Clean-Up Days
Clean-Up Days Projects
THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO REMOVED FIRE FUELS IN 2020!
A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO VOLUNTEERED TO HAUL YARD WASTE TO PARK HEADQUARTERS! THANK YOU TO GREEN WASTE FOR DONATING THREE 20-YARD DUMPSTERS AND ONE 40-YARD DUMPSTER! TOGETHER, WE REMOVED 100 CUBIC YARDS OF FIRE FUELS FROM MINERAL AND STRINGTOWN IN JUST ONE DAY!
Neighbors Helping Neighbors on August 1, 2020 Dumpster Day
Neighbors helped each other to remove 100 cubic yards of yard waste from Mineral on Aug. 1st, the second Dumpster Day of 2020. Neighbors helped rake, load, haul and unload at Park Headquarters, where Green Waste of Tehama generously donated dumpsters and labor. The team helping to unload worked tirelessly and cheerfully in hot weather to transfer mountains of yard waste from trucks and trailers into the dumpsters. Read more about Dumpster Day here.
Amanda Way Trail Project Completed
The Amanda Way Trail Project has been completed. Thank you to all of the neighbors who donated approximately 400 volunteer hours and and to NorCal Tree Expert, who donated $2,000 worth of tree-cutting services!
Why We Help Our Neighbors
We know that many people have challenges preventing them from being able to clean-up their properties. Sometimes, people are ill, injured, elderly, or just not able to be in Mineral long enough to work on it. Some people can't afford to hire help, pay for dumpsters or haul fire fuels.
A few residents have complained that people who live in Mineral should be able to afford to have their properties cleared. There are many reasons that this may or may not be possible. However, residents want to do whatever we can to have as safe a community as possible. Nearly 40 neighbors have shown that they are willing to help, wherever needed, to make Mineral a safer place.
In August of 2021, Mineral residents were told to evacuate because the Dixie Fire was within a mile of town. This was the first wildfire evacuation in the town's history. With each passing year, it seems, the forest is drier, and the temperatures are higher.
It is more important than ever to maintain defensible space around homes and vacant lots. Additional clearance is much needed at the Wilderness Urban Interface (WUI), where the National Forest and large tracts of privately held land border our town. Heavy fuels in the WUI increase the chance that a manageable home or grass fire will metastasize into a crown fire, causing widespread and catastrophic damage to Mineral and our beloved forest. Our community has shown that it is capable of responding to the threat of catastrophic wildfire by working together to reduce available fuels. Let's keep working together in 2022.
To request assistance or to be added to our Fuels Reduction Volunteer List, email mineralcalifornia@gmail.com. We contact volunteers to help with raking, trimming branches, breaking branches and/or loading and hauling green waste via pickup truck or trailer throughout fire season. Thanks again to all of the volunteers and conservation cheerleaders who have helped transform many areas in town from fire-prone to defensible space in just a few years!
Mid-July 2020 Update
Our community-wide effort to reduce fire fuels continues with an emphasis on creating fire breaks around and throughout town, cleaning out dense forest areas in the middle of town and reducing fire fuels on and near the ground.
The Amanda Way Trail project continued with Phase 2 of the clean-up effort. Fire fuels including branches and raked pine needles were pulled out and loaded into a dumpster. Additional raked fire fuels will be removed during our second Green Waste Dumpster Day on August 1st. Thank you to all of the volunteers who have been involved in this clean-up project! Volunteers have donated more than 250 hours so far toward this property in the heart of our town! Thanks again to Nor-Cal Trees who donated their services at the Amanda Way Trail project for a day of tree cutting and chipping, plus for donating the additional project of tree trimming and chipping at the Flag Pole island at the Post Office! Also thanks to Green Waste for hosting Dumpster Days to facilitate free, local disposal of branches and pine needles.
Meanwhile, residents have been spotted throughout Mineral trimming branches and raking pine needles and helping out neighbors where needed. This year, CALFIRE performed many property inspections, issuing citations for not having defensible space. If the citation wasn't resolved by the next inspection, the property owner received an additional citation. If, after the third visit, defensible space had not been created, the property owner received a $400 fine.
Going forward, if a property owner receives citations and a fine three times in five years, the property owner will be charged with a misdemeanor! It is more important than ever to create defensible space around our homes, both from a safety perspective and also to avoid penalties. Watch the calendar for upcoming inspection dates.
Tree cutters have been seen most weekdays throughout town. Some have been hired by residents and some are PG&E contractors, clearing dead, dying or risky trees and branches near power lines.