HomeMy Public PortalAbout4-2_AgricultureForestry.pdf4.2 AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY RESOURCES
4.2-1
This section discusses agricultural and forest resources in the vicinity of the
project site, and evaluates the potential for adverse impacts to those resources
as a result of buildout of the project. The following evaluation assesses farm-
land and forestland conversion, Williamson Act contracts, and changes in the
physical environment that could contribute to farmland and forestland con-
version.
A. Regulatory Framework
This section summarizes key State and local regulations, policies and pro-
grams pertaining to agriculture and forestry in the vicinity of the project site.
1. Federal Regulations
There are no federal regulations pertaining to agriculture and forestry that
apply to this project.
2. State Regulations
a. Farmland Mapping and Monitoring Program
Within the California Natural Resources Agency, the State Department of
Conservation provides services and information that promote informed land-
use decisions and sound management of the State’s natural resources. The
Department manages the Farmland Mapping and Monitoring Program
(FMMP), which supports agriculture throughout California by developing
maps and statistical data for analyzing land use impacts to farmland. FMMP
rates the production potential of agricultural land according to the following
classifications:
¤ Prime Farmland has the best combination of physical and chemical fea-
tures able to sustain long-term agricultural production. Prime Farmland
has the soil quality, growing season, and moisture supply needed to pro-
duce sustained high yields. Land must have been used for irrigated agri-
culture production at some time during the four years prior to the map-
ping date.
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¤ Farmland of Statewide Importance is similar to Prime Farmland but
with minor shortcomings, such as steeper slopes or less ability to store
soil moisture. Land must have been used for irrigated agricultural pro-
duction at some time during the four years prior to the mapping date.
¤ Unique Farmland consists of lesser quality soils used for the production
of the state’s leading agricultural crops. This land is usually irrigated, but
may include non-irrigated orchards or vineyards as found in some climat-
ic zones in California. Land must have been cropped at some time dur-
ing the four years prior to the mapping date.
¤ Grazing Land is the land on which the existing vegetation is suited to
the grazing of livestock.
¤ Urban and Built-Up Land is occupied by structures with a building den-
sity of at least 1 unit to 1.5 acres, or approximately six structures to a
10-acre parcel. Common examples include residential, industrial, com-
mercial, institutional facilities, cemeteries, airports, golf courses, sanitary
landfills, sewage treatment, and water control structures.
¤ Other Land is land not included in any other mapping category. Com-
mon examples include low density rural developments, brush, timber,
wetlands, riparian areas not suitable for livestock grazing, confined live-
stock, poultry, aquaculture facilities, and strip mines. Vacant and nonag-
ricultural land surrounded on all sides by urban development and greater
than 40 acres is mapped as other land.
¤ Water is used to describe perennial water bodies with an extent of at least
40 acres.
b. Williamson Act
The California Land Conservation Act, better known as the Williamson Act,
preserves agricultural and open space lands through property tax incentives
and voluntary restrictive use contracts administered by the County under
State regulations. Private landowners voluntarily restrict their land to agri-
cultural and compatible open space uses under minimum 10-year rolling term
contracts, with counties and cities also acting voluntarily. In return, restrict-
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ed parcels are assessed for property tax purposes at a rate consistent with their
actual use, rather than potential market value.1 Local governments receive an
annual subvention of forgone property tax revenues from the State via the
Open Space Subvention Act of 1971.
c. Z’Berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act
The 1973 Z’Berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act (FPA) is the primary governing
statute on matters related to forestry in the State of California. The FPA re-
quires an owner of timberland who wishes to harvest timber for commercial
purposes to submit one of several types of timber harvest plans, depending on
the nature of the operation and the type of landowner involved, to the Cali-
fornia Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF) for its review and
approval.
d. Timberland Productivity Act
California also has enacted the 1976 Timberland Productivity Act (TPA),
which establishes a special zoning designation for commercial timberland that
restricts the use of such land to timberland production and compatible uses
and which offers certain tax advantages.
e. California Forest Practice Rules
The purpose of the Forest Practice Rules is to implement the provisions of
the Z'berg-Nejedly FPA in a manner consistent with other laws, including
but not limited to, the Timberland Productivity Act, the California Envi-
ronmental Quality Act (CEQA), the Porter Cologne Water Quality Act, and
the California Endangered Species Act. The California Forest Practice Rules
protect the forest and associated resources on non-federal lands from deple-
tion and degradation through specific rules applicable to timber harvest plan-
ning and operations. These detailed rules apply whenever forest products are
sold, bartered, exchanged, or traded.
