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<br />Sequoia Ecological Consulting, Inc. <br />CalVTP Project-Specific Analysis and Addendum <br />Augustin Bernal Community Park Fuel Reduction <br />November 2025 <br />4-7 <br /> <br /> <br />4.2.1. Discussion <br />4.2.1.1. Impact AG-1 <br />The proposed project would incorporate a variety of vegetation management strategies, including manual <br />treatment and mechanical methods such as chipping and mowing. It would also utilize prescribed <br />herbivory, controlled burning—both pile and broadcast—and targeted herbicide application. Biomass <br />disposal would be carried out through techniques like lopping, scattering or broadcasting, off-site removal, <br />and pile burning. The vegetation communities in the project area include coastal scrub, annual grasslands, <br />blue oak woodland, and coastal oak woodland. There is no farmland within the project area. The PEIR <br />found the potential loss of forest land from proposed treatments to be a less-than-significant impact, as <br />activities aim to reduce wildfire risk and improve forest health without permanently converting land. <br />Potential impacts of the Project resulting in the conversion of forest land are within the scope of the PEIR <br />as the treatment activities are consistent with those addressed in the PEIR. The creation of the WUI fuel <br />reduction zone and shaded fuel break would employ a treatment approach which generally follows <br />guidelines for the removal of ladder fuels, invasive plants, understory vegetation, and hazard trees within <br />the vegetation treatment types. The treatment approach would also retain tree canopy to the greatest <br />extent feasible, including strategic removal, and retain live native vegetation. Post-treatment tree cover in <br />woodlands and forests would meet the PRC 12220(g) definition of forest land—capable of supporting at <br />least 10 percent native tree cover under natural conditions. The proposed project would not remove trees <br />for commercial purposes and would not result in conversion of the dominant vegetation types. Therefore, <br />the Project would not result in loss of forest land or conversion of forest land to non-forest use. This impact <br />is within the scope of the PEIR because the treatment activities and intensity are consistent with those <br />analyzed in the PEIR. <br />The inclusion of approximately 93 acres of land that are outside the CalVTP treatable landscape constitutes <br />a change to the geographic extent presented in the PEIR. Within the project area, existing conditions within <br />forested land are essentially the same within and outside of the treatable landscape. Therefore, the impact <br />to forested land is also the same. No Prime Farmland, Unique Farmland, or Farmland of Statewide <br />Importance is present within the project area (California Department of Conservation 2022); therefore, no <br />conversion of farmland would occur. No SPRs are applicable to this impact. This determination is consistent <br />with the PEIR and would not constitute a substantially more severe significant impact than what was <br />covered in the PEIR. <br />4.2.1.2. New Agriculture and Forestry Resource Impacts <br />Treatments included in the proposed project are consistent with the treatments and activities that are <br />considered in the CalVTP PEIR. The project proponent has considered the site-specific characteristics of