Search autocomplete is currently not responding In January 2024, Marin County approved a plan to remove eucalyptus trees measuring 10 inches in diameter or less across a 150-acre area.  even though its official launch date had not yet been announced.  on city-owned properties and along roadways within areas at the greatest risk of wildfires.  Eucalyptus trees have long been a defining feature of California’s landscape several communities have been taking action to remove the invasive trees driven by growing concerns about their oily highly inflammable nature and potential to fuel wildfires.  When eucalyptus trees were first introduced to the state in the mid-1850s, many Californians welcomed and embraced the fragrant trees, according to the U.S Farmers found eucalyptus trees’ rapid growth to be practical Many claimed eucalyptus had medicinal properties believing it could cure bronchial and pulmonary problems and “clean the system.” The Central and Southern Pacific Railroads planted the nonnative trees as a sustainable source of timber.  Over time, eucalyptus forests in California became a winter haven for endangered monarch butterflies providing a place to conserve energy before dispersing in the spring to breed.  a board member of the Claremont Canyon Conservancy said she is not anti-eucalyptus but rather ‘anti-burning-to-death.’  The Claremont Canyon Conservancy is a nonprofit organization based in Berkeley California that works to restore the canyon’s natural environment and advocate for “comprehensive fire safety strategies.” The organization leads multiple environmental and educational programs including eucalyptus removal projects.  “We would be very happy to have all the eucalyptus and other highly flammable species removed,” Stage said.  “Under certain conditions, virtually all trees are flammable” but eucalyptus trees are more likely to contribute high fuel load in case of a fire, Stage said. Constant shedding of bark, oily leaves and long swaying branches make eucalyptus a fire hazard, according to the National Park Service.  The land left barren after the removal of highly flammable vegetation could be vulnerable to erosion and the return of once-removed species the Claremont Canyon Conservancy and other community groups plant less flammable species to limit the erosion and crowd out fire hazard vegetation In the same city of Berkeley, The Hills Conservation Network works to implement fire mitigation and safety strategies But this group disagrees eucalyptus removal is an appropriate wildfire mitigation technique.   are “very beneficial to reducing fire risk.”  preventing sunlight from reaching the ground and slowing the growth of fire-prone vegetation “The worst you could do if you wanted to reduce fire risk is to remove the tall tree canopy because it would promote the growth of very these fire-prone species are short vegetation maintaining tall tree canopy is the effective practice for mitigating fire risk native plant restoration and vegetation management for wildfire prevention should remain separate “No matter the species – whether native or not – if they are short they burn and we have to get rid of them.” The Hills Conservation Network opposes Measure MM and believes that it was enacted by individuals who want to advance a native plant restoration agenda.  “[Measure MM] is basically being funded by the public under false pretenses,” Grassetti said.  Both organizations – Claremont Canyon Conservancy and Hills Conservation Network – were founded to reflect on lessons learned from the 1991 East Bay Hills Fire smoldering embers left from extinguishing a small fire were fanned by strong winds overnight The wildland-urban interface fire destroyed more than 3,000 homes and killed 25 people.  According to a report by the Federal Emergency Management Agency species not native to the East Bay Hills area including eucalyptus trees and Monterey pine The agency estimated that the heaviest fuel loading occurred in areas where eucalyptus trees had been left untreated accumulating dead branches and shedding bark Measure MM was designed to prevent fires like the 1991 fire from happening again in the Oakland and Berkeley areas where wildfire risk has been increasing.  More than two-thirds of the registered voters of Oakland’s Wildfire Prevention Zone supported the measure which would generate $2.67 million in the first year Single-family property owners would be taxed $99 per year and condo or multifamily-unit owners would be taxed $65 per year.  The measure does not have a detailed year-by-year timeline the work plan will incorporate lessons learned from the first year The priorities include vegetation management and monitoring along evacuation routes and parks Oakland residents in the Wildfire Prevention Zone will begin paying a parcel tax for 20 years to fund wildfire prevention.  