1 California Department of Conservation, California Land Conservation
(Williamson) Act Status Report, August, 2002, page 1.
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3. Local Regulations
a. Town of Truckee 2025 General Plan
The Town of Truckee 2025 General Plan includes goals and policies that relate
to resource open space for its productive resource values, including timber
harvesting and grazing uses. Table 4.2-1 lists these goals and policies.
TABLE 4.2-1 TRUCKEE GENERAL PLAN POLICIES PERTAINING TO
AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY
Policy or
Goal No. Goals and Policies
Goal COS-7 Protect and conserve managed resource open space for its productive
resource values, including timber harvesting and grazing uses, and for
its recreational, scenic, and biological values.
COS-P7.1 Work closely with the Forest Service and private property owners
to ensure that forest or rangeland areas are preserved, to the extent
feasible, for continued managed resource, recreation, scenic or
biological resource open space uses.
COS-P7.3 Require a Conditional Use Permit for any proposed conversion of
timberland to an alternate use not associated with an approved
development project.
COS-P7.4 Coordinate with the California Department of Forestry in the
review of all timber harvesting and conversion plans relative to
potential impacts on visual, biological, and recreational resources.
Source: Town of Truckee 2025 General Plan.
B. Existing Conditions
1. Agriculture
The Town of Truckee 2025 General Plan establishes several categories of open
space, including Managed Resource Areas, which are defined as land under
public or private ownership where uses focus on the land’s resource values
from activities such as cattle grazing, forestry, or mineral extraction. Areas of
rangeland vegetation in and around Truckee generally provide the best poten-
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tial for agricultural uses; however, there is no active grazing taking place in
Truckee today.2
The project site itself is not in agricultural use and does not contain any
Prime Farmland, Unique Farmland, or Farmland of Statewide Importance
identified on the 2008 FMMP map of Important Farmland in California.3
Additionally, there are no Williamson Act contracts in force in eastern Neva-
da County, including on the project site or in its general vicinity.4
The area directly to the south of the project site in unincorporated Nevada
County has 20± acres zoned AG (General Agriculture)5 and designated RUR-
20 (Rural: 20-acre minimum parcel size) under the Nevada County General
Plan. This area is comprised of the Juniper Hills subdivision and is not cur-
rently in use for the production of any crops.
2. Forestry
The Truckee/North Tahoe region contains some important areas of protect-
ed forest land, including Mount Rose Wilderness and Donner Memorial State
Park. However, there are no protected forest lands on project site or imme-
diately adjacent to it. There are no commercial forestry operations in the
Truckee area today, although some timber harvesting for forest management
does occur. 6 The project site itself is currently undeveloped and dominant
plant communities on the site include Jeffrey Pine Forest and Sagebrush
Scrub.
2 Town of Truckee General Plan 2025, page 7-12.
3 California Department of Conservation, Farmland Mapping & Monitoring
Program, "County PDF Maps," http://www.conservation.ca.gov/dlrp/fmmp/Pages/
Index.aspx, accessed on April 22, 2011.
4 California Department of Conservation, "Williamson Act Program,"
http://www.conservation.ca.gov/dlrp/lca/Pages/Index.aspx, accessed on April 22,
2011.
5 Nevada County, "County Zoning Maps," http://mynevadacounty.com/
gis/index.cfm?ccs=629&cs=1119, accessed on April 22, 2011.
6 Town of Truckee General Plan 2025, page 7-12.
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C. Standards of Significance
The proposed project would have a significant impact with regard to agricul-
tural and forest resources if it would:
¤ Convert Prime Farmland, Unique Farmland, or Farmland of Statewide
Importance (Farmland), as shown on the maps prepared pursuant to the
Farmland Mapping and Monitoring Program of the California Resources
Agency, to non-agricultural use.
¤ Conflict with existing zoning for agricultural use, or a Williamson Act
contract.
¤ Conflict with existing zoning for, or cause rezoning of, forest land, tim-
berland, or timberland zoned Timberland Production.
¤ Result in the loss of forest land or conversion of forest land to non-forest
use.
