Feds Fund More Emergency Repairs

Tuolumne County, CA — The Forest Service’s Washington D.C. Office has approved $4.3 million in additional funds for watershed treatments. Burned Area Emergency Response Team (BAER) says the stabilization treatments are designed to decrease possible impacts to downstream values at risk such as: human life and safety, property, critical natural resources and cultural resources.

BAER officials explain the treatment is to protect ecosystem integrity and improve hydrologic functions within areas of continuous high and moderate severity burns. The treatment will be focusing on slopes between 35% and 55%. They say these areas are at risk due to flooding and sedimentation affecting water quality, roads, hydroelectric powerhouses, and private camps.

BAER Implementation Team Leader Tom Beddow says, “With the funding that the Stanislaus National Forest has received, I will be finalizing a work plan to implement these additional stabilization measures.”