Trees Uprooted by Helicopters Heard Near Lake Chabot

Updated March 26 at 2:25 p.m.

For the past few days, readers have asked about helicopters flying near Lake Chabot.

An East Bay Regional Park dispatcher told Castro Valley Patch on Friday that park rangers hired the contracted choppers to remove several trees in the Anthony Chabot Regional Park.

These helicopters have been working on uprooting the trees since Wednesday and will continue through Saturday, March 24, according to the dispatcher.

A reader posted on our Facebook page mentioned he saw a sign at the trail head saying that the uprooting is for fire management and it will continue on through April.

Another reader mentioned that a few trains were closed due to the work being done.

John Swanson, assistant fire chief of the East Bay Regional Park District said that over the past month, small-diameter trees were cut down in the area as a safety precaution.

"The idea is to reduce the fire danger and the threat to public safety of peapople camping... and using the area near the campgrounds," he told Patch on Monday.

The helicopters are still hauling off the trees as weather permits. He said they should wrap up the job by mid week. Ground-based methods such as tractors will then further clear the area.

The trees are being hauled off to a site where they will be chopped into small chips to be used for power generation.