¤ Involve other changes in the existing environment which, due to their lo-
cation or nature, could result in conversion of Farmland, to non-
agricultural use or conversion of forest land to non-forest use.
D. Impact Discussion
The following discussion provides an analysis of potential project and cumu-
lative impacts to agricultural and forest resources that could occur as a result
of buildout of the proposed project.
1. Project Impacts
a. Convert Prime Farmland, Unique Farmland, or Farmland of Statewide
Importance (Farmland), as shown on the maps prepared pursuant to the
Farmland Mapping and Monitoring Program of the California Resources
Agency, to non-agricultural use.
As there is no Prime Farmland, Unique Farmland, or Farmland of Statewide
Importance on or near the project site, buildout of the project would not re-
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sult in conversion of important farmland identified under the FMMP, and
therefore there would be no impact with respect to this criterion.
b. Conflict with existing zoning for agricultural use, or a Williamson Act
contract.
The project site is not zoned for agricultural use. A central portion of the
project site is zoned Open Space in recognition of a wildlife migration corri-
dor, and the remainder of the site is zoned for residential use. Additionally,
there are no Williamson Act contracts binding on the project site or adjacent
lands. Therefore, implementation of the project would not conflict with zon-
ing for agricultural uses or with Williamson Act contracts and as such there
would be no impact.
c. Conflict with existing zoning for, or cause rezoning of, forest land, tim-
berland, or timberland zoned Timberland Production.
The project site is not zoned for forestry or Timberland Production and im-
plementation of the project would not require changes to existing zoning for
the site. As such, there would be no impact related to zoning of forest land or
timberland.
d. Result in the loss of forest land or conversion of forest land to non-forest
use.
The project site is primarily comprised of Jeffrey Pine Forest and Sagebrush
Scrub, some of which would be removed with buildout of the project. As
shown in Figure 3-5 in Chapter 3, Project Description, of this Draft EIR, a
central portion of the project site along the north fork of Juniper Creek
would be preserved in its current undeveloped state as open space in recogni-
tion of the wildlife migration corridor. Overall, the 176.17 acres of public
open space on the project site would be permanently reserved by protective
conservation easement or dedication to the Town of Truckee/Truckee Don-
ner Land Trust. Further, as shown on Figure 3-6, the project includes re-
planting native vegetation on the approximately seven-acre portion of the
project site that was the location of a previous fire. Jeffery Pine saplings will
be clustered and spacing will be varied for a natural appearance at approxi-
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mately 35 feet apart. The more densely forested southern portion of the site
would also remain undeveloped. Residential development proposed as part of
the project would be concentrated in the portions of the project site currently
zoned RS-1.0, Single-Family Residential, and designated for residential use at
0.5 to 1.0 dwelling units per acre (du/acre) in the Town of Truckee 2025 Gen-
eral Plan.
Although the project is not located in a Timberland Production Zone (TPZ),
under Section 4526 of the California Public Resources Code the project site is
considered timberland because it is capable of and available for commercial
production of lumber or other commercial forest crops.7 However, pursuant
to Section 1104.2 of the California Forest Practice Rules, the project would be
exempt from the State requirement for a Timberland Conversion Permit on
the condition that the Truckee Town Council approves the proposed subdi-
vision map and grants the use permits required for the project.
In compliance with Section 1034 of the California Forest Practice Rules, a
Timber Harvesting Plan (THP) would be prepared prior to the issuance build-
ing permits. The THP would describe the boundaries, conditions, and own-
ership of the land to be cleared for project buildout. Additionally, a Notice
of Exemption from Timberland Conversion Permit for Subdivision would be
filed with the Director of Forestry and Fire Protection before site clearing
begins and before the THP is submitted, as required under the California
Forest Practice Rules.
Therefore, as the project does not conflict with existing zoning of forest land
and as the project would comply with the California Public Resources Code
and Forest Practice Rules pertaining to conversion of timberland, buildout of
7 According to the California Public Resources Code, "Timberland" is land,
other than land owned by the federal government and land designated by the board as
experimental forest land, which is available for, and capable of, growing a crop of trees
of any commercial species used to produce lumber and other forest products, includ-
ing Christmas trees. Commercial species shall be determined by the board on a dis-
trict basis after consultation with the district committees and others.