Archive siteLooking for stories published 2010 to September 2014 Peninsula Press is a project of the Stanford Journalism Program Wildfire Today NBC’s “Dateline” will feature the Cedar Fire the largest wildfire in the recorded history of California In the one-hour episode of a three-part disaster series called “Escape,” narrator Josh Elliott visits the scene and interviews 14 survivors whose lives have been changed forever In 2003 the fire burned over 273,000 acres in San Diego County the fast moving fire driven by a strong northeast wind killed 14 people east of San Diego in Wildcat Canyon and Eucalyptus Hills who had little or no warning Eight of those killed died while they were evacuating The fire destroyed 2,232 homes in San Diego While trying to defend a house near Santa Ysabel from the Novato Fire Department was overrun by the fire and killed on October 29 Below is a very interesting animation of the spread of the Cedar Fire which was initially pushed by very strong Santa Ana winds blowing from the northeast and east Typos, let us know HERE, and specify which article. Please read the commenting rules before you post a comment Enter your email address to receive notifications of new posts by email The City of Chino Hills has broken ground on the City’s new 1,2,3-Trichloropropane (TCP) water treatment facility a project that will allow the City to reactivate six City-owned wells and reduce dependence on costly purchased water deliveries the water treatment facility will allow the City to provide an additional local source of high-quality drinking water that is clean TCP is a contaminant substance found in pesticides and used as a cleaning and maintenance solvent Water District and treated at the Water Facilities Authority in Upland Treated ground water is provided by the Monte Vista Water District and the Chino Basin Desalter Authority These purchased water deliveries are subject to rising costs that the City has no control over The City needs to develop its own resources to supplement its reliance on purchased water deliveries The 1,2,3-TCP facility will allow the City to use local and cost-effective ground water as an alternative The water treatment process uses state-of-the-art water purification steps that will create nearly 3 million gallons per day of local The treatment process filters source water through granular activated carbon (GAC) to remove 1,2,3-TCP; much like a Brita filter you may have on a faucet in your home Project Fact Sheet (PDF) The work comprises the following: mobilization Booster 9 improvements (such as replacing pumps and motors upgrading electrical units and telemetry system) and other appurtenances to complete the project 3982 Eucalyptus Avenue, Chino Hills Site Plan *The project is entirely funded by a settlement from Dow Chemical Company and Shell Oil General Construction Milestones and Timeline: On-Site Work (Ongoing)Various on-site work continues such as tree removal Project Landscape & Tree Planting Plan (PDF)   Construction Hours7:00 am - 7:00 pm, M-F, except City holidays Point of Contact:Fe Rama, P.E., Senior Engineer Phone: (909) 364-2776Email: frama@chinohills.org >> Download our brochure on vegetation management for fire safety in the East Bay hills Given the very serious drought conditions facing California combined with longer and more serious wildfire seasons due to climate disruption it’s more important than ever to prioritize fire prevention in our vegetation management strategies for the East Bay hills Ever since the Great Fire of 1991 ravaged the East Bay hills at a cost of 25 lives and 3.9 billion in present-day dollars the Sierra Club has worked with fire experts and environmental groups like the Golden Gate Audubon Society and the Claremont Canyon Conservancy to develop an ecologically and fiscally sustainable model for fire management that not only reduces the risk of fires but also promotes diverse and healthy ecosystems The preferred strategy for vegetation management in the East Bay hills entails removing the most highly flammable ember-generating trees like eucalyptus in phases — only in select areas considered most at risk for fire along the urban-wild interface Once the flammable non-native trees are removed less flammable native species can reclaim those areas and provide for a rebound of biodiversity This model of fire prevention can summarized as the the “Three R’s”: There is a lot of misinformation floating around about this preferred model for the care and management of vegetation in the East Bay hills Here are the facts about a