El Dorado County gets disaster funds to remove dying trees

$825,000 is headed to El Dorado County for help in removing trees dying from the extreme drought and related bark beetle infestations.

With an estimated 66 million dead trees in the state of California, Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency almost one year ago.

After the October 30 Emergency Proclamation in 2015, 18 distinct actions were made to direct state agencies, utilities and local governments to remove dead or dying trees in high hazard areas across the state. The El Dorado County Board of Supervisors followed Brown's action and proclaimed a local state of emergency due to pervasive tree mortality on March 28, 2016.

During Tuesday's El Dorado County Board of Supervisors meeting, the five supervisors took the final step to secure California Disaster Assistance Act (CDAA) funds for the State and County state of emergencies due to pervasive tree mortality. The County will be finalizing the plans for tree removal over the next couple of months with Federal, State and local partners.

The funding of $825,000 provides for a 75 percent share cost of expected expenses.

The CDAA funding, from the State of California, is only available for counties, cities and special districts for the removal of hazardous trees that threaten public infrastructure (e.g. county roads, county buildings, etc.). CDAA funding does not provide assistance to private individuals or businesses. El Dorado County is working with different government organizations to see where there might be funding available for private landholders. For current programs, from cooperating partners (e.g. PG&E, National Resources Conservation Service, etc.), that can assist private landholders please visit the County’s tree mortality website at the following address: www.edcgov.us/Living/Tree_Mortality.aspx. The County’s tree mortality website also provides background information about the issue, information from state agencies and locations to obtain contact information for technical specialists that can help individuals if they have a tree mortality problem.