Memorandum
Date: July 7, 2026
To: The Honorable Brad Rasmussen, Chair, Lake County Board of Supervisors
From: Susan Paker, County Administrative Officer
Terre Logsdon, Chief Climate Resiliency Officer
Subject: Consideration of a Contract with the Lake County Resource Conservation District for Hazard Tree Removal and Authorize Chair to Sign
Executive Summary:
The County of Lake proclaimed a Local State of Emergency due to Pervasive Tree Mortality on May 3, 2022, after decades of extreme drought and groundwater depletion that led to widespread tree mortality across the county. State Senator Mike McGuire secured $1 million via a grant from the California Office of Emergency Services (CalOES) to support initial work on this project which allowed the County of Lake to contract with TetraTech to complete a statistically significant survey of hazard trees that threaten public infrastructure and public safety in South Lake County.
With the data generated by TetraTech, the County of Lake submitted an official request under the California Disaster Assistance Act (CDAA) with the assistance of TetraTech in December of 2024. This request has not yet been approved, although conversations are ongoing.
The remaining funds from the CalOES grant must be used to mitigate hazard trees and be expended by March 1, 2027, or returned to the State. Because pervasive tree mortality due to drought and pests continues to imperil County infrastructure, County staff from Administration and Public Works, in addition to representatives from the Lake County Fire Chiefs' Association, were invited by the Lake County Resource Conservation District (LCRCD) to plan hazard tree removals along County-maintained roads that serve as primary evacuation routes with funding they were awarded under a U.S. Forest Service Community Wildfire Defense Grant (CWDG).
Because the LCRCD is a Special District of the State of California and considered a Local Government, the County of Lake can pass the rem...
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