few of these misunderstandings: The Sierra Club’s approach does NOT call for clearcutting. Under “Remove, Restore, Re-establish” thousands of acres of eucalyptus and other non-natives will remain in the East Bay hills. Our proposal only covers areas near homes and businesses where a fire would be most costly to lives and property, and only those areas that are best suited for native forest restoration (see map) removing monoculture eucalyptus groves and providing for the return of native ecosystems will create a much richer landscape than the alternative — thinning — which requires regularly scraping away the forest floor to remove flammable debris Native landscapes provide habitat for much more diverse ecosystems. Birds and mammals much prefer native woodlands to the dense, inhospitable eucalyptus.[ii] If implemented, the plan supported by the Sierra Club will create additional habitat for the endangered Alameda whipsnake, which cannot live in areas dominated by eucalyptus and Monterey pine.[iii] and other non-native trees still will remain in the East Bay hills [i] U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “Biological Opinion for the Proposed Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Hazardous Fire Risk Reduction Project in the East Bay Hills of Alameda and Contra Costa Counties, California.” Page 5 [ii] U.S. Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station. “Abundance, distribution, and population trends of oak woodland birds.” [iii] U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “Biological Opinion for the Proposed Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Hazardous Fire Risk Reduction Project in the East Bay Hills of Alameda and Contra Costa Counties, California.” Page 78 [iv] Carol Rice. “The Science Behind Eucalyptus Fire Hazards.” [v] US Forest Service Fire Effects Information System database. "Index of Species: Eucalyptus globulus." [vi] D. Boyd. 2000. Eucalyptus globulus. pp. 183-186 in Bossard, C. C., J.M. Randall, and M. C. Hoshovsky. "Invasive Plants of California's Wildlands." University of California Press [vii] U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “Biological Opinion for the Proposed Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Hazardous Fire Risk Reduction Project in the East Bay Hills of Alameda and Contra Costa Counties, California.” Page 8 [viii] Roger G. Skolmen and F. Thomas Ledig.  “Bluegum Eucalyptus.” Silvics Manual [ix] U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “Biological Opinion for the Proposed Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Hazardous Fire Risk Reduction Project in the East Bay Hills of Alameda and Contra Costa Counties, California.” Page 49 [x] U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “Biological Opinion for the Proposed Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Hazardous Fire Risk Reduction Project in the East Bay Hills of Alameda and Contra Costa Counties, California.” Page 48 [xi] California Invasive Plant Council and Pesticide Research Institute. “Best Management Practices (BMPs) for Wildland Stewardship: Protecting Wildlife When Using Herbicides for Invasive Plant Management.” Page 12 Thanks for signing up to receive email from the SF Bay Chapter of the Sierra Club Add your info below to receive action alert emails and make a difference in local environmental issues You can also sign up for a monthly email newsletter to get news, events, and campaign highlights delivered to your inbox. Click here to sign up and read about our email policy   Sierra Club® and "Explore, enjoy and protect the planet"® are registered trademarks of the Sierra Club. © Sierra Club 2025.The Sierra Club Seal is a registered copyright Leonie Helm is a Newsweek Life Reporter and is based in London from abolishing the monarchy to travel to aesthetic medicine Leonie joined Newsweek in 2022 from the Aesthetics Journal where she was the Deputy Editor and had previously worked as a journalist for TMRW Magazine and Foundry Fox She is a graduate of Cardiff University where she gained a MA in Journalism You can get in touch with Leonie by emailing l.helm@newsweek.com either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content People love an animal-rescue story, and one creature delighting viewers on TikTok at the moment is Rhea the blind rescue goat The couple run The Shore Sanctuary in Eucalyptus Hills and are full-time animal caregivers while also running a pet-care business called Green Paw Grooming "Rhea the blind goat is soaking up the San Diego sunshine with her favorite human Alex," Shore told Newsweek. "We run The Shore Sanctuary, which is a non-profit animal sanctuary and rescue center focused on birds