Community Chipping ProgramS
THE CLEAR LAKE ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH CENTER Supports several chipping Programs
To determine the appropriate program to contact for chipping your property, please consider the following:
CLERC Community Chipping program
CLERC provides free chipping services to Lake County residents without existing programs. This program is funded by the USDA Community Wildfire Defense Grant. Our aim is to lower fire risks around homes by establishing defensible space in communities. You take care of cutting and stacking, and our Hogback Ridge Fuels Crew handles the vegetation chipping. Decide the disposal method for the chipped material on the Chipping Request Form.
South lake COunty Fire Safe Council Chipping program
CLERC provides funding to the South Lake County Fire Safe Council via a grant sub-award, supporting their chipping services in the South Lake County Fire Protection District. This program has similar goals to the CLERC Community Chipping Program, though it operates a bit differently. You manage the cutting, and a contractor handles the vegetation chipping.
Other lake County Chipping Programs
CLERC provides funding for the Hidden Valley HOA chipping program and the Konocti Fire Safe Council’s chipping program. Konocti Fire Safe Council helps to support the chipping programs for these HOAs: Kelseyville Riviera, Riviera West, Buckingham, Riviera Heights and the areas without HOA. These programs all operate differently. If you are in one of these other areas you will need to coordinate through your HOA program.
Image of Hogback Ridge Fuels Crew Chipping: Image taken by Rachel Avilla
CLERC Community Chipping Program
Read the guidelines carefully for creating rows of vegetation. It's important for safety and effectiveness.
Make sure your materials are stacked properly and in an accessible area. If not, they won't be chipped.
Fill out the Chipping Request form and the Right of Entry/Hold Harmless Agreement form.
Online: Click the “View Schedule and Sign up Online” button below to fill out the forms.
Or print the forms, fill them out, and mail them to PO Box 636 Lakeport, CA 95453.
Do this by the first of the month when your community's chipping is scheduled.
A minimum of 6 properties are needed to schedule the crew for chipping in your area.
Each property can get up to one hour of chipping service.
How it works:
To have your vegetation chipped, follow these steps:
GUIDELINES TO ENSURE SAFE AND PRODUCTIVE CHIPPING
What you can do to ensure chipping
Vegetation is smaller than 6in in diameter and shorter than 6ft long
Rows do not exceed 5ft high, 6ft deep or 15ft long.
Vegetation stacked adjacent to roads and accessible to our crew's equipment without having to be moved.
Property address clearly visible where rows are stacked.
Material is stacked so traffic is not impacted and crews can work safely.
Rows are organized neatly, with space between the rows, for the crew to work.
What will prevent chipping
Material with rocks, dirt, berry vines, poison oak, oleander, scotch broom, tree stumps or construction materials of any type.
Bulldozed or machine stacked piles cannot be processed.
Piles cross stacked or stacked too densely or compacted.
Having cut ends face towards an inaccessible area.
Loose animals around chipping site.
In accordance with Federal law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, disability, and reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.)
Program information may be made available in languages other than English. Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication for program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, and American Sign Language) should contact the responsible State or local Agency that administers the program or USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TTY) or contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339.
To file a program discrimination complaint, a complainant should complete a Form AD-3027, USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, which can be obtained online at https://www.ocio.usda.gov/document/ad-3027, from any USDA office, by calling (866) 632-9992, or by writing a letter addressed to USDA. The letter must contain the complainant’s name, address, telephone number, and a written description of the alleged discriminatory action in sufficient detail to inform the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights (ASCR) about the nature and date of an alleged civil rights violation. The completed AD-3027 form or letter must be submitted to
USDA by:
(1) Mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, D.C. 20250-9410; o
(2) Fax: (833) 256-1665 or (202) 690-7442; or
(3) Email: program.intake@usda.gov.