The Caldor Fire was a wildfire that burned 221,775 acres in El Dorado and Amador counties in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California. Roughly 50,000 people on the Highway 50 corridor and in the Lake Tahoe Basin were forced to evacuate. Nearly 32,00 structures were threatened, 81 were damaged, and almost 800 were destroyed. The El Dorado & Georgetown Divide Resource Conservation Districts are paving the way for these communities and forests to rebuild and heal.

Caldor Fire Forest and Community Restoration Project

Phase I - Issued in January 2021, the Governor’s “California’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan,” included eight Actions Items to increase assistance to small private forest landowners. Action Item 1.14 stated “Establish Emergency Forest Restoration Teams (EFRT): CAL FIRE and other state agencies will explore the potential for developing emergency forest restoration teams to assist small landowners impacted by wildfires with funding and expertise to restore their properties and help prevent further damage to life, property and natural resources….”.

The focus of the EFRT is to provide rapid assessments of post fire forest conditions on NIPF and provide funding to implement necessary forest recovery work. The Wildfire Resilience Task Force – Private Landowner Work Group (WFRTF PLO WG) is responsible for implementing the EFRT Action Item. The PLO WG recommended and was endorsed to implement a “pilot EFRT project” to test the concept. The PLO WG selected the Caldor Fire as a pilot project and El Dorado Resource Conservation District (RCD) as the partner.

Eldorado National Forest Roadside Hazard Abatement Program Project

The Caldor Forest and Community Restoration Project aims to mitigate roadside hazard trees within the Eldorado National Forest (ENF) impacted by the 2021 Caldor Fire. The project involves removing dead and dying trees within 200 feet of roadways to protect public safety and infrastructure, reduce fire fuel, and support forest regeneration. The initiative is part of a broader recovery effort in collaboration with the El Dorado Resource Conservation District (RCD), CAL FIRE, and ENF, funded through various agreements and programs. This work is crucial for preventing future wildfires, protecting watersheds, and enhancing forest health and resilience.

Project Scope of Work

This project will remove hazardous trees within 200 feet of roadways in the Eldorado National Forest affected by the 2021 Caldor Fire. This work is crucial for public safety, reducing fire risk, and protecting infrastructure. The project involves both hand and mechanical tree removal methods, and it will be executed in phases based on available resources. Additionally, efforts will be made to repurpose removed materials where possible, and the project aims to enhance overall forest health and watershed protection.