Resources

The Nevada County Natural Resources Report (NRR) is a 600-page scientific assessment of the county's natural resources, watersheds, GIS database, and aerial photographs. It was the primary product of the Natural Heritage 2020 project, a collaborative effort authorized by the Nevada County Board of Supervisors in May 2000 and carried out in partnership with the Sierra Business Council.

The project's goal was to develop a comprehensive strategy to identify, manage, and protect natural habitats, plant and animal species diversity, and open space resources in Nevada County. Over 35 volunteers from forestry, agriculture, business, development, and recreation collaborated, alongside a seven-member Scientific Advisory Committee that peer-reviewed the scientific data.

The Board of Supervisors voted to complete and publish the NRR in May 2002, with the final report delivered in July 2002. The Yuba Watershed Institute has since converted the original HTML files into a modern web application and hosts it here to make the report freely accessible.

The Middle Yuba River watershed (~134,500 acres) sits between two active forest-health planning efforts: the North Yuba Forest Partnership to the north and Nevada County’s community wildfire planning to the south. This map shows where existing and planned treatments end — and where the planning gap remains.

Layers include the North Yuba Forest Partnership ROD 2 final treatment units and ROD 3 footprint, Tahoe National Forest South Yuba fuels projects (Bear Trap, Cruzonville, Gastonville, Highway 20, Washington, WNCCDP/Deer Creek, and the South Yuba Roadside Fuelbreaks), land ownership from CAL FIRE FRAP, and the Middle Yuba River watershed boundary (USGS Watershed Boundary Dataset, HUC10 1802012505). Project data courtesy of Tahoe National Forest, Yuba River Ranger District (2026). All layers can be toggled on and off; click any feature for details.

CEQA Decision Pathways is a single-page web reference that replaces a dense two-page PDF with something easier to read, share, and navigate. An interactive decision tree walks through five Yes/No questions and recommends the right pathway, while an exemption menu lays out the statutory, categorical, programmatic, and special-purpose options as full cards with eligibility, triggers, common uses, and links to the underlying statute.

The reference is current as of May 2026 and reflects the 2025 legislative session, including SB 131, AB 404, and the March 2025 Emergency Proclamation framework. It also includes practitioner-level working notes on how each pathway maps to the kinds of projects local stakeholders are actually running, plus direct links to the Public Resources Code, CEQA Guidelines, 2025 bill text, the CalVTP PEIR, CDFW SERP, FHSZ maps, and CEQAnet.

Prepared by the Environmental Compliance Subcommittee of the Nevada County Quarterly Wildfire Stakeholders Group (QWSG). This is a working summary, not legal advice — statutes and guidelines change, so verify the current text and consult counsel before relying on any pathway for a specific project.