San Andreas, CA…Calaveras County is continuing its efforts to mitigate hazards associated with dead and dying trees located along County roads or affecting County infrastructure. Projects that have been recently completed include the removal of 564 trees on Bureau of Land Management parcels adjoining County roads throughout the County, 263 trees in the Highway 4 corridor and 223 trees in the West Point/Wilseyville area. Projects are now underway in the Highway 4 corridor between Blue Lake Springs and Murphys (about 300 trees), in the area between Sky High Ranch and the Alpine County line (about 250 trees) and on U.S. Forest Service parcels located throughout the County (about 120 trees). Another project located in the Big Trees Village community has been awarded by the County to a contractor and should begin in the next few weeks.

Right of entry forms have been sent to landowners in the area of the County west of Highway 49. To date, very few forms have been returned to the County. It is absolutely critical that landowners who receive these forms return them as soon as possible. Otherwise, projects cannot be implemented to remove the hazardous trees. Tree removal and cleanup is totally free to landowners and can benefit them by relieving liability for damages that might be caused by tree failures and in some cases, eliminating hazards to their personal property and homes. Anyone who has received a form and has questions should contact the County Tree Mortality Program Manager, Dr. Richard Harris at (707) 685-5508 or rrharrisconsulting@gmail.com. For more information about the County’s projects, including maps, visit the County tree mortality website at https://treemortality.calaverasgov.us/.

County residents and property owners should be aware that seasonal restrictions due to declared fire season are likely to go into effect on June 1, signaled by the suspension of permits for all open burning. In addition to restricting open burning, people need to be cautious about activities that may cause a wildfire including operation of equipment such as chain saws and lawn mowers in areas of dry grass or other vegetation. Contact your local fire district or County fire department for more information. A list of districts and CAL FIRE offices can be found at https://www.mymotherlode.com/community/government/fire-departments. Be sure to cut and paste this URL into your browser. Additional fire agencies include the Ebbetts Pass Fire District https://epfd.org and the West Point Fire Protection District https://www.westpointfire.org.