|
During fall 2005, more than 100 trees
were removed from 89 acres in Golden Gate National Recreation
Area, to protect the adjacent community of Homestead Valley,
where there are over 1,000 homes. Non-native Monterey pines,
Acacias, eucalyptus and plums, and encroaching Douglas-firs
were cut and piled for burning.
Homestead Valley is an unincorporated area
located between the city of Mill Valley and Golden Gate National
Recreation Area (GGNRA). The Homestead project was identified
as a priority in the recently completed Marin County Community
Wildfire Protection Plan, which proposes a comprehensive 40-mile
fuelbreak system extending from Sausalito to Lagunitas, California.
A series of projects, which includes Homestead, will implement
the 40-mile fuelbreak, which is now 20% complete. A major
component of the plan calls for removing large stands of non-native
trees which were planted for aesthetic purposes in the past,
but have become a serious fire hazard. The cut stumps from
the Acacias, eucalyptus, and plums were treated with herbicide
to prevent resprouting. The remaining debris piles will be
burned during winter 2006. Fire road improvements are another
key component of the plan.
The public response to the Homestead project
has been very positive. Homeowners in the Amaranth subdivision
and managers of the Homestead Land Trust whose properties
are in immediate proximity to the project were fully supportive
of the work. Visual impact near the road was minimized by
craning out the stemwood and grinding the remaining stump
when a large tree was removed from a major 4-way intersection.
While the work was in progress, there was only one complaint,
despite a long history of public concern when trees are cut
in Marin County.
The Homestead project was managed by Marin
County Fire Department in cooperation with FIRESafe MARIN,
who developed contracts with Great Tree Tenders and Treemasters
to accomplish the work.
In Phase 2 of the project, the Homestead
Fire Road will be cleared and regraded to create an alternative
route for emergency response and evacuation. Erosion and vegetation
overgrowth has turned the fire road into nearly a single track
trail. This treatment will connect Lattie Lane in Tamalpais
Valley to Panoramic Highway, further increasing fire protection
for the Homestead area. The fire road will assist with access
especially in case of a wildfire in one of several eucalpytus
groves nearby, as was demonstrated by the 2004 Tam Fire. The
fire road improvements will be completed in 2006.
Contact: Alex Naar, Fire Management
Officer – Golden Gate National Recreation Area
Phone: (415) 331-6374
Contact: Kent Julin, Registered
Professional Forester - Marin County Fire Department
Phone: (415) 499-3759 |
