RIVERSIDE - The Board of Supervisors today approved a $709,000 agreement with an Idyllwild-based timber contractor to eliminate hundreds of pest-infested dead or dying trees serving as potential kindling for wildfires in the San Jacinto Mountains.
In a 5-0 vote without comment, the board authorized the Riverside County Fire Department to utilize Pearson Wood Service to remove the trees between now and next March.
All of the funds for the operation originate from a state grant, according to the fire department.
The roughly 350 trees targeted are in or near the San Bernardino National Forest, officials said. No private land will be impacted.
"The area has experienced significant drought conditions, which have caused non-native insects to ravage the trees,'' according to an agency stateme