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the project would result in a less-than-significant impact with respect to tim-
berland conversion.
e. Involve other changes in the existing environment which, due to their
location or nature, could result in conversion of Farmland, to non-
agricultural use or conversion of forest land to non-forest use.
As discussed above, land adjacent to the project site immediately to the south
in unincorporated Nevada County is not currently in agricultural produc-
tion. The proposed project would result in the construction of residences on
the project site; however, buildout of the project would not create adverse
impacts which could trigger conversion of adjacent land zoned General Agri-
culture to non-agricultural use. Additional noise, traffic, and human activity
on the project site would be sufficiently separated from the adjacent lands
zoned General Agriculture given the open space buffer at the south of the
project site (shown on Figure 3-5) and the distance between the proposed res-
idential development and adjacent farmland.
As discussed above, there are no commercial forestry operations in the
Truckee area and land surrounding the project site is not currently used for
timber harvesting. Buildout of the project would, therefore, not affect ongo-
ing forestry and timberland harvesting activities. As such, overall, buildout of
the project would have a less-than-significant impact regarding the conversion
of Farmland to non-agricultural use or conversion of forest land to non-forest
use.
2. Cumulative Impacts
This section analyzes potential impacts to agricultural and forest resources
that could occur from a combination of the project with the Town buildout
identified in the Town of Truckee 2025 General Plan and reasonably foreseea-
ble projects in the surrounding area. The geographic scope of this analysis is
taken as the Town of Truckee sphere of influence (SOI), as defined in the
Town of Truckee 2025 General Plan and reasonably foreseeable projects in the
surrounding area. Therefore, a cumulative impact would be considered signif-
icant if, taken together with past, present, and reasonably foreseeable projects
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in the Town of Truckee SOI and other reasonably foreseeable projects in the
surrounding area, it would result in the conversion of farmland of concern to
non-agricultural use, the conversion of forest land to non-forest use, a conflict
with existing zoning for agricultural or forest use, a conflict with a William-
son Act contract, or otherwise involve changes in the existing environment
which could cause the conversion of farmland to non-agricultural use or for-
est land to non-forest use.
As described above, buildout of the project would not conflict with existing
zoning for either agricultural or forest use or with a Williamson Act contract.
Therefore, development on the project site would not cause or contribute to a
cumulative impact related to conflict with existing zoning or Williamson Act
contracts. Project buildout would also not cause the conversion of agricul-
tural land on or adjacent to the project site to non-agricultural uses, and there-
fore would not result in an associated cumulative impact.
As described in Chapter 4, Environmental Evaluation, of this Draft EIR, the
Boca Quarry Expansion project in Nevada County, when considered with
the project and the Town buildout of the Town of Truckee 2025 General Plan
could result in cumulative environmental impacts. However, the Boca Quar-
ry Expansion project site has no important Farmlands designations and there
are no agricultural operations in the vicinity of the Boca Quarry site. Fur-
thermore, the Boca Quarry site is not within a Timberland Production Zone
possibly due to the lack of substantial timber resources on-site. The Boca
Quarry site is however zoned for Mineral Extraction, and is a viable aggregate
resource for the Eastern Nevada County.8
Additionally, the Town of Truckee 2025 General Plan contains policies which
protect forest resources, including those on and adjacent to the project site.
These policies, listed above on Table 4.2-1, include Policy P7.1, which re-
quires the Town to work with the Forest Service and private property hold-
8 Nevada County California Initial Study for the Boca Quarry Expansion
Project prepared by Tod Herman, Senior Planner, County of Nevada, on December
29, 2010.
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ers to preserve forest land; Policy P7.3, which mandates a Conditional Use
Permit for any proposed conversion of timberland to alternative uses not
associated with an approved project; and Policy P7.4, which call for coordina-
tion and cooperation with the California Department of Forestry in review
of timber harvesting and conversion plans. Continued implementation of
Town of Truckee 2025 General Plan Policies related to forestry would ensure
that cumulative impacts associated with the conversion of forest land to non-
forest use would be less than significant.
Overall, cumulative impacts to agricultural and forest resources from the
buildout of the proposed project in combination with other past, present, and
reasonably foreseeable projects in the Truckee SOI would be less than signifi-
cant.
E. Impacts and Mitigation Measures
Project and cumulative impacts related to agriculture and forest resources
would be less than significant and no mitigation measures are warranted.
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