[From the Oakland Tribune, Apr. 25, 1973]

STATE WON'T CUT TREES ON PRIVATE PROPERTY

HILL AREA FUEL BREAKS ENTIRELY ON PUBLIC LANDS

If hill area home owners have been waiting for the State Ecology Corps to come to their property and chop down the dead eucalyptus trees, they can forget it.

Oakland city officials have made public a map showing the route of the 300 foot wide "fuel break" which will be carved through the Oakland-Berkeley Hills to control wildfires that may break out this summer.

The map shows that the fuel break-which is being constructed with state funds under Gov. Ronald Reagan's disaster proclamation-has been routed entirely on publicly-owned lands so that no homeowners and, apparently, no private owner will get the benefit of having state crews chop down their trees for free.

Oakland Fire Marshal Edgar B. Heaney confirmed that the fuel break has been routed on public land, mostly the property of the East Bay Regional Park District, the East Bay Municipal Utility District and the University of California.

Most of the fuel break lies east of the Oakland city line and for many miles it runs parallel and close to another fuel break which the city is compelling private property owners to create by chopping land.

In several cases, pointed out by Heaney, the decision to avoid private property caused the fuel break to be routed onto the sides rather than along the crest of the hills where firemen and foresters said the fuel break should be constructed. The fuel break was the major item authorized by Gov. Ronald Reagan on April 4 when Reagan declared a state of emergency and told Deputy State Forester John H. Hastings and his staff to map a route for the fuel break.

Hastings, and other state forestry officials, had repeatedly stated that the line would follow Skyline and Grizzly Peak Boulevards.

However, the map made public shows the fuel break substantially east of the Skyline-Grizzly Peak Boulevard line except for a small area within the boundaries of Sibley (Roundtop) Regional Park.

The map also showed the areas where the Oakland fire marshal will require property owners to clear their land back to 100 feet from the edge of paved roads. City officials believe it may cost landowners $5,000 per acre to do this clearing, and that some property owners may go bankrupt because of it.

For many miles the state fuel break runs parallel and close to the alignment of hilltop streets where property owners will have to chop down the dead trees. In many cases the alignment shown on the map would leave a thin screen of dead trees between two open fuel breaks.

The map also showed four “lateral” fuel breaks that will be constructed at right angles to the main fire line. These lateral fire lines are designed to compartmentalize any major fire that might break out on the west (urbanized) section of the Oakland-Berkeley Hills.

One lateral line follows Claremont Avenue westward from Grizzly Peak Boulevard to Alvarado Road. This line separates the University of California property in Strawberry Canyon, which has 251 acres of dead eucalyptus trees, from the urbanized hill area near the Claremont Hotel.

Another lateral line, running along Castle Drive from Skyline Boulevard downhill almost to the Warren Freeway, would separate the groves of trees in Joaquin Miller Park from the heavily wooded residential areas in the Montclair District. Two other lateral lines follow major Pacific Gas & Electric Co. power lines through the Montclair District from Skyline Boulevard to the Warren Freeway. The map will be on display in the fire marshal's office at the City Hall. Heaney said this map doesn't include details of other areas where the Oakland Public Works Department has ordered the clearance of flammable foliage under an emergency ordinance passed two weeks ago.

FEBRUARY 20, 1973.

EAST BAY REGIONAL PARK DISTRICT

Subject: Plan of action-outline

I. Determine extent of damage to eucalyptus and types of hazards (fire, and/ or falling limbs/trees).

II. Identify priority areas and appropriate action.

1. High Use Area (picnic, camping, roads and trails, etc.).—Remove all dead or questionable trees (selective cutting).

2. Eucalyptus areas that pose potential threat to structures or adjacent private property.-Removed damaged trees.

3. Park Land which will provide a fuel break.-Reduce and manage ground fuel; clear all eucalyptus and thin/prune up other forest vegetation. III. All Other Park and Open Space Areas in Oakland/Berkeley Hills.— 1. Prepare Vegetation Management Plan including cost-time schedule. The primary objective of the plan is to set forth areas, methods and management techniques for the establishment and manageemnt of mosaics of vegetation which provide at least, the following benefits:

(a) Reduction of the fire hazard potential by "breaking up" and isolating heavy fuel types with systems of "natural looking" fuel breaks maintained by managing ground vegetation with prescribed burning, selective use of herbicides, mechanical or manual methods (includes II.3 areas).

