The Smokey Project is a collaboration between the US Mendocino National Forest (MNF), private lands in the Forest and the Glenn County Resource Conservation District. The MNF has worked on the Smokey Project for nearly 10 years, completing its NEPA in 2012, and its intention is to restore the forest while conserving working forests. The entire Smokey Project is a fuel reduction project comprised of 7,059 acres of fuels reduction treatments and prescribed fire units, which will ultimately lead to healthy forest stands and prevent wildfires as well as pest-related mortality. This Project, focusing solely on a one time 637 acres of mechanical thinning treatment, will create a more resilient landscape by working to 1) concentrate carbon storage in widely-spaced and larger trees that are more resilient to wildfire, drought, and insect attacks and 2) reduce the likelihood of wildfire transition into the forest canopy. In other treatments of the Smokey Project, prescribed fire will be used as well as restoration in meadow areas. In addition, this Project will work to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, strengthen the economy and improve public health and environment for the community to achieve California Climate Investment (CCI) goals.

The MNF is located about 1.5 hours north of Sacramento, along I-5, and sits on the western side of the Sacramento Valley. MNF comprises 913,306 acres and is approximately 65 miles long and 35 miles wide. Elevations in the Forest range from 750 feet in the Grindstone Creek Canyon on the Forest's eastern edge to the 8,092 feet of South Yolla Bolly Mountain in the northern part of the Forest. The average elevation is about 4,000 feet. In particular, this Project location sits in the upper north, western corner of Glenn County, with small portions in Tehama County, and just above the Governor’s 35-day Project: Elk Creek Emergency Fuel Break.

Identified in the Mendocino National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan (LRMP), this Project is needed for many benefits and co-benefits, such as reducing fire hazards, improving tree growth, stabilizing carbon in retained trees, and increasing forest resilience as well as the protection of hydrology, wildlife habitat, visual interest, and the provision of timber for domestic uses.

Funding for this project provided by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection as part of the California Climate Investments Program.

The Mendocino National Forest Fuel Reduction Partnership: Smokey Project, is part of California Climate Investments, a statewide program that puts billions of Cap-and-Trade dollars to work reducing GHG emissions, strengthening the economy, and improving public health and the environment– particularly in disadvantaged communities. The Cap-and-Trade program also creates a financial incentive for industries to invest in clean technologies and develop innovative ways to reduce pollution. California Climate Investments projects include affordable housing, renewable energy, public transportation, zeroemission vehicles, environmental restoration, more sustainable agriculture, recycling, and much more. At least 35 percent of these investments are located within and benefiting residents of disadvantaged communities, low-income communities, and low-income households across California. For more information, visit the California Climate Investments website at: www.caclimateinvestments.ca.gov.