Claunch-Pinto allocates grant funds to private property owners to help them plan and establish good natural resource management practices on their land. Owners and the District cooperate in the development of a Resource Management Plan. If tree thinning is recommended for the property, the grant funds can underwrite up to 80% of the project cost. The owner pays the subcontractor for the thinning and is then reimbursed by the District.
The goals of the Estancia Basin Watershed Health, Restoration and Monitoring Project are (1) creating wildfire defensible space around structures in the wild land-urban interface, and (2) improving the overall health of the forest by thinning and applying other conservation measures on the ground. Protracted drought and overly dense stands of trees have led to an infestation of pine bark beetles in the Estancia Basin Watershed Area. While thinning improves woodland health in the long term, it will not prevent additional tree mortality in areas where bark beetles are present.
General Thinning Prescription Guidelines
