El Dorado County Announces the Cancellation of the Community Meeting in the Grizzly Flats Area for Tree Mortality on December 15, 2016. The notice also announced that the same public meeting will be rescheduled in early 2017 but did not give a reason for the delay. The National Weather Serviced announced a weather warning of extremely high winds at the same time as the meeting had been scheduled. Such weather conditions often make mountain roads like the one leading to the small mountain community of Grizzly Flats temporally impassable due to fallen trees blocking the roadway.
The notice from the county reads:
Placerville, CA – El Dorado County announces the cancellation of the community meeting in Grizzly Flats on December 15th to discuss planned tree mortality operations in the area. The meeting will be rescheduled for early January. At the meeting, County staff will be discussing the steps for the County to remove dead and dying trees on private property that threaten County roads. For example, County staff will be asking property owners to sign right-of-entry documents, which are mandated by the State of California funding for the tree mortality crisis, so forest/timber professionals can mark and eventually remove dead and dying trees.
The initial County tree mortality operations are planned in the Mount Pleasant section of Grizzly Park. This area is planned for the first tree removal projects due to the high concentration of dead and dying trees that threaten County roads. The County is targeting late February or early March for trees to be removed along the County roads in this area. Future projects along County roads are currently being planned with State, Federal and private partners (e.g. PG&E).
The weather warning reads:URGENT WIND ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 6 AM TO 6 PM PST THURSDAY ...STRONG GUSTY SOUTHERLY WINDS WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY...
SOUTHERLY WINDS WILL INCREASE ACROSS THE REGION ON WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY AS A STRONG WEATHER SYSTEM MOVES ACROSS THE AREA. GUSTS OF 40 TO 50 MPH ARE LIKELY WITH LOCALLY HIGHER GUSTS POSSIBLE OVER THE NORTH END OF THE SACRAMENTO VALLEY AND ACROSS HIGHER TERRAIN.
* TIMING...SOUTHERLY WINDS INCREASE WEDNESDAY NIGHT. STRONGEST WINDS EXPECTED EARLY THURSDAY MORNING INTO THURSDAY AFTERNOON.
* WINDS...SOUTH 20 TO 30 MPH WITH GUSTS OF 40 TO 50 MPH.
* IMPACTS...DIFFICULT DRIVING CONDITIONS. LOCAL POWER OUTAGES POSSIBLE DUE TO DOWNED TREES AND OR POWER LINES.
