Parks and Trails Safety Foreman for the Anchorage Department of Parks and Recreation Mike Braniff said that the city is spending nearly $4 million to remove dead spruce trees this summer and next.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Dangerous dead trees that may cause a fire or falling hazard are being removed along many Anchorage trails.-killed spruce trees have posed a hazard across Southcentral Alaska for more than a decade, and federal American Rescue Plan Act funds are being used to help remove the dangerous trees from trails along the Anchorage Hillside.
Braniff said the work is being done on the upper Hillside at Far North Bicentennial Park, Hillside Park near Service High School, Ruth Arcand Park on the lower Hillside and also parts of the Campbell Creek Trail. The work is expected to run through the end of November and start again next spring. While that program is intended to take out trees that are fire hazards on public land, the Anchorage Fire Department is encouraging people to do the same on their own property.is now taking applications from people who want to learn how to make their homes safer from wildfires. The program includes an on-site inspection and can offer 50% reimbursement up to a maximum of $500 for homeowners who remove dead trees from their property.
Priority is given to homeowners whose property interfaces with wooded areas on the Hillside, Eagle River and other forested municipal properties and park lands. The department encourages people to sign up for the Firewise Homes Assessment Program