A team from Pacific Federal Management Inc. removes tree stumps from a housing area at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, on April 21, 2024. (U.S. Air Force)
More than 250 dead trees and stumps — among the last reminders of a major typhoon that struck Guam last year — are slated for removal from Andersen Air Force Base in the coming months.
Typhoon Mawar passed just north of Guam as a category-4 storm on May 24. It lashed the island with heavy rains and wind gusts of up to 167 mph, flooding low-lying areas and toppling trees.
After the storm passed, a team of 60 contractors and airmen spent 30,000 hours between May and July clearing out 1,000 trees that posed safety risks on Andersen, base spokeswoman 1st Lt. Ariana Wilkinson said by email Friday. A second phase began in March, with the goal of removing approximately 250 remaining dead trees and stumps.
“Now that all infrastructure and facilities are on a good path towards recovery, we can refocus our efforts on base improvements and appearance,” she said.
A team of 10 people should have the remaining stumps removed by the fall, Wilkinson added. So far, project workers have been “running full speed to remove, dispose and backfill 91 trees/stumps around base,” she said.
The work is being done by the 36th Civil Engineering Squadron, the Pavement and Heavy Equipment and Grounds Maintenance shops and private contractor Pacific Federal Management Inc., Wilkinson said.
She was unable to provide an exact cost for the project as of Tuesday afternoon.
Base commander Brig. Gen. Thomas Palenske discussed the tree stumps with base residents in a Facebook post on April 15, and identified Pacific Federal Management as the company heading up their removal.
“It’s amazing what you can accomplish if you are willing to throw $300K at the problem,” he replied to a comment on that post.
Records from USASpending.gov show the Defense Department awarded Pacific Federal Management a contract on Dec. 7 for approximately $360,000 in landscaping and groundskeeping services.
The contract lists Yiga, the northernmost village on Guam and home of Andersen, as the location of the work. The project has a potential end date of Nov. 30.
Pacific Federal Management has been under contract for landscaping and groundskeeping services at Guam’s military installations since November 2019, a contract that serves as the “parent award” for the December 2023 contract.
The island is also home to Naval Base Guam and the Marine Corps’ Camp Blaz, which is still under construction.
The company has been paid more than $64 million since November 2019, according to USASpending.gov.
