Oakland hills wildfire prevention project

Hi, My name is Miles Sandifor. I’m 14 years old and freshman in high school. I have been working as an arborist and amateur tree climber in my free time for the past 3 years. I live in the Oakland hills in California and have been doing fire mitigation work on a two acre plot of land for the past 3 years. We have been making slow progress and my tiny neighborhood company run by me and my best friend/neighbor are focused on wildfire prevention and improving the health of forests. Droughts, lack of funding and expertise and lack of support from the public has lead to increasing fire fuel buildup, overgrown vegetation, dying trees and public safety hazards. There are only a few companies that are able to complete this work in an environmentally friendly manor while also keeping the community informed and educated about the larger issue at hand.

Wildfires in California alone have produced 117 million metric tons of carbon is the past decade, causing increased global warming and air pollution. I remember when I was in 7th grade there was a day where the sky was red from the smoke and fires. The Oakland hills fire that destroyed thousands of acres, claimed 25 lives, injured 150 people and destroyed over 2,000 homes. Eucalyptus, Monterey pine, California bay, wild grass and French broom are becoming overgrown in record breaking masses and the potential for catastrophe is higher than ever. While there is an imminent fire risk, invasive species and overcrowded forests are leading to mass death of trees and plants that we need to suck carbon out of the atmosphere and produce oxygen. While these are only a few of the benefits that we get from our forests they are very important.

This fundraiser is just the beginning and if it is successful we will continue raising money. The proceeds will be used to purchase equipment, tools, tree climbing equipment and remove brush. We will get city approval to thin plots of land and remove dead and dying trees and reduce underbrush. Right now we barely have enough equipment for one person and have only been working with hand tools. For trees we cut down we will replant with Redwoods, Oaks, and other native tree species that are fire resistant and will benefit our local ecosystem.

Right now the proceeds will be used for cutting grass, purchase of climbing and tree cutting equipment to finish limbing and pruning trees and removing dead and hazardous branches. After that we will need to start removing dead and clustered trees, underbrush, and fallen trees which will require the purchase of heavy equipment, chainsaws, chippers etc.

In the future we plan to serve homeowners, the city of Oakland and Berkeley and East Bay Regional Parks in tree services, fire mitigation, forestry, and forest preservation services.

Progress of our work will be posted on YouTube and Instagram so that you know exactly where your money is going. I will be happy to answer any questions and if you visit the site I will be happy to explain our work process, our plan and what we are doing in detail. I’m studying for the arborist certification test and I have certified arborists helping us and backing up this research and this project. Hopefully in the next 10 years we will have a crew, chippers, heavy equipment, climbers, biologists and much more dedicated individuals to help us change the way that we manage trees and forests in California, but this is the beginning and we need your support.

This specific fundraiser is for the first phase of the project which is tree pruning and brush clearing.

For this we will need:

2 string trimmers

1 backpack blower

2 rakes

1 McLeod fire tool

Additional tree climbing equipment

Brush cutter attachment for string trimmer

Thank you for reading, Miles Sandifor