PLAN CALLS FOR DYING TREES TO BE THINNED.Byline: Charles F. Bostwick Staff Writer ANGELES NATIONAL FOREST The Angeles National Forest (ANF) was established by executive order on December 20, 1892 as the San Gabriel Timberland Reserve. It covers over 2,600 km² (650,000 acres) and is located in the San Gabriel Mountains of Los Angeles County, just north of the metropolitan area of Los - U.S. Forest Service officials propose thinning out nearly 1,000 acres of forest along Big Pines Highway and the Mountain High and Ski Sunrise ski areas. Aiming to head off a conflagration like the one last summer that devastated dev·as·tate tr.v. dev·as·tat·ed, dev·as·tat·ing, dev·as·tates 1. To lay waste; destroy. 2. To overwhelm; confound; stun: was devastated by the rude remark. San Bernardino San Bernardino, city, United States San Bernardino (săn bûr'nədē`nō), city (1990 pop. 164,164), seat of San Bernardino co., S Calif., at the foot of the San Bernardino Mts.; inc. 1854. Mountain communities, forest officials plan to cut down dead and dying trees - killed by crowding, drought and insects - and thin out smaller trees and brush. ``We saw what was going on in the San Bernardino forest,'' said San Clara/Mojave Rivers Ranger Cid Morgan. ``We could see we were starting to get a bit of tree mortality in our higher country. We're concerned about it.'' Planned with the help of computer models of fire behavior, the work is expected to start in fall, Morgan said. The Forest Service is accepting comments from the public about the plan until March 5. Thinning out trees and brush is aimed at helping protect a dozen organization's camps along Big Pines Highway, plus historic buildings around Big Pines. The thinning is also aimed at protecting Big Pines Highway as an escape route for campers and residents of the mountain community of Wrightwood, Morgan said. The work is planned along about five miles of Big Pines Highway, from the Big Pines Information Station to the forest boundary at Mile High Ranch, plus the area around the ski areas where Big Pines Highway joins Angeles Crest Highway The Angeles Crest Highway is a two-lane (one lane of travel in each direction) segment of California State Route 2 in the United States. The road is 66 miles in length, with its western terminus at the intersection at Foothill Boulevard in La Cañada Flintridge and its eastern . A much larger area of forest is to be thinned around Wrightwood itself. Forest Service officials are still working on those plans and expect to release details in April, Morgan said. The thinning will spare living trees whose trunks are larger than 14 inches in diameter - 12 inches for oaks and other deciduous trees deciduous tree Broad-leaved tree that sheds all its leaves during one season. Deciduous forests are found in three middle-latitude regions with a temperate climate characterized by a winter season and year-round precipitation: eastern North America, western Eurasia, and - measured four feet above the ground, Morgan said. ``It's not clearing everything out,'' Morgan said. ``It's putting it back into a more natural condition.'' More than 91,000 acres of the San Bernardino Mountains San Bernardino Mountains, part of the Coast Range, S Calif., extending c.60 mi (100 km) NW and SE through San Bernardino and Riverside counties. Notable peaks are San Bernardino Mt. (10,630 ft/3,240 m) and Mt. San Gorgonio (11,485 ft/3,501 m). burned last fall, destroying nearly 1,000 homes and killing six people. Fueling the flames were thousands of trees killed by years of low rainfall and damage done by bark beetles bark beetle Any member of the beetle family Scolytidae, many of which severely damage trees. Bark beetles are cylindrical, brown or black, and usually less than 0.25 in. (6 mm) long. , which healthy trees are able to fight off. Dry weather has also killed trees in Angeles National Forest, though conditions are far less serious than in the San Bernardino Mountains. The primary cause, Morgan said, is a century of suppressing wild fires, allowing trees to grow in thicker stands where they rob each other of water and are more susceptible to problems like bark beetles. A Forest Service survey last May found tree deaths generally low on National Forest land outside Wrightwood and said Wrightwood was in less danger than San Bernardino Mountain communities from fire. Wrightwood buildings generally have composite shingles shingles: see herpes zoster. shingles or herpes zoster Acute viral skin and nerve infection. Groups of small blisters appear along certain nerve segments, most often on the back, sometimes after a dull ache at the site; pain becomes rather than wood shingles Because trees were plentiful from the earliest days of settlement of North America, the use of wood for all aspects of construction is not surprising. Wooden roof shingles were lightweight, made with simple tools, and easily installed. , its weather has not been as dry as in the San Bernardino Mountains and the types of trees around it face a different, less numerous and less aggressive sort of bark beetle than the San Bernardino Mountain trees, the survey said. But the survey also found that private land in Wrightwood has overly dense stands of tree, as did the San Bernardino Mountains, putting trees at risk to attack by bark beetles. Comments on the proposal can be sent to Morgan at the Santa Clara/Mojave Rivers Ranger District, 30800 Bouquet Canyon Road, Saugus, CA 91390. Anyone with questions can call Morgan at (661) 296-9710 or Chris French Christopher C. French BA PhD CPsychol FBPsS FRSA is a psychologist and vocal skeptic specialising in the psychology of paranormal beliefs and experiences, cognition and emotion. at (559) 359-5817. Information about fire safety plans is available at the Wrightwood Fire Safe Council's Web site at www.wrightwoodfsc.com. Charles F. Bostwick, (661) 267-5742 chuck.bostwick(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): map Map: (ran in AV edition only) REDUCING FIRE DANGER Daily News |
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