Home › Towns we cover ›

Tree Removal in Rescue

Rescue? Count it in. Call (530) 316-5144. We'll look for a pro who knows the Green Valley Road side of the county and line up a day.

A quick look at Rescue

Look on a map above Shingle Springs and Cameron Park, and Rescue sits between them to the north. ZIP 95672. Elevation, about 1,214 feet. No city government, just county.

Vines, pasture and ranch fences cover most of it, with new houses filling in year by year. Blink and you'll pass downtown. There's a post office, the firehouse, two churches, a community center, and that's about it.

Ever wonder about the name? Rescue Fire's history page credits Andrew Hare and his Rescue mine, close to the Green Valley and Lotus road junction. Supposedly his digging pulled him out of poverty. Pony Express riders passed through, too, on the run from Placerville to Folsom.

Rescue Fire's take on clearing

Rescue has its own fire department, and its defensible space page is short and useful. Here's what it says, in our words:

• By law, a home here needs a 100-foot defensible space.
• The first 30 feet is the "lean, clean and green zone." It needs the biggest cut in things that burn.
• The other 70 feet, or out to your property line, is the "reduced fuel zone." How much you thin depends on the slope and the plants.
• You can keep large trees. Just clear out every plant beneath them.
• Some clearing work may need a tree removal permit.

We like that fourth point. A lot of people think fire clearing means losing their big trees. Rescue Fire says it often doesn't.

Photo spot: a Rescue ranch house with big oaks limbed up and clear ground beneath them, plain drawing

The Pine Hill Preserve

Rescue holds a piece of something rare. Pine Hill Ecological Reserve sits in town, and it belongs to a bigger network. Altogether, Pine Hill Preserve spans five pieces of land adding up to over 4,000 acres.

Why protect it? Eight rare plant species grow there, on a special rock-based soil called gabbro. Land next to it calls for care. Check first before a machine rolls or brush gets piled anywhere near that boundary.

Oaks on ranch and vineyard land

Ranch and vineyard land here can hold a lot of oaks. A few things about the county oak chapter matter here:

• It covers native oaks on private land at or below 4,000 feet in the unincorporated county.
• Some farm work, like getting land ready to grow crops, is exempt from its permit.
• Uses that need a conditional use permit don't get that farm exemption.
• Two acres or more of oak woodland calls for an oak woodland removal permit, a step up from the single-tree kind.

Planning to clear oaks for a new vineyard block or a house? Talk to the county before anyone starts.

Rescue price notes

National guides give us the range. LawnStarter's typical tree removal is $385 to $1,070. Fixr says lightly wooded land clears for about $500 to $2,500 an acre.

On bigger parcels, the brush can be most of the job. Ask the pro to price the trees and the brush separately.

Before the pro comes

• Mark the trees you want gone and the ones you want kept.
• Note any land that borders the Pine Hill Preserve.
• Flag oaks, and guess how many acres of oak woodland you have.
• Tell us about livestock, gates and vines the truck must avoid.
• Decide if you want chips spread or hauled.

Nearby

South over the hill is tree removal in Cameron Park. Southeast, by the highway: tree removal in Shingle Springs. Follow Lotus Road north to tree removal in Lotus. Our main page covers tree removal in Placerville. Or see all the towns.