SPRINGVILLE, Calif. — The Pier Fire burned nearly 37,000 acres last summer, most of it on the Western Divide Ranger District in Giant Sequoia National Monument, Sequoia National Forest. An effort is proposed to remove the burned trees along a 35-mile stretch of roadway to mitigate the hazards. “These dead and dying trees are a substantial threat to public safety,” stated District Ranger Eric LaPrice. A map showing the proposed project area is available at https://www.fs.usda.gov/projects/sequoia/landmanagement/projects.
In addition to mitigating hazards, the Pier Fire Roadside Hazard Tree Mitigation Project will perform restoration work in the fire area to re-establish and improve wildlife habitat, and create a more resilient ecosystem. “It is important to address these hazards now while the trees are structurally sound enough to fall them safely,” LaPrice shared. “We’ll need to remove many of the felled trees from the landscape rather than leave heavy debris covering the ground presenting a fire hazard, plugging culverts, and rolling onto the roads.”
Felled trees would be removed from the landscape using a variety of tools including timber sales, chipping, prescribed burning, and personal use firewood collection. Forest officials have initiated a scoping comment period for this proposed project, and are seeking comments related to this proposal. If you would like to provide comments, please submit them to Western Divide Ranger District, attn. Eric LaPrice, 32588 HWY 190, Springville CA 93265 or by email to elaprice@fs.fed.us. Comments would be most useful in helping us identify any concerns if received by April 1, 2018.
