- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
Board of Supervisors honors Caltrans, Konocti Conservation Camp for fire prevention efforts
Supervisor Rob Brown presented the proclamation Tuesday morning to representatives of the two agencies.
He said that it seems like forever, but over the past five years in particular, Lake County has been full of out-of-county and out-of-state firefighters and lots of smoke. He offered appreciation to those who have come a long way to protect Lake County residents and their homes.
“I don’t think we give enough recognition to those who help us to prevent the fires to begin with,” said Brown, explaining that over the past year they’ve put in a lot of effort to prevent fires.
Brown, now in his last term on the board, said when his term ends later this year, he hopes his greatest accomplishment will be to have prevented the communities that interface with Mount Konocti from burning down.
With the help of Caltrans and the Konocti Conservation Camp, “I think we can do that,” he said.
At the same time as Brown was presenting the proclamation, he said Konocti Conservation Camp inmate crews were at work clearing areas along Bottle Rock Road.
He said inmate firefighters make up 40 percent of the state’s firefighters, saving Californians $100 million a year. “That’s pretty substantial,” he said. “The work that they’re doing right now is unbelievable.”
During the summer, Brown said he worked with both agencies to do a cleanup – the “1,000 Hands” – along Highway 281, or Soda Bay Road. They, along with 300 community volunteers, spent a Saturday morning in August cleaning up brush along six miles of the road.
Brown’s written report to the board acknowledged the work of Paul Johnson and Marty Sills of Caltrans, who met him on a Saturday, on their own time, to discuss the project and identified the area of potential wildfire concern from the Ely Stage Stop to the end of Highway 281/Soda Bay Road.
His report said Cal Fire Battalion Chief Jake Hannan, Division Chief Greg Bertelli and Konocti Conservation Camp put together an inmate crew, and over the course of several days, cleaned 50 to 100 feet on either side of portions of Soda Bay Road to protect residents of Clear Lake Riviera.
“These were significant undertakings that kept Lake County residents safe and kept properties intact, and they warrant our Board’s recognition and commendation,” he wrote to the board.
In the proclamation, it noted that Caltrans “routinely and substantially reduces the risk of wildfire for all Californians by implementing vegetation management practices described in the Penal Code and Streets and Highways Code, in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act.”
Since April 1963, Konocti Conservation Camp No. 27 has, through cooperative efforts with Cal Fire and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation “valuably contributed to hazardous tree and vegetation removal along public roadways and trails in Lake County,” the proclamation states.
Explaining that a 2019 United States Congressional Research Service report noted that 88 percent of all wildland fires from 2014 to 2018 were human-caused, and many of them started by roadsides, the proclamation recognized the two agencies’ efforts to clear brush along Highway 281/Soda Bay Road to protect the lives and property of 12,000 Lake County residents and assisted Brown with his volunteer effort.
“These preventive efforts collectively contributed to the safety and well-being of residents in the area surrounding SR 281 and all of Lake County,” the proclamation stated.
The supervisors commended the agencies for their efforts.
“Such preventive measures are paramount to limiting profound costs and regional disruption associated with large-scale disasters, and we are deeply grateful for the work of all involved,” the proclamation concluded.
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Caltrans District 1 and Konocti Conservation Camp Proclamation by LakeCoNews on Scribd