Avery, CA…The Avery Middle School Gym was filled to overflowing on Saturday with community members concerned about tree mortality in our area. The cliff note version…The problem is huge and it may get worse before it gets better. The main culprits are beetles, drought & overcrowded forests. If standing dead trees on your property could impact utility lines, roadways or could cause an issue to the public there is probably help available to remove them. If standing dead trees on Stanislaus National Forest Lands could impact your your home there are probably ways to get them removed.

Lots of people from multiple agencies and companies are working on the problem. There is no magic bullet, aerial spray or something the government can do to stop the trees from dying. This is a problem it will take us the next few years to work through. Watering trees at the drip line once a month may help. There may be some chemical or repellent treatments that may be effective but none they were willing to speak about publicly.

The best resource may be the new website Calaveras County has put up that will become a repository of forms, links and other information to get the process rolling for tree issues on your property. The USFS will have forms available at the Hathaway Pines office for trees on their property that may affect yours.

We will get through this and come out stronger and wiser on the other side. Click on the image below to take you to county site on tree mortality.