Residents of Claremont Canyon know from first hand experience that fire in a stand of eucalyptus can spread downwind very rapidly under Diablo Wind conditions.
Removing eucalyptus trees from an area tends to mean two things: (1) That native plants will recover and thrive in that area, and (2) the risk of wildfire will be significantly reduced. Professional firefighters consider eucalyptus trees to be highly fire dangerous.
One-time removal of entire groves versus repeated re-entries for the purpose of thinning will reduce the cost of maintenance and save millions of dollars for public agencies and the private citizens who support them.
To keep eucalyptus stumps from resprouting, they must be treated with Garlon, Roundup or other product within a few minutes after the tree has been cut down.
Treating just the cambium layer of a eucalyptus stump can prevent resprouting while not effecting other vegetation.
After the removal of invasive trees, native vegetation tends to recover and thrive.
Bluegum eucalyptus grows very rapidly—as much as six feet in height per year.
Bluegum eucalyptus can produce four to six tons of flammable debris per acre per year.
Once the eucalyptus trees have been removed, the University and local residents have agreed to work together to prevent invasives from once again taking over an area.
Environmental review of this project has been extremely detailed, thorough and comprehensive. The EIS should now be accepted so that the effected landowners can implement their individual vegetation management plans with minimal delay.
Funds for these projects were appropriated by Congress before the EIS process began and are not limited by Sequestration.
