Memorandum
Date: December 17, 2024
To: The Honorable Lake County Board of Supervisors
From: Stephen L. Carter, Jr., Assistant County Administrative Officer
Matthew T. Rothstein, Chief Deputy County Administrative Officer
Terre Logsdon, Chief Climate Resiliency Officer
Subject: 10:20 A.M. - a) Consideration of a Revised Cover Memo for Submittal to the California Office of Emergency Services (CalOES) Seeking Funding under the California Disaster Assistance Act (CDAA) to Provide Emergency Tree Mortality Response and Authorize Chair to Sign; and b) Consideration of Hazard Tree Survey Analysis Requested By CalOES, to be Attached With Cover Memo
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. We delayed submitting our official CDAA application while vetting potential sources of funding to meet the 25% match requirement. To date, these efforts have included preparing grant applications and speaking to our State and Federal and Legislative delegations, representatives from State Agencies and natural resources- and wildfire-focused staff from County advocacy organizations, and peers from other Counties facing Tree Mortality. Grant applications have not been successful, thus far, but Senate President pro Tempore Mike McGuire secured $1 million to support initial work on this project.
At the request of CalOES, the County contracted for a Pre-Assessment of dead and dying trees in the hardest hit area of the County between Cobb and Middletown. This survey has been completed by Tetra Tech.
Based on the findings of this Pre-Assessment and other accessible data, it is estimated 3,100 hazard trees threaten public infrastructure and public safety in the Southern Lake County focus area. Costs to mitigate these hazard trees far exceed the capacity of the County of Lake.
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