(b) Increase recreational experience by improving the utility of Park and Open Space Areas and maintaining aesthetically pleasing vistas/scenery. (c) Preserve mosaics of vegetation that are now rapidly disappearing (i.e., grassland).

(d) Increase vegetative diversity (habitat) which will improve wildlife distribution and diversity.

(e) Increased diversity of both plant communities and animal populations will result in ecological units better able to tolerate unusual climatic variations/fire and attack from insects and diseases.

2. EIS, Public Hearings, Funding and Implementation.

IV. Establish an Inter-governmental Joint Agency (or utilize existing Mutual Aid Agreement) coordinate manpower and state and federal assistance (if any) to immediately implement action in priority areas listed under II. and to coordinate the development of the following plans:

1. Pre-attack Plan (for the Oakland/Berkeley Hills (fuel break approach)):

(a) Preparation/documentation phase.-Block layout, setting priorities, work planning and cost budgetry, etc.; field surveys, identifying pre-attack facilities ("cat lines", air tanker drop areas), coordinate index map.

(b) Installation phase.-Fuelbreaks and installation of other preattack facilities (incorporate in II.5, above).

(c) Fuel Treatment Systems.-Incorporate, in part, vegetation management plan.

2. Early-warning and Alert System:

(a) Early-warning.-Install and monitor key weather stations along Oakland/Berkeley Hills to early-warn critical fire period (September

wind).

(b) Alert System.-Man the two lookout towers with personnel having radio contact with all fire fighting agencies; State Division of Forestry personnel and fire fighting agencies on stand-by; close parks in Oakland/ Berkeley Hills; consider controlling access; consider water-E.B.M.U.D.; be able to refer to completed Pre-attack Plan; others.

Mr. MARLIN HALEY,

CALIFORNIA NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY,
Berkeley, Calif., February 20, 1973.

President, Board of Directors, East Bay Regional Park District, 11500 Skyline Boulevard, Oakland, California 94619.

DEAR MR. HALEY: We are writing to commend the East Bay Regional Park District for taking the initiative in bringing together various agencies to meet the threat posed by frost-killed eucalyptus in the East Bay hills.

The interest of the California Native Plant Society lies even more in what will come after removal of dead timber. We are concerned at plans to replant with unspecified but more frost-resistant trees. The natural state of the hills was one largely of grassland. Both eucalyptus and Monterey pine, also extensively planted, do not occur naturally in this region. The vast tracts of man-planted forests in our hills have had a great deal to do with disappearance of fields of wildflowers from the local scene.

The frost-kill thus presents an opportunity partially to correct past ecological mistakes and to foster a return to native vegetation in undeveloped sections of the East Bay hills. We have serious reservations about repeating artificial afforestation with Monterey pine to replace the eucalyptus, both because we think it might be nice to have wildflowers again and because of the pine's considerable sensitivity to smog damage, which has already been found on trees in Tilden park. Moreover, any artificial plantings that would be attractive to deer, with their browsing habits, would encounter serious problems of survival while young. It has been pointed out to us by James Roof, director of the Regional Parks Botanic Garden, and by Dr. Joe McBride of the University of California, who has done research on plant succesion in the East Bay hills, that there is extensive occurrence throughout the present eucalyptus forests of young California native plants such as bay, toyon, and madrone, apparently bird-planted. It might be that merely removing the eucalyptus and allowing these native plants to continue their growth would prove satisfactory. In addition, we wonder whether it would be possible to attempt to restore, at least initially over a relatively small test acreage, the perennial grasslands originally found in these hills. A relict grassland of this type is still to be found on Twin Peaks in San Francisco, Dr. McBride informs us, and, unlike present-day annual grasslands of introduced European species, has seemed over the years able to maintain itself and resist invasion by such species as Baccharis without the aid of grazing animals. Grazers, of course, were essentially absent from this area after the recent fossil past, so this would be a natural condition for a perennial grassland.

We would appreciate the opportunity of working with the consortium of public agencies in formulation of future plans for the eucalyptus-covered area. Dr. McBride has said he would be available to represent us in this capacity.

Sincerely yours,

ROBERT ORNduff,

President.

[From the Tribune Editorial Page, Feb. 14, 1973]

LETTERS TO THE FORUM

VOLUNTEER TO CLEANUP

EDITOR: This letter is prompted by the article, "Hill Area Holocaust Is Feared," in the Feb. 2 Tribune.

We have ben observing firsthand the plight of our hill area eucalyptus trees with growing concern.

