Memorandum
Date: February 27, 2024
To: The Honorable Lake County Board of Supervisors
From: Jessica Pyska, District 5 Supervisor
Subject: Presentation of Proclamation Thanking Senate President Pro Tempore Mike McGuire and the California State Legislature for Their Support of Lake County's Tree Mortality Emergency Response
Executive Summary:
WHEREAS, then-California Governor Edmund G. Brown proclaimed a State of Emergency to exist throughout the State of California due to severe drought conditions on January 17, 2014; and
WHEREAS, a State of Emergency was subsequently on October 30, 2015, for pervasive Tree Mortality in California, and included provisions to expedite the removal and disposal of dead and dying hazardous trees; and
WHEREAS, the County of Lake proclaimed a Local Emergency due to worsening drought conditions on May 6, 2021; and
WHEREAS, persistent and severe drought and resultant multi-species bark beetle infestation in many areas of California caused dramatic Tree Mortality in several regions of the state, with the United States Forest Service estimating that over 22 million trees were dead in 2014 and tens of millions more were likely to die in the coming years; and
WHEREAS, Tree Mortality in Lake County grew at an extraordinary rate between 2019, when United States Forest Service Flyover data estimated 3,000 dead and dying trees countywide, and 2022, when that estimate reached 590,000, with an estimated 20,000+ trees threatening county roadways and evacuation routes; and
WHEREAS, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection's aerial and group surveys in Napa and Lake Counties of December 2021 and January 2022 affirmed widespread conifer mortality, and that current drought is reducing the vigor and health of conifers, leaving Lake County trees vulnerable to further insect attack; and
WHEREAS, this growing threat increases wildfire risk, presents considerable safety risks from falling trees to residents living in affected r...
Click here for full text