2006 Neighborhood Chipping Program
During the summer months of 2006 and 2007, the City of Big Bear Lake and Big Bear Lake Fire Department have partnered to provide a new service to the community of Big Bear Lake. In 2006, the neighborhood chipping program provided property owners within 1,500 feet of the San Bernardino National Forest an incentive for creating defensible space around their homes. It provided a convenient way for homeowners to dispose of large tree limbs, branches, and tree stems by simply placing the vegetation curbside.
More than 2,800 property owners were sent invitations to participate. This is one-fourth of the property owners in the Big Bear Lake community. Over 55 tons of vegetation were removed. The testimonials received were proof positive that curbside disposal of vegetation allowed enough incentive for property owners. Think about it - no more loading vegetation. No more hauling vegetation to the landfill. No more unloading vegetation at the landfill. It is convenient, time saving, and the hauling costs are eliminated. It is estimated that conducting curbside chipping saves the property owners between 35 to 50% of the cost of conducting heavy fuel reduction on their properties.
The pictures provide examples of some of the vegetation piles chipped. All the vegetation was diverted from the landfill. Overall, 130+ tons of vegetation were removed. This is in contrast to previous summers where the maximum was 15 tons.
The long dead tree stems that had fallen is an example of the type of vegetation that was removed voluntarily from peoples property. The owner of the land took advantage of the Neighborhood Chipping program and brought the tree stems to the roadside. The stems and branches feed into the chipper in minutes.
Example of a pile of branches and limbs brought roadside for chipping.
Example of a pile of branches and limbs brought roadside for chipping.
An 8 feet high by 30 feet long pile of over grown vegetation from years of accumulation. All of it was chipped up into the chipper truck.
City of Big Bear Lake Fire Department Chipper Truck. It is a specially designed truck that has a 5-6 ton holding capacity. The truck is offloading wood chip material that was later spread as natural landscape. Two inches of chipped material is allowed as ground cover.