and farmed animals in need of ongoing medical care The couple have a background in animal medicine and started the sanctuary to rescue as many animals in need as possible "Knowing the need of permanent placement for abused neglected and discarded animals is one of the main reasons why we opened this organization," Shore said "Though it wouldn't have been possible if we hadn't spent time volunteering at other local sanctuaries before founding our own little but mighty organization." Some 10 billion animals are slaughtered for food each year in the U.S. Around 99 percent of them are raised on factory farms, and an additional 47 billion aquatic animals are killed as well according to the Factory Farming Awareness Coalition In May 2023, the Supreme Court of the United States upheld Proposition 12 in the state of California a law that prohibits pregnant mother pigs from extreme confinement which was enacted in 2018 by voter initiative also bans the use of veal crates for calves and battery cages for egg-laying hens Proposition 12 prohibits the sale of products from such inhumane systems in California marking a small victory for the state's farm animals "I love how content the goat looks haha," posted another "Every animal deserves this kind of a life," commented a third Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share Send them to life@newsweek.com with some details about your best friend and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground Newsletters in your inbox See all SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – Authorities received numerous reports of trees falling around San Diego County on Thursday as strong winds whipped across the region Some of the incidents that have been reported to the National Weather Service in San Diego Hidden Meadows (west of Valley Center): Tree blocking Old Castle Road at Champagne Boulevard San Diego: Downed tree on northbound SR-163 transition to I-5 San Diego: Downed tree on 11th Street on-ramp to northbound I-5 Mission Valley: Tree comes down on at least two cars in front of Lowe’s at Fenton Marketplace No injuries since the family was not home at the time San Diego: Large palm fronts blocking the off-ramp at southbound I-5 at Pershing Drive Pine Valley: Telephone line down across SR-79 and blocking southbound lanes Julian: Large tree down that is leaning on powerlines University Heights: Large Eucalyptus tree down on El Cajon Boulevard damaging electrical wires at Willowgrove Avenue and Sunwood Drive Mission Hills: Large Eucalyptus tree down in Pioneer Park reportedly hits a person; Parkgoers being told to leave due to additional trees coming down Escondido: 80-foot tree uprooted on Birch Ave Lava from Hawaii volcano continues to spread Lava from the Kīlauea volcano above Pahoa in Hawaii continues to spread The latest breakout is about 0.7 miles upslope of Highway 130 officials from the Hawaii County Civil Defense said after a helicopter flight Tuesday morning Over the last four days the lava has advanced about 240 yards Three additional deceased hotshots to qualify for benefits Group opposes FEMA’s plan to reduce hazardous fuel near Oakland The Hills Conservation Network has sued several organizations in an attempt to halt a project that would reduce the hazardous fuels over 2,059 acres in the East Bay area. Below is an excerpt from Courthouse News Service: “(C)lear-cutting and chipping of eucalyptus will not achieve the most effective reduction of fire risks in the project areas and instead increases fire risks by disposing of wood chips in layers up to two-feet deep over extensive areas of the project sites,” the complaint states But FEMA’s environmental impact statement which justifies depositing up to 24 inches of mulch from eucalyptus trees “fails to acknowledge research that highlights the high potential for spontaneous combustion in deeper accumulations of mulch the difficulty of fire suppression in such fuels the severe long-term damage to soils by the intense heating in mulch and wood chip fires and the documented spotting danger posed by mulch and other forms of masticated fuels,” the group says “The net effect is essentially trading one fire hazard for another.” Eucalyptus trees actually help reduce fire hazard by breaking up strong winds and reducing hazard from flying embers and the complete removal of the eucalyptus forest would constitute a “catastrophic site disturbance” that would open up the ecosystem to invasive species Last year we wrote this about eucalyptus trees: Wildland firefighters in Australia and in some areas of California are very familiar with eucalyptus trees They are native and very common in Australia and are planted as ornamentals in