Connor Ellison and Jasper Hodgson climb a hill as they leave Oxbow Reservoir while cycling on French Meadows Road near Foresthill in 2012. Placer County officials recently approved $1.3 million in contracts for tree thinning work as part of the French Meadows Ecological Restoration Project, a fuel reduction effort aimed at reducing wildfire risk.
Paul Kitagaki Jr.
pkitagaki@sacbee.com
Placer County officials say work to make local forests safer from wildfires is expanding, with millions of dollars in projects underway across the county.
County leaders recently approved three contracts totaling $1.3 million for tree thinning work as part of the French Meadows Ecological Restoration Project.
Placer County created its Regional Forest Health Division in 2021 to coordinate wildfire prevention work, and officials say the program has since secured more than $6.8 million in funding, with about $5 million in projects underway.
One major effort is the French Meadows fuel reduction program, a partnership between the county and the U.S. Forest Service to remove dangerous wildfire fuel across a large area. The project covers 22,000 acres of national forest lands and 6,000 acres of private land.
The contracts were awarded to three companies — AAA Tree Service LLC, Dowling Underground & Networking Inc. and McKellar Tree Service and Logging Inc. Crews are expected to begin work during the 2026 operating season.
Officials said the $1.3 million French Meadows contracts will be paid for entirely through grants and existing funding, meaning officials said there would be no additional cost to the county’s general fund.
AAA Tree Service LLC’s money is funded by $316,317 contract is funded by $316,317 from the Sierra Nevada Conservancy’s Wildfire Recovery and Forest Resilience Grant Program; $36,583 from a separate SNC grant sub-awarded in 2019; and $162,618 from previously received timber revenue.
Dowling Underground & Networking Inc’s $495,000 contract is fully funded by the SNC’s Wildfire Recovery and Forest Resilience Grant Program.
McKellar Tree Service and Logging, Inc.’s $324,900 is funded by the SNC’s Wildfire Recovery and Forest Resilience Grant Program.
Mechanical thinning removes smaller trees and brush so forests are less crowded. County officials said this helps slow the spread of wildfires and makes forests healthier.
Multiple contractors were hired, county officials said, so work could happen in several areas at the same time.
“The French Meadows project represents one of the most significant forest health efforts in Placer County’s history,” said Regional Forest Health Coordinator Kerri Timmer.
Other fuel-reduction projects include work in Olympic Valley Park and Cabin Creek.
Another key project is the Yankee Jim’s Fuel and Habitat Mitigation Project supporting bridge replacement work along Shirtail Creek.
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Nicole Buss is The Sacramento Bee’s Roseville/Placer County watchdog reporter. She previously covered Placer County at Gold Country Media. Buss grew up in Lincoln and is a graduate of Sierra College and Arizona State University.