Department of Agriculture November 6, 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Mountaintop Ranger District, San Bernardino National Forest proposes to reduce fire risk and improve forest health within approximately 19,850 acres around the Barton Flats area of the upper Santa Ana Watershed under the authority of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act (HFRA) of 2003. To meet the primary purposes of providing for firefighter safety and community protection, it is proposed to create shaded fuelbreaks along private property boundaries adjacent to communities, along roads, and ridge tops that are strategically important as defensible fire-fighting zones. Outside of these fuelbreaks, it is proposed to reduce the potential for stand- replacing wildfire by reducing tree densities and removing excess fuels, while at the same time maintaining essential forest structure required by wildlife. The proposed action includes the long-term maintenance of the treatments proposed to meet the desired conditions.