Lake Arrowhead could get ugly real fast -
Four years of severe drought have left the forests of San Bernardino, Riverside and San Diego counties in Southern California significantly stressed and vulnerable to a bark beetle infestation that has created hundreds of thousands of dead and dying trees.
This has created an extreme fire hazard resulting in Governor Gray Davis declaring a State of Emergency on March 7, 2003, and extensive multi-agency, community, landowner, and resident efforts to reduce the fire threat, and to plan for the possibility of wildfire.
"Trees on more than 150,000 acres have died and an estimated 75,000 residents are threatened by catastrophic wildfire, injury and property damage from falling trees," said Governor Davis. By declaring a State of Emergency the Governor reduced the "red tape" and provided landowners with the regulatory relief necessary to quickly remove dead and dying trees from their property.
It is the responsibility of the property owner on private property to remove bark beetle infested trees, and due to the extreme fire danger, and the danger of falling trees, officials encourage prompt removal of dead standing trees. Don't wait to receive a notice requiring their removal. Contact a licensed contractor for tree removal and trimming.
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection has been taking steps to protect public safety identifying significant evacuation routes into and out of these hard hit areas. These routes would be used in the event of a wildfire not only for evacuation of residents but also for response by emergency vehicles. Local CDF Units are also working with communities to identify fire safe evacuation centers such as schools and community centers that would be safe locations for residents to go in the event of a wildfire. CDF conservation camp crews have been busy removing trees that might be susceptible to falling and blocking evacuation routes, or threaten evacuation centers.
The magnitude of the problem has necessitated a multi agency state, federal, and local government response. The links on this site provide information about the Bark Beetle infestation, and the community, resident, landowner, and multi-agency effort underway.
http://www.fire.ca.gov/ResourceManagement/so_cal_beetle_infest.aspI am sorry, I am trying to stay quiet and not tie up this thread to much. Could someone explain where RIM is? I checked map quest and it placed it up above San Francisco.
