Dear Neighbor
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Dear Neighbor
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Siskiyou County Government urges you to read this before you buy land or move
here:
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Dear Neighbor, I am writing to be sure that you are aware of an opportunity for you to help make our community safer from wildfire, while improving and protecting your own property value. Nearly ten years ago I purchased my home near your property in Mt. Shasta Vista subdivision. I loved what I thought was a natural, undisturbed area. When people mentioned fire danger I took comfort in what some of my new neighbors told me, “We have been here for 30 years and have never been threatened by a fire.” Since then I have learned a lot. First, there is nothing “natural” about the condition of the area. Second, the fact that there has not been a major fire here in thirty years is not comforting, it is scary. The “natural” cycle of things here
is for fire to burn through about every 11 years, cleaning out the dead and
thinning the living vegetation, returning those nutrients to the soil and
allowing healthy new vegetation to grow in. In order to protect the lives and
homes of those who settled here, we have not allowed fire to follow its natural
course for nearly 100 years. The result is that most properties in our immediate
neighborhood have not burned since fire records began in 1917 which has resulted
in a very unnatural buildup of both living and dead vegetation and
contributing to this area being ranked by state and federal fire officials as
Very High Fire Risk. Juniper Flat Fire Safe Council has obtained a grant to improve conditions along evacuation routes. Our properties are located on a road that has been designated as an evacuation route. The grant will pay for removal by hand crews and machines of some of the vegetation on our properties within 100’ of the edge of the road. This will make it much safer for firefighters to get in and residents to get out during a fire. Participation in the grant program is entirely your choice. No one will touch your property without your permission. You are free to contact the organizers for details and even arrange modifications to the plan as it pertains to your property. If your parcel boundary markers cannot be found, the grant funding will pay for a survey. I hope that you will join me in participating in this program. In addition to the peace of mind it will bring you knowing you are increasing the safety for local residents and firefighters, it will safely restore much of your property to a more natural state by removing dead vegetation and making room for healthy new growth. There is never any guarantee that your property will not be severely devalued by being burned in a wildfire, but this treatment will certainly reduce the risk. Please visit my website at www.msvpoa.com for more information. And call George Jennings Project Manager for the Juniper Flat Fire Safe Council’s Sponsor, Northern California Resource Center (NCRC) at 530-468-2888. Call him soon; there is a limited amount of funding. Thank you and my best wishes for a safe and happy new year. Your neighbor,Marjorie King See photos of treated and untreated properties
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