Yosemite West Property & |
YWPHI has been awarded $15,987.50. This grant is funded by PG&E in support of their effort to prevent catastrophic wildfire during the drought. PG&E awarded funds to many fire safe councils and non-profits who in turn allocated the PG&E Fuel Reduction Funds to their projects or those of partner organizations. In this case, YWPHI's fiscal sponsor, the Yosemite/Sequoia Resource Conservation & Development Council (Y/S RC&D) in North Fork was awarded $50,000 by PG&E. They in turn solicited and accepted project proposals from their partners, and awarded a portion of their $50,000 to YWPHI.
| Grant Number | Total Project Cost | Funding Awarded | Matching Funds Provided | % of Match to Total Project Cost | Project Name | Project Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n/a | $15,987.50 | $15,987.50 | $0 | 0% | Yosemite West Public Utility Easement (PUE) Fuel Reduction Project | The project will remove hazardous dead trees from the PUEs in Yosemite West. |
Mature firs and ponderosa and sugar pines (> 12" dbh) are dying at an increasing rate due to the fourth year of severe drought conditions that enable disease and bark beetle infestations. At present there are more than 100 dead trees (greater than 12" dbh), which have died since July 2012.
The project will identify and fell dead trees in or near PUEs in Yosemite West. The project will utilize both contractor labor and community volunteer labor. The contractors will fell the dead trees. The property owners and contractors will drag and pile limbs for chipping and buck the downed trunks. The contractors will chip the limbs and disperse the chips on site. The remaining logs will be available to the community for biomass utilization as firewood. The goal is to complete at least 75% of the work, if not all of it, by August 31, 2015, and to complete the rest of the project no later than October 31, 2015.
A survey along the PUEs identified significant clusters of dead trees that meet the project criteria and have been placed at high priority. Targeting parcels with significant clusters of dead trees makes the best use of the project's limited resources and provides the most improvement to the community's defensible space. We targeted 52 parcels with 148 dead trees, and received permission to work on 40 parcels with 122 dead trees.
A Public Utility Easement (PUE) is an area of a parcel that is defined for use by the utilities. In Yosemite West, every parcel has a PUE. Typically the PUEs are 10 feet wide along the street-side of the parcel and 15 feet wide along the rear of the parcel. Some parcels have PUEs between parcels, i.e., side by side.
The following maps show all PUEs in Yosemite West:
The grant requires 0% match, although it requests volunteer labor that would serve as an in-kind match.
| Date | Timeline |
|---|---|
| May 2015 | YWPHI prepares and submits a project proposal to the Yosemite/Sequoia Resource Conservation & Development Council (Y/S RC&D). |
| July 2015 | The Y/S RC&D informs YWPHI that their proposal is accepted. YWPHI signs an agreement and receives authorization to start work. YWPHI informs property owners about the project and explains how to participate, prepares a detailed work plan, and solitics bids from prospective contractors. Download the Letter of Commitment required for project participation. |
| August 2015 | On-the-ground work starts and contractor fells 117 of 122 targeted trees on 40 parcels. Property owners start dragging and piling limbs and debris. |
| September 2015 | Felling continues and will be completed the first part of September followed by a five- and/or six-member crew coming to limb, pile and chip debris for five days starting on September 14th. We held two work parties on September 17 and 24 where volunteers gave a total of 50 hours of assistance to the project. |
| September 2015 | The project is successfully completed as of September 26, 2015. The project felled 140 dead trees on 41 parcels, far exceeding the original goal of just 50 dead trees. Of the dead trees, we found that 84% were firs and 16% were pines, and that 80% were greater than 12" diameter at breast height (dbh) with the majority being between 24" and 30" in diameter. By working together as a community, the project kept the average cost at less than $115 per tree. |
 Copyright text © Yosemite West Property & Homeowners, Inc. 2003-2017, Copyright photographs © John Mock 2004-2017. All rights reserved. Unauthorized redistribution of this document is prohibited. Updated December 28, 2016. |