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In the recently-approved recommended budget for San Mateo County, the Parks Department could receive as much as $3 million in funding to help fire officials combat the threat of wildfires, especially among communities located near county parks.
Warren Slocum, San Mateo County Board Supervisor, said funding for wildfire mitigation was important for the Board to invest in after the experiences of last year’s wildfires and in anticipation of this year’s hot summer temperatures.
“It just points to the fact that we have a lot of work to do [with] fire mitigation,” Slocum said. “It’s a very high priority here given our experiences.”
Last June, a six-alarm brush fire near Edgewood Park, which began on the first day of summer, spread quickly to a corner of land between Woodside, Redwood City and Edgewood County Park, forcing evacuations of the nearby neighborhoods and consuming 25 acres in one day. Thousands lost power, and numerous fire resources, including air support, assisted in the relief effort. The fire burned for at least three days before firefighters fully contained it.
In their vision for the next two years, the San Mateo County Parks Department hopes to establish a brand new endeavor: the Hazard Tree Mitigation program.
Hannah Ormshaw, Assistant Director for the San Mateo County Parks Department, is one of the key players in the program’s creation and development. The program aims to tackle quite a few projects, including reducing the number of trees in dense areas of parks, assisting the Wildfire Fuel program by removing more than 200 acres of fire fuels from the county park system and establishing a thorough guide for the Parks team.
“It will be a guidance document for the whole department,” Ormshaw said, “As well as outline how we conduct our tree risk assessment, how we prioritize our hazard tree mitigation, [and] steps for mitigating hazards, whether it’s tree removal, pruning trees or supporting a tree and preventing it from falling.”
The program would also go hand in hand with one of their current initiatives in place: the Wildfire Fuel program. First established after the CZU Lightning Complex fires of August and September of 2020, the program works to improve how the Department identifies and evaluates fuel reduction projects. The Board of Supervisors adopted it in February of 2021 and currently comprises 32 fuel projects taking place over 1,800 acres of fire fuels. In the last three years, the Department has treated more than 1,000 acres of fire fuel.
Whereas funding for the Wildfire Fuel program comes from Measure K funding and grants from Cal Fire and the State Coastal Conservancy, funding for the Hazard Tree program would be exclusively built into the budget in the form of a one-time $3 million dollar grant. That money would greatly help the Department as they seek to bring on an additional arborist. Ormshaw said having the ability to add an arborist to the Parks team would be a big help when it comes to tree inspections, which could take quite a while.
“We’ll need to conduct ongoing tree inspections over the next several months or longer just to be able to keep on top of any additional hazards,” Ormshaw said.
The Hazard Tree Mitigation program plans to prioritize tree assessments for parks that were hit hardest by winter storms, like Coyote Point, Quarry Point and the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve. It would also prioritize parks that are considered “high use” because of their recreational, camping and picnic areas, like Flood Park and Memorial Park.
Ormshaw added that even though there are some parks they must prioritize right away, every park will have its trees assessed.
Overall, funding would not only allow the Parks Department to continue treating more acres of forest, but it would also maintain forest vitality, keep the public safe and help alleviate some of the burdens on the San Mateo County Fire Department.
Jonathan Cox, the Deputy Fire Chief of CAL Fire, San Mateo Division, touched on how important it is for other agencies to be able to help mitigate the threat of wildfires.
“It doesn’t just fall on one agency,” Cox said. “It’s really across the board, from landowners, to government, to our agencies.”
Landowners, in this sense, include the Parks Department, who are responsible for the land that makes up all of the parks across the county, he said.
“Fire doesn’t know boundaries,” Cox said. “It really comes down to people being responsible and good stewards of their land.”
With the recommended budget approved, the next step in the process will happen in September during a revisional process. September revisions will include discussions and a hearing to tie up any loose ends or add items back into the budget.
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