The recent prolonged cold and snow that lasted a full week on the ground at Redwood Peak has caused the eucalyptus trees to turn color, then dry out to a sickening brown, and now to start dropping all leaves.

We are grateful that Dr. Harold Biswell of the University of California is actively trying to pervent a great disaster.

I was in Oregon during the great "Tillamook Burn" and on another occasion rode a bus through a forest fire. There is nothing so destructive and difficult to control or so horrifying. The analogy that Fred Garretson used—“like a great funeral pyre in the Oakland-Berkeley hills"-is ominously true.

In normal years a hill area fire would be bad, but this year it could be a horror for homeowners, wildlife and watersheds. It would entirely destroy the unique wooded recreation area that is so accessible to our heavily populated community. The ecology of the hills could be changed back to barren grass hills. It would take years to regrow the trees. The homes would be unreplaceable.

The wooded hill areas of the Eastbay area have thousands of homes nestled among the trees. Making homes and families safe is of prime concern.

Most of our hill area roofs are esthetic wooden shake which catches fire easiest of all. We do need to act now to inform the homeowners for the need to have extinguishing material on hand, to clean needles from roofs and to generally be

95-978-73-6

ready. But the task of cleaning out the forests is a stupendous one. Poison oak is going to make it difficult for some persons to actually help in the woods.

I and my family want to help some way. I work all week but weekends there must be some way I can help. My oldest daughter and son attend Skyline High School. My youngest daughter is in Montera Jr. High. The children are concerned, too.

My oldest daughter said students at the high school should be informed and they could offer much volunteer help. My children want to do something. The trees are their life.

MRS. L. SCHWARZ,

Oakland.

STATEMENT OF JAY M. VER LEE, DIRECTOR OF PARKS AND RECREATION, CITY OF OAKLAND, CALIF.

EXTREME FIRE HAZARD PROBLEM-ALAMEDA-CONTRA COSTA COUNTIES

This testimony has been prepared by Jay M. Ver Lee, Director of Parks and Recreation, City of Oakland, who also serves as Chairman of the Disposal Marketing and Cost Committee of the Inter-Governmental Advisory Committee on the Fire Hazard problem in Alameda and Contra Costa counties.

Because others are testifying on the unprecedented fire hazard confronting a number of governmental jurisdictions located in Alameda and Contra Costa counties, this testimony will be confined to the serious problems facing the City of Oakland. Many of the statements made herein also apply to neighboring governmental jurisdictions having similar problems. A detailed Progress Report on the Oakland Action Plan, dated April 24, is being presented by Mr. William Hildebrand, Chairman of the Inter-Governmental Advisory Committee. Oakland's problems can be summarized as follows:

1. Thousands of hazardous dead trees that could provide the fuel for a massive fire with a resulting substantial loss of property and lives are located on 600 acres of public and private land in a large portion of the Oakland hill area.

2. Because help from State and other outside sources has been limited, practically all steps taken to date to meet crises in the City have been by the City government and Oakland citizens.

3. Because of a number of factors, Oakland in fiscal year 1974 will have an unprecedented revenue crisis in trying to carry out its normal services.

4. Numerous private home owners in the Oakland hills face financial disaster in the removal of hazardous trees and accumulated ground fuel.

THE HAZARD

Experts from a number of local, State, and Federal agencies concur with the fact that there are thousands of hazardous dead trees in the East Bay hills-in some areas as many as 1,000 to the acre. They also agree that the area faces a serious fire threat now that will become rapidly more severe during the next four or five dry months. An imminent disaster exists that requires unusual and timely action.

ACTION TO DATE

Oakland, in the past three months, has taken a number of steps to remove trees and ground fuel hazards on public and private lands. A number of City tree and public works crews have been diverted from their regular work to remove thousands of trees and collect and dispose of tons of ground fuel. Contracts have been let to remove many more trees, and additional contracts are in process. Dump sites and other disposal methods have been activated. New equipment has been purchased. Fire Department personnel in large numbers have been assigned to the hills to work with residents and enforce legislation requiring private citizens to abate their own fire hazards by removing trees and debris. (Existing legislation requires property owners to abate hazardous conditions on their property. If they refuse to act, the City abates the hazard and places a lien on the property involved.) The East Bay Municipal Utility District has appropriated $900,000 to add water tanks and pipelines in the Oakland hills. Disaster planning has been completed, and mutual aid programming has been finalized.