Preparation advice, evacuation guidance and answers to your questions about air quality, power outages and defending your property.
FEMA
Posted inNature
FEMA pulls funding for tree clearing in Berkeley Hills
Eucalyptus trees on university land in the Berkeley hills. Photo: Tracey Taylor Funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to remove trees in the Berkeley/Oakland hills for fire management have been pulled after a successful suit by a community group to stop the plan. FEMA withdrew $3.5 million in funding to UC Berkeley and the […]
Posted inOpinion
Op-ed: Berkeley must restrict parking on narrow streets
It’s difficult for emergency vehicles to pass through many narrow streets in the Berkeley Hills. Photos: Bob Flasher It’s difficult for emergency vehicles to pass through many narrow streets in the Berkeley Hills. Photos: Bob Flasher The Berkeley Disaster and Fire Safety Commission is working on a proposal to restrict parking on what it describes […]
Posted inOpinion
Op-ed: The Sierra Club’s eucalyptus management policy is the right approach for East Bay Hills
Eucalyptus trees are magnificent and picturesque, but they are inherently dangerous and invasive, depriving native plants of the chance to thrive wherever they grow. In some cases, exotic plants can co-exist with natives, but, in the case of blue gum eucalyptus, this is not the case. The species has evolved in the extraordinarily harsh, dry […]
Posted inNature
In Berkeley, protesters get naked to try to save trees
Volunteers pose naked against eucalyptus trees at the Grinnell Natural Area of UC Berkeley on Saturday, July 18, 2015, to show opposition to a FEMA-funded tree-clearing proposal. Photo: Ted Friedman An estimated 50-75 people took part in a staged protest today at a eucalyptus grove on the UC Berkeley campus, many of them stripping naked in […]
Posted inNature
Hills group sues FEMA over plan to cut down trees
Thousands of Berkeley hills eucalyptus trees may be removed with funding from FEMA. Photo: Tracey Taylor A neighborhood group has sued the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) following its decision to fund fire mitigation efforts in the East Bay hills. Earlier this month, FEMA announced its decision to grant $5.67 million to the California Office […]
Posted inNature, Schools
Cal seeks funds to cut down 22,000 non-native trees
Eucalyptus trees in Claremont Canyon: Cal is seeking federal funds to cut down many such non-natives. Photo: Tracey Taylor Federal funding to enable UC Berkeley to cut down 22,000 non-native trees in Strawberry Canyon and Claremont Canyon is proceeding through the late stages of an environmental impact review. A final public meeting on the project […]
Posted inSchools
UCB receives $3m in FEMA funds to retrofit building
The US Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has given $3 million in pre-disaster mitigation funds to UC Berkeley so that it can retrofit the Martin Luther King Jr. Student Union building (pictured above). According to FEMA, the funds provide 35% of the project’s total costs which are estimated at $8.7 million. The […]
