One company working with residents to remove trees is A.J. Acosta Co. based in Big Bear Bear Lake with several crews working from Running Springs to Lake Arrowhead to Crestline removing Trees. A.J. Acosta Co. and other companies depend on companies like Bragg Crane Service for crane rental to help bring down trees that are located next to houses and other local buildings.

Lake Arrowhead, just 90 miles east of Los Angeles in the San Bernardino Mountains, is a resort community in transition. For many years, the region has been known as 'Mile High Hollywoodâ attracting countless movie companies and big name celebrities to the fresh mountain air and four-season climate. Shirley Temple filmed the original "Heidi' in Lake Arrowhead, Michael Jordan and Bugs Bunny were on location at Lake Arrowhead Country Club for "Space Jam' and the UCLA Conference Center doubled as Camp David in "The American President.'

The region is currently being impacted by a prolonged drought that caused the 784-acre private lake's level to drop significantly forcing contractor Duane Banner from Banner Backhoe to remove navigational dangers from Lake Arrowhead. The project included eliminating the so-called 'Christmas Tree Island.' Plus, the drought also opened the door for an unwanted visitor to relocate to Lake Arrowhead. The visitor-known as the bark beetle-made itself at home boring into stately pine trees especially on Lake Arrowhead's north shore where an estimated 80 to 90 percent of the pines are dead.

The infested area, according to the California Department of Forestry has now grown to over 150,000 acres. "With the trees dying,' CDF spokesperson Bill Peters said, "something had to be done. The trees had to go and that's the unfortunate part of life." Not only are the trees a fire danger but also with Santa Ana winds they pose a threat to visitors and residents alike. So San Bernardino County has ordered more than 600 north shore property owners to begin removing dead or dying trees within 30 days or face possible charges and liens on their property.

(Above left) The vistor- known as the bark beetle - made itself at home boring into stately pine trees especially on Lake Arrowhead's north shore where an estimated 80 to 90 percent of the pines are dying from the top down. (Above right) One pine tree after another is brought down with the use of a 90-ton crane rented from Bragg Crane Service.

Every day, residents and visitors observe swaths of brown trees and hear the buzz of chain saws as contractors swarm to the area to remove the infected ponderosa pines. There are 600 species of the destructive bark beetle in the West all belonging to the Scolytidae family. Basically, the Mountain Pine Bark Beetle attacks a tree (either male or female) by building galleries that core out from a central tunnel made by the parent beetles that lay eggs (female only) and deposit a fungus. These galleries combined with the fungus girdle the pine tree and kill it. Once bark beetles invade a tree, it cannot be saved.

One company working with residents to remove trees is A.J. Acosta Co. based in Big Bear Lake. "We're averaging about 2-3 emergency tree removals a week,' according to supervisor Steven Proctor. "We have several crews working from Running Springs to Lake Arrowhead to Crestline removing trees and depending on the location we often have to rent a crane from Bragg Crane & Rigging. It's especially critical when a tree is located next to a building." Don McIntyre, President of Terra Industries, has also established a branch office in Lake Arrowhead. "We're staffed with highly trained employees and have specialized equipment that enables us to remove trees safely and efficiently,' McIntyre noted. "We just completed a job for the Arrowhead Lake Association removing dead trees from their property adjacent to Lake Arrowhead. It was a unique job because we had to load fallen trees on barges and float them across the lake to trucks at Lake Arrowhead Marina." Terra Industries and other contractors have also had to remove weakened or dead trees blown over by Santa Ana winds.

(Above left) Steve Proctor with A.J. Acosta Co. based out of Big Bear Lake is one of the many contractors working tirelessly in Lake Arrowhead and the surrounding towns to bring their local tree crisis under control. (Above right) Not only are the trees a fire danger but they pose a threat to visitors and residents alike. So San Bernardino County has ordered more than 600 north shore property owners to begin removing dead or dying trees within 30 days.

The average cost of removing a 100-foot tall pine tree is about $1,000. This has prompted some mountain residents to take out loans to finance removal of trees from their property. Meanwhile, elected officials are scrambling to find emergency funds to help pay for tree removal on public lands and extra fire prevention efforts.

Fred Ford from Fred Ford & Company based in Redlands worked a project on the 400-acre UCLA Conference Center site removing over 1,200 pine trees leaving several groves of Oak trees behind. His crews utilized CAT dozers and other heavy equipment to bring down the trees. Ford reported some of the larger logs were transported by truck to Sierra Forest Products in the San Joaquin Valley for milling.

(Above left) Morbark chipper powered by two CAT V12 diesel engines owned by Brdaco Environmental from Crestline, CA devouring whole pine trees up to 30 inches in diameter. (Above right) Bradco owners, Brad and Tracey Frederick.

A monster machine powered by two CAT V12 diesel engines owned by Bradco Environmental from Crestline was brought to the UCLA project to help clean up the site after the trees were felled. The Morbark chipper, purchased in Michigan, devoured whole pine trees up to 30 inches in diameter and 200 feet tall almost as fast as the trees came down. Bradco's owners-Brad Bauder and Tracey Frederick-say, "Our goal is to help stop the bark beetle, not just clean up after it."

Bauder explains that chipping destroys most beetle broods present in the wood, while leaving chips that are unsuitable for bark beetle breeding. The chipper machine is only 12 feet wide allowing it access into small work areas. The Bradco machine weighs 84,000 pounds and is mounted on Caterpillar 300 excavator tracks and comes with its own self-loading rotating grapple. It also has an adjustable discharge shoot that can evenly spread material over the job site or stockpile it.

(Above) Lake Arrowhead is one of Southern California's favorite resorts and now offers a seasonal outdoor ice rink which has been operating since December and a go-cart track installed in Lake Arrowhead Village. Efforts to import water to help resolve the lake level crisis are underway, and the Arrowhead Queen ( areplica 19th Century paddle-wheel boat) is still taking daily tours around Lake Arrowhead pointing out where Eriq LaSalle, Priscilla Presley, Dennis Weaver, Frankie Avalon, Roseanne, Liberace, Howard Hughes, Shirley Temple and others either live lived or frequented.

Meanwhile, officials of the Lake Arrowhead Communities Chamber of Commerce report the transitioning resort community still has a lot to offer visitors to the San Bernardino National Forest. "This is a beautiful place to live and while the dying trees are a disturbing phenomenon, we have nowhere to look but up,' according to Chamber President Carol Banner. "The trees are being taken care of and in the long run it will all pay off." Banner emphasized that the region has faced other problems over the years and always rebounded. Much like Terminator Arnold Schwarzenegger's famous line, "I'll be back,' Banner, says, "We'll come back."

Banner reports the stars at night are still big and bright in Lake Arrowhead, a seasonal outdoor ice rink has been operating since December, a go-cart track was installed in Lake Arrowhead Village, efforts to import water to help resolve the lake level crisis are underway, and the Arrowhead Queen (a replica 19th Century paddle-wheel boat) is still taking daily tours around Lake Arrowhead pointing out where Eriq LaSalle, Priscilla Presley, Dennis Weaver, Frankie Avalon, Roseanne, Liberace, Howard Hughes, Shirley Temple and others either live, lived or frequented.