El Dorado County COMMUNITY WILDFIRE PROTECTION PLAN MOSQUITO FIRE SAFE COUNCIL ACTIVITIES Prepared for Inclusion in the: EL DORADO COUNTY FIRE SAFE COUNCIL Community Wildfire Protection Plan Diamond Springs, California Prepared for: MOSQUITO FIRE SAFE COUNCIL January, 2017 Page 1 of 1
Overview The Mosquito Valley By Richard Hughey, Mountain Democrat columnist - Jan. 26, 2001 High on the ridge of the Georgetown Divide, about 10 miles north of Placerville along the Mosquito Road, is the community of Mosquito. It is about six miles east of Garden Valley, and has about the same elevation as Georgetown, which gives it a generally pleasant and moderate climate. The land is also rich in natural amenities making it ideal for upscale suburban development, which began in the 1960s. The Mosquito community is now the center of a semi-exclusive, 5,000 acre residential development known as Swansboro Country, complete with its own lake and airport. With only a modicum of hype, the Swansboro developer offers in its sales brochure a picturesque image of Mosquito Valley: "Deer stand and watch you pass, gray squirrels flick their bushy tails and chatter in concern. In springtime, dogwood and buckeye bloom and Scotch broom scatters its gold across the hillsides in breathtaking brilliance against the verdant green. In autumn, oaks and sycamores splash red and yellow through the forest, the madrone curves its tattered trunk between the towering fir and pine, and manzanita spreads a gray-green cover over the rich El Dorado earth. Through the multi-greens of summer or the snow-trimmed fields of winter, streams play their crystal way across the rocks, and waterfalls leap down seal-brown boulders or moss covered ledges." John C. Fremont was the first white man to traverse Mosquito Valley in 1844 on his trek west along the north bank of the South Fork that took him and his expedition to the vicinity of Pilot Hill and then on to Sutter's Fort at what the Spanish called Nueva Helvicia. The Mosquito FSC area is located north of Placerville Ca. and includes the community of Swansboro. It encompasses an area of 7,860 acres with a population according to the 2010 census of 1097 individuals and 551 homes. It is located on to the north of the South Fork of the American River. There is only two ways in and out both are narrow roads, the Rock Creek Road and Mosquito Road. Structure fire protection is provided by the Mosquito Fire Protection District wildland fire protection is provided by CALFIRE and the US Forest Service. The community is surrounded by industrial timberland and the Eldorado National Forest. The vegetation varies greatly with grass Oak woodland to chaparral and mixed conifer forest all the types of vegetation that can cause rapid fire spread and crown fire potential Living in the Mosquito community also means living in an area that has a high risk of wild land fires. Many of us realize that but we often have a tendency to believe that wild land fire "happens to the other guy" and cannot happen to us here. In reality it can happen here as it did in 1979 with the Chili Bar Fire and most recently with the 2014 King Fire of September MOSQUITO FIRE SAFE COUNCIL ACTIVITIES CWPP Page 2 of 2
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Summary of proposed treatment by cost for the Mosquito Area. COMMUNITY PRIORITY PROJECT NUMBER PROJECT DESCRIPTION TREATMENT TYPE ACRES MILES ESTIMATED COST Mosquito 1 M-1 South Fork Reduction 221 $442,000 Mosquito 2 M-2 Log Cabin Reduction Reduction 278 $556,000 Mosquito 3 M-3 Rock Creek Road Reduction 188 $376,000 Mosquito 4 M-4 Swansboro Reduction 233 $466,000 Mosquito 5 M-5 Mosquito Reduction 293 $586,000 Mosquito 6 M-6 Slab Creek Reduction 73 $146,000 Mosquito Total Mosquito 1286 0.0 $2,572,000 MOSQUITO FIRE SAFE COUNCIL ACTIVITIES CWPP Page 4 of 4
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