Post Fire Recovery Tree Removal Grant

Background:
Due to the Creek Fire, many property owners in the burn areas have damaged trees that will need to be removed. CalFIRE is the managing entity for forest activities on private land. Homeowners can use a CalFIRE tree removal exemption called "Post Fire Recovery Exemption" to clean up burnt/fire damaged trees within 300 ft of approved buildings. Our mission is to get the information about the availability of this exemption out to homeowners, use grant funds to hire a Registered Professional Forester to help Licensed Timber Operators file appropriate harvest paperwork, as well as select trees for removal and we will provide help to homeowners to offset the cost of disposal of any non merchantable wood materials.
     
Goals:
     1) Use of website, social media, town hall meetings, county resources to get the information out to homeowners: Most homeowners are not aware of Forest Practice rules that govern their ability to remove forest products from their property. We will concentrate our advertising efforts on getting this information to all homeowners in the affected areas of our jurisdiction.
2)Offset cost of Registered Professional Forester (RPF): An RPF is the most qualified to make decisions on what trees should be removed and which are healthy enough to remain. Many homeowners skip this important step of involving a RPF because of the cost. Our board feels it is important for the long term health of our forests to have an RPF involved in this process and will use grant funds to cover this cost. The RPF will also provide assistance to the Licensed Timber Operators (LTO),who will actually be performing the tree removal, file the required harvest documents with CalFIRE.
3)Help with disposal costs: Any non merchantable wood materials that cannot be sold to a sawmill will cost the homeowner/LTO to dispose of. We don't anticipate we can offset the total cost of this, but would like to provide vouchers to help with a portion of it.