Roadside Hazard Tree Treatment Underway

Roadside Hazard Tree Treatment Underway
Sequoia National Forest and Giant Sequoia National Monument

Sequoia National Forest contractors will begin hazard tree
treatment within the 2021 Windy Fire footprint of the Giant Sequoia National Monument on Wednesday,
December 6. Crews will fell and remove fire-killed hazard trees that pose a danger to forest visitors and
travelers along country roads M50 and M107 in the Western Divide Ranger District. Operations will continue
into the summer of 2024.
The Windy Fire burned through the area in 2021, killing thousands of trees that now pose a hazard to Forest
visitors and residents. “This project provides a critical first step of restoration and repair needed to help this
fire-burned landscape recover,” stated Ecosystem Staff Officer Gretchen Fitzgerald. “Hazard trees pose risks
to forest travelers because their structural integrity is weakened or compromised due to wildfire, disease, and
drought.”
Hazard tree operations will occur Monday – Saturday, depending on weather conditions. No closures will be
implemented, but residents, visitors, and travelers should expect up to a half-hour delay during felling
operations.
Please slow down, observe traffic signs, and directions from traffic workers when driving through the project
area, because people and heavy equipment will be working on, and alongside these roads.
Stay informed by following the Sequoia National Forest webpage at www.fs.usda.gov/sequoia, Facebook
@SequoiaNF, and Twitter (X) @sequoiaforest.
2021 Windy Fire
The Windy Fire was ignited by lightning on September 9, 2021, in the Tule River Indian Reservation and spread into Giant
Sequoia National Monument in the Sequoia National Forest. At the time of ignition, the area was in extreme to exceptional
drought. The fire burned 75,374 acres of National Forest System lands; 72,000 of these acres burned at moderate to high
severity, including nine giant sequoia groves.