Sacramento, CA…I have just returned from the most recent Governor’s Tree Mortality Committee meeting in Sacramento and wanted to take a moment to update you with new developments and information. The most recent Ariel Survey of tree mortality was performed on 5/19/16 and is reporting that there are approximately 693,000 dead trees in Calaveras County, and an additional 7.2 Million dead trees in the Sequoia National Forest. There is approximately 37 Million dollars allocated to the USFS for tree removal and has been funded for startup costs for crews working high hazard Counties. In the event of a major wild fire these funds could be diverted if the need arises.

Additionally, Caltrans has been allocated 20 Million Dollars for Highway Right of Way dead tree removal. These funds are not tied to the USFS allocation. The State has a total of 51 Million Dollars allocated to the tree mortality program. The State has also approached the Feds with dead tree removal projects in both Stanislaus and Sequoia National Forests.

We have finally made advances in our challenges over ‘storage’ of the P.G.& E. ‘downed’ trees once they have been felled. We are in the process of identifying location(s) that once identified will become temporary storage sites for the down trees/logs. Homeowners will be able to transport their downed logs to this location for storage without cost to the homeowner. While the cost of the storage is free, the expense to transport the logs/trees to the temporary storage location will be at the owner’s expense if the Owner decides to remove the logs.

Please pay particular attention to this next section; I’m being told that starting in August there will be changes to how P.G.& E. and their subcontractors will handle dead trees/logs. While we do not have an official start date, starting in August dead trees will be handled in the following manner;

P.G.& E.’s subcontractors will fall the trees, and ‘chip’ the branches and slash as they do now. At a later time P.G.& E.’s subcontractor will return to the property and remove the logs. As noted above, once the locations have been identified a homeowner may elect to transport the logs themselves, or can also elect to hire another service provider to transport the logs as opposed to waiting for P.G.& E. subcontracts to return. P.G.&E. and their subcontractors (starting sometime in August) will not only remove the logs from downed trees fallen today and in the future, they will also address the logs from trees they had previously fallen up to one year.

Many of you have expressed concern and frustrations over insurance renewals and cancellations which has also been discussed in the Governor’s Tree Mortality Committee. If you are being cancelled or being refused a renewal over tree mortality, I might suggest that you contact the Insurance Commissioner who may be able to assist you.

There is also a movement to form a sub-committee to explore possible CDAA grant funding to assist in the removal of dead trees that are on private property but do not fall within County road ‘right of ways’ or threaten P.G.&E.’s transmission lines.

Information regarding these very important issues changes nearly daily on all levels of Government. It is my desire to keep you updated as soon as I can confirm information on this issue.

I am in the process of securing a location for a town hall meeting in two weeks. I will get the location out as soon as possible and hopefully have more concrete information to share and answer any questions you may have.

Sincerely,

Supervisor Oliveira District 3
Calaveras County