the United States The leaves produce a volatile highly combustible oil and the ground beneath the trees is covered with large amounts of litter which is high in phenolics Wildfires burn rapidly under them and through the tree crowns It has been estimated that other than the 3,000+ homes that burned in the 1991 Oakland Hills Fire in California about 70 percent of the energy released was through the combustion of eucalyptus Florida wildland firefighters concerned about their pay Firefighters with the Florida Forest Service are fired up over small wages They’re making a plea to state leaders to correct what they describe as being “grossly underpaid.” Experience – now one the areas of concern being pointed out by a local union representing some of the firefighters with the Florida Forest Service “We do see a fairly high rate of turnover because of that,” said Chris Schmiege “That”- being low salaries- in a job wage survey conducted by the union- it states Wildland firefighters receive a starting wage of a little more than twenty-four thousand a year for full-time work An amount comparable to a cafeteria worker or plumbers assistant which is considerably less than the average for firefighters at the county and local level amounts ranging from thirty-nine to sixty thousand a year Forest Service officials are now calling on help from state leaders but at the same time we’re doing what we’re doing,” said Schmiege Which according to Schmiege also includes going out West to work for other federal fire agencies to stay afloat financially Right now officials say it’s really almost a labor of love The Oakland Hills, which was devastated by the Tunnel Fire in 1991, has some things in common with Australia. The most obvious is the eucalyptus trees, a species imported from down under. The volatile highly combustible oil in the leaves causes fires to burn rapidly under them and through the tree crowns The eucalyptus contributed to the spread of the Tunnel fire …I felt right at home amongst the swaying eucalyptus trees, which despite much controversy still stand tall in the Oakland Hills. Yet, unlike the ‘Prepare, Stay and Defend or Leave Early’ mantra that is associated with living in eucalyptus dominated (i.e it was the continuing absence of an official policy on how to better prepare residents for future wildfires in the Oakland Hill that loomed large for me during the fieldtrip What should residents do if evacuation is not a feasible option in the future How can residents prepare so a similar disaster is prevented These questions linger like ghosts at every twist and turn of the narrow embers and flames resulted in accidents and panic that fatally trapped residents in 1991 thus taking into consideration the considerable hill slope these blocks become one-acre properties in need of defence He furthermore spoke to the frustration of local building- planning- and fire-codes not supporting each other The statutory law of developing a given property sits within a planning code that does not necessarily follow local fire safety recommendations about 70 percent of the energy released was through the combustion of eucalyptus Eucalyptus is one of three similar genera that are commonly referred to as “eucalypts” a reporter who covered the numerous large bushfires a year ago in Australia titled “Firestorm: Surviving the Tasmanian bushfire” ‘are like weeds that come up on bombed-out blocks’ professor of geography and environmental studies at the university ‘They’re fantastically fast growers and great colonisers Eucalypts typically let through a lot of light allowing other vegetation types such as scrub and grass to grow beneath them if what is growing beneath them over the years becomes too dense therefore — there are more than 600 in Australia between 30 and 40 in Tasmania — have evolved traits that allow them to survive and prosper in the fires that will clear that undergrowth 100-metre-tall Eucalyptus regnans — also known as the mountain ash stringy gum or Tasmanian oak — hold their seeds inside small hard capsules; a fire will instantly trigger a massive drop of seeds to the newly fertilised ground The myriad bright green buds that sprout spectacularly from the trunks of other eucalypts in the aftermath of a big fire are another kind of regeneration mechanism bursting through the scorched and blackened bark within weeks of a blaze ‘a burned forest will be looking pretty good’ ‘And a large proportion of Tasmania’s flora fits into this fire ecology wattles — their germination is stimulated by heat and smoke Because these trees do not just resist fire The bark and leaves of eucalypts seem almost made to promote fire Some are known as stringyor candle-barks: long easