East County News Service
July 9, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) – Over 87,000 trees in San Diego County forests have died due to drought in the past year, the U.S. Forest Service found in an aerial survey conducted in April. Bark beetles have also decimated many trees locally and in forests statewide.
All those dead pine, oak and cedar trees increase the dangers from wildfires in this fourth year of record drought. So now the state Board of Forestry and Fire Protection has announced an emergency regulation to make it easier to remove dead trees.
The rule will help property owners in areas such as Julian and Mount Laguna, shortening up the permitting process from weeks or months to only a few days.
Forestry officials have learned a lesson from 2003, when state officials and members of Congress representing San Diego sent a letter to the federal government pleading for funds to cut down dead trees. The Bush administration ultimately turned down that request – just one day before the devastating Cedar Fire occurred.
The Cedar Fire, which started in Ramona, burned into urban areas such as Scripps Ranch, ultimately charring over 280,000 acres, destroyed 2,284 homes and claimed 15 lives. It still stands as the worst wildfire in California history.
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