TO: Board of Supervisors
FROM: Ryan J. Alsop, Chief Executive Officer
REPORT BY: Thomas C. Zeleny, Chief Deputy County Counsel
SUBJECT: Adoption of a Resolution Terminating the State of Local Emergency Due to Pervasive Tree Mortality
RECOMMENDATION
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Adopt a Resolution terminating the State of Local Emergency Due to Pervasive Tree Mortality. (No Fiscal Impact)
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BACKGROUND
CalFire conducted aerial surveys of Napa and Lake Counties in December of 2021 and January of 2022. The surveys revealed widespread conifer mortality due to the ongoing drought, and additional tree mortality exacerbated by populations of bark beetles, as fire and drought-stressed conifers provide ideal host material for a bark beetle population to establish and grow. On July 12, 2022, the Board of Supervisors heard a presentation on local tree mortality from experts in both entomology and tree mortality, and directed staff to return with a proposed resolution declaring a state of local emergency due to pervasive tree mortality in Napa County.
On September 13, 2022, the Board of Supervisors proclaimed a State of Local Emergency due to pervasive tree mortality in Napa County, pursuant to Resolution No. 2022-132. Government Code section 8630(c) requires local agencies to revisit proclamations of local emergency at least once every 60 days until the local emergency is terminated. The Board has regularly reviewed and continued the state of local emergency since then.
On March 24, 2026, the Governor terminated the statewide tree mortality emergency originally declared in 2015. The Governor determined that conditions of extreme peril to the safety of persons and property due to tree mortality no longer exist in California. Conditions have improved significantly in Napa County since the Board proclaimed a state of local emergency in 2022, with a December 2024 Summary Report released by the US Forest Service indicating that of over 1 million acres of affected forest in California, only 200...
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