DATE: May 4, 2004
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBJECT: Creating Firewood out of Fire-damaged Wood at William Heise Park

SUMMARY:
Today's action will authorize the Chief Administrative Officer to develop a program to allow San Diego County residents to cut and haul away wood from felled trees at William Heise County Park in Julian. This action will reward those community residents who help take part in the vegetation management of the park with the valuable energy source of firewood for the winter, and could save the County time and money.

RECOMMENDATIONS:
Chairwoman Dianne Jacob:

1. Find that the proposed action is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15301.
2. Authorize the Chief Administrative Officer to develop a program that includes a temporary permit with a release of liability to allow San Diego County residents to cut and haul away wood from felled trees at William Heise County Park.
3. Authorize the Chief Administrative Officer to implement this program at other County Parks if, over the continued course of park rehabilitation, the Chief Administrative Officer determines it to be appropriate.

FISCAL IMPACT:
This action involves the addition of no staff years and no future costs. Cost savings may result, as the County of San Diego would be relieved of some of the cost and effort of having to remove felled trees from the park.

BACKGROUND:
Since the October Wildfires of 2003, the County has been working to clean out dead or damaged trees from County Parks in order to ensure public safety, minimize future fire risks, and make the parks available for public use as soon as possible.

County Parks has already celebrated the partial reopening of four fire-damaged areas: Lake Jennings Park in Lakeside, Louis Stelzer Park, William Heise Park and Volcan Mountain. These partial reopenings allow the public to once again enjoy the amenities of San Diego County parks and experience the new life that has come out of the tragedy of the fires while other areas of the parks are still being cleaned and restored. There is still a great deal of work to be done, however, as thousands of acres of parkland were impacted by the fires, both in Heise Park and elsewhere in the County.

In Julian, a particular opportunity exists at William Heise Park as the debris removal and restoration process continues. County Parks cut down approximately 15 dead trees in the campground area of Heise Park and hauled these trees to a specific area in the park. The number of dead trees that are cut down and hauled to this area is likely to increase. Further, the winters in the Julian area can be extreme, and firewood is always a valued commodity to locals during those cold months.

Permitting residents to cut up the dead trees for firewood and haul the wood away could save the County precious time and money, and would allow County Parks to focus on cleaning out the still-damaged areas of the park. In addition, it would provide residents with easy access to a place to pick up wood for the winter.

Therefore, today's action will authorize the Chief Administrative Officer to develop a program to allow San Diego County residents to cut and haul away wood from felled trees at William Heise County Park. Further, it would give the Chief Administrative Officer the authority to implement this program at other County Parks if, over the continued course of park rehabilitation, the Chief Administrative Officer determines it to be appropriate.

I am confident that this cooperative effort between the County and the community of Julian will be a win-win for everyone, as it will bring warmth to residents during the winter and make Heise Park safer for the future.

I urge your support!

Respectfully submitted,

DIANNE JACOB
Chairwoman, Second District