|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
NEWSCAST VIDEO. From NBC Bay Area, San Mateo County on August 27th, 2026.
“Crews have begun to clear stands of highly flammable eucalyptus trees from Caltrans land that homeowners in the San Mateo County town of Montara had pushed to remove ahead of this fire season.
Using chainsaws and giant excavators and chippers, crews have started clearing across 15 acres of land Caltrans purchased decades ago to build a bypass around the treacherous Devil’s Slide area of Highway 1.
Caltrans never used the land, and over time, it turned into strips of dense, flammable forests alongside the neighborhood.
“I am really amazed and over the moon, I’m over the moon,” said Larry De Young, a retired biologist who led the fight to get Caltrans to act. He watched recently as crews made quick work of the smaller eucalyptus trees, using excavators to knock them down and to load the remains into chippers.
“I think it’s incredibly improved,” he said. “They’re not finished yet, so I think it’s going to improve even more.”
The most dramatic difference is where a stand of eucalyptus had towered over the backyards of homes, leaving only stumps and wood chips.
“So right now we’re creating a 30 feet barrier around our right of way,” said Caltrans spokesman Pedro Quintana, adding that the agency has dedicated a half million dollars to double the originally planned firebreak on the advice of Cal Fire. The hope, he says, is that the effort will provide some relief to anxious homeowners.
“They came to us and said, ‘hey, we have a concern.’ We heard their concerns… and we took action,” Quintana said.
“This is a small piece,” said Christopher Hipkin, a veteran forester with Professional Tree Care in Berkeley, holding a strip of eucalyptus bark that he says can be deadly in a wildfire.
“There’s huge pieces in here that could be burned off these trees and fly in a wind event for thousands of feet.”
Crews are leaving some mature trees standing, he says, along with trees with active bird nests. Dozens of others are marked in red, designating that they be cut down to limit fire risk.
“So basically, we’re putting this forest in a much more safe condition, reducing the hazards,” he said, adding that the work will last about another month. “Now, is that the end of the story? It isn’t because this forest is going to grow, these trees are going to throw seeds.”
The only way to protect the community, he says, is develop a long-term strategy to control the threat but cutting down trees every few years.
But De Young is just thankful for what’s been done by Caltrans so far with the stand of eucalyptus by his and his neighbors’ homes.
“We’re talking about a very large, very rich state agency that was opposing us — and to have this happen within 14 months of us starting the battle is incredible.”
More on Red Alert Montara Moss Beach (RAMMB) and the Caltrans ROW on Coastside Buzz
Did You Know There is a Caltrans Devil’s Slide Bypass ROW Midcoast Alignment Plan, Started in 2003, that Includes a Devil’s Slide Trail Plan and MWSD Watershed Protection?;
After a Year of Activism by RAMMB (Red Alert Montara Moss Beach) to Mitigate Fire on Caltrans ROW, New CEQA Doc with Notice of Exemption Bodes Well; Waiting for Map and Project Plan;
RAMMB Update: Caltrans to Begin Fire Mitigation Along Date Street Between Drake and Franklin in Montara the Week of October 27th, 2025; October 23, 2025
Author: mdrag
x
