News Release
July 14, 2009
Navy initiates fire safety program at Concord Naval Weapons Station
The U.S. Navy is working with the U.S. Forest Service to bring the various tree plantations on the shuttered Concord Naval Weapons Station into compliance with fire safety standards. The Forest Services leased the land from the Navy where the tree plantations are located.
There are approximately a half dozen plantations or groves of trees on the base planted by the Forest Service over the years to test the viability of different tree species in the East Bay climate. Several of the plantations are now overgrown and have spread closer to the neighborhoods bordering the western edge of the weapons station than is considered prudent from a fire safety perspective.
To create a defensible space between the plantations and the neighborhoods of approximately 75 feet, the Forest Service will have contractors marking trees to be removed because they have died or because they present a fire hazard, and assessing the detritus (bark, leaves, fallen branches etc) on the floor of the plantations to plan for its removal.
The Navy's goal is to protect neighborhoods close to the stands of trees from fire danger. There are no plans to remove any of the tree plantations.
The information gathered and proposed actions and schedules will be submitted to the Navy by the Forest Service in the form of a management plan. The Navy will provide the City of Concord with the plan so that it can be shared with residents prior to any tree removals.
The Forest Service is responsible for coordinating with appropriate state and federal wildlife agencies before and during removal actions.
Questions can be addressed to Esther Ewell, (619) 532-0766 of the U.S. Navy.