating landowners have already signed Right of Entry agreements for the survey crews. By summer 2026 each landowner receives an individualized treatment prescription, and a separate implementation Right of Entry is coordinated through one-on-one landowner meetings over the summer and fall of 2026 before any treatment starts on their parcel.
A strip — typically a few hundred feet wide — where surface and ladder fuels are reduced but the overstory canopy is kept largely intact. Shade keeps the understory cooler and slower to reburn, while the thinned structure lets firefighters work the line safely.
The committed CAL FIRE-funded treatments begin late 2026. The FEMA-funded canyon-rim work depends on funding that is anticipated but not yet committed; if FEMA's review of the Phase 1 deliverables is successful, that work is likely to begin in 2027, though the timing is not certain.
Not yet. The ~$3.77M FEMA / CalOES grant for the canyon-rim fuel breaks is anticipated but not committed. It is contingent on FEMA's successful review of the planning deliverables generated during Phase 1. The committed funding so far is the $950K CAL FIRE Wildfire Prevention Grant (Agreement #5GG25128) for the 232-acre feeder-ridgeline and evacuation-route treatments.
It's funded by a Sierra Nevada Conservancy grant (#1512) awarded to Nevada County and administered through the county's Office of Emergency Services. Yuba Watershed Institute is the subrecipient, carrying out the botanical, cultural, raptor, and California spotted owl surveys plus the NEPA and project design work on ~1,800 acres of BLM land under a Nevada County contract. It's on track for completion in March 2027.
All 136 recorded cultural resources — bedrock mortars, historic ditches, mining features, historic buildings — are flagged for avoidance and will be protected during all treatment activity.

For more background and updates, visit the original project page.