The Lab will remove wildfire hazards including dead, dying, or other hazardous trees around the hill site beginning Monday, June 30, as part of the Lab’s comprehensive efforts to mitigate wildfire threat to the Lab and the surrounding areas. This work will occur around the lower perimeter of the site, focusing on the west and southwest boundaries near Building 88.
The project is anticipated to last approximately 20 business days, effectively covering the month of July. While full road closures are not planned, please be aware of intermittent lane controls with flaggers on Hearst Road starting Monday, July 7 through Friday, July 11, between 9:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. daily. Additionally, the driveway on the west side of Building 88 will be closed from Monday, July 21 through Friday, July 25, to facilitate equipment access and vegetation removal. Commuter and pedestrian traffic to the building should remain unaffected. Please obey all hazard signs and barriers.
These latest efforts are part of the Lab’s ongoing vegetation management program, which includes annual goat grazing, tree maintenance, and regular groundskeeping. The Lab uses proven science to guide decision-making on this project by ranking potential treatment areas to maximize the benefit.
3 Comments
Hi everyone, thanks for the hard work in maintaining our lab fire safe.
I understand this tree removal is essential for fire safety, but I cannot help to notice the drastic change in the landscape this produces. In addition, I’m pretty sure this disturbs local wildlife by destroying birds’ nests, for example. In view of the unavoidable impact that these measures bring, I wonder if there is any “compensation” measure in course. Is the lab planting new trees that are more fire resistant or native from this region? There could be an effort to mitigate the impact of these cuts; these measures could even involve the community with some “hands-on tree planting”. Please let us know what the plan is, if any.
Hi Raphael, thank you for your comment. The Lab ensures the tree work avoids impacting breeding birds and bats by having wildlife biologists inspect all trees for nesting birds or bat maternity roosts. If an active roost is found during breeding season, we leave the tree undisturbed until the young have fledged. The Lab also observes protocols to avoid disturbing other local species.
We understand your concern about the visual and ecological changes. While there’s no immediate plan for direct tree replanting in this specific area, our broader vegetation management strategy focuses on enhancing the health of our native ecosystem. By removing hazardous and invasive species like eucalyptus, we’re actually creating space and reducing competition for our native trees, such as oaks, bay laurels, and redwoods. This allows them to thrive, grow larger, and naturally reseed, ultimately leading to a healthier, more diverse, and fire-resilient native landscape.
Thank you,
Soomin
Hi Soomin, good morning.
Today there was another update on the removal of trees on Elements, so I came here to check if there was any answer to my comment. Thank you for the careful explanation on how the work is being conducted, and I’m glad to see that there’s much care in each decision. Please, considerer a replanting plan to accelerate the recuperation of the landscape and help the native species to thrive. I believe the lab community would receive very well the news that trees are being replanted. Once again, thanks for the hard work on keeping our lab fire safe.
Raphael