THE BLACK FOREST – Community groups and local public agencies are working together to conduct a fire prevention project in the Black Forest on, appropriately enough, Earth Day, April 21.
The Earth Day Black Forest Fire Prevention Project Day is a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) demonstration project, said Rich Burns, field office manager for the Ukiah BLM office, and himself a county resident.
In 1999, the Save the Black Forest Committee formed and began working with the Lake County Land Trust to preserve the Black Forest, said Joel Witherell, an original committee member and Buckingham resident who is helping coordinate community assistance for the Earth Day Project.
Burns said BLM holds 252 acres of the property, with a small portion that stretches to the lakeshore being held by the county. Transfer of the majority of the land to BLM was completed in 2004, according to the Lake County Land Trust's Web site, with the remainder following in April 2006.
In 2003, BLM wrote a plan for a shaded fuel break in the forest at the request of the county, who agreed to help purchase land to complete the acquisition, said Burns.
“It's that plan that we're implementing now,” said Burns.
Landowners surrounding the Black Forest, said Burns, want protection from wildfire, and require defensible space. A shaded fuel break, he added, will reduce brush and dead trees and cut down the “fuel ladder,” which allows flames to climb up into tree tops, resulting in crown fires.
Groups helping make the project a reality are the Buckingham Homes Association, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF), Carle High School, Kelseyville Fire and Lake County Public Works, said Burns.
Burns said BLM has already marked trees and shrubs for removal along a 1,000-foot stretch of road, from the intersection of Soda Bay Road and Buckingham Park down along the forest.
Witherell has been active in helping coordinate the community side of the effort. He said he's been working on the project since November.
Witherell, who retired to Lake County from the Bay Area 11 years ago, served as park director for the City of El Cerrito for 23 years, and also was the parks director for the City of Berkeley for a brief time after his retirement from El Cerrito. He's now chair of the county's Parks and Recreation Committee.
In 1991, while still a Bay Area resident, Witherell watched the Oakland Hills fire unfold. That conflagration, according to published reports, began with a small brush fire and quickly spread through the area's wooded hillsides, destroying neighborhoods and homes and causing an estimated $2 billion in damage.
Witherell said his memories of the Oakland Hills fire – and fires last summer in the Middletown area -- have caused him to be particularly concerned about fuel reduction in the Black Forest.
He explained that work on tree, brush and limb removal will start well before Earth Day, when CDF and Konocti Conservation Camp will begin removing fuel up to 8 feet above the forest floor and between 50 and 100 feet into the forest itself. Carle High School students and other volunteers, Witherell said, will then assist by moving the cut materials down to the roadside.
On Earth Day, he said, between 7 a.m. and noon, volunteers will move the cut limbs and trees into trucks and trailers, which will haul the materials to a chipping area on Golf and Soda Bay roads. The chips, he said, will be used along the roads to control weed growth and further help with fire prevention.
During the Earth Day work, said Witherell, Soda Bay Road will be closed to through traffic.
The Board of Supervisors will give its approval to the project when it delivers a proclamation at its March 13 meeting designating April 21 as the Black Forest Fire Prevention Project Day. The county also is lending resources, in the form of chipping services, road barriers, signage and Public Works staff, to the effort.
Burns called the Black Forest “a really neat ecosystem,” with its dense stand of Douglas firs on the side of Konocti. The forest ecosystem also offers good educational opportunities, he said.
Witherell said Carle High Principal Bill MacDougall wants his students to build a circle trail through the woods with benches and informational signs. Burns said BLM is interested in working with the community on that project.
Burns said he'll be at the Earth Day event to take part. “I think it's going to be a cool project,” Burns said.
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Watch Joel Witherell explain the Black Forest project.
Take part in the Black Forest Fire Prevention Project Day
The event will be held from 7 a.m. to noon, rain or shine, on Saturday, April 21, said Witherell. Meet at the intersection of Westlake Drive/Little Borax Road and Soda Bay Road, at the north entrance to Buckingham.
Protective clothing, hat, gloves and sturdy shoes are recommended, Witherell said. Bring a limb lopper and/or limb saw, if available. The Kelseyville Fire District will provide a first aid station.
Individual and groups of volunteers are encouraged to register prior to Earth Day, said Witherell. A table will be located at Westlake Drive and Soda Bay Road beginning at 7 a.m. on Earth Day for registration and work assignments.
For additional information or to register, email Witherell at
At noon, the Buckingham Homes Association clubhouse (across from the Buckingham Golf Course) will be set up for a lunch to celebrate the success of the volunteer efforts, Witherell said. The Buckingham Ladies Club will serve the meal. BLM will provide t-shirts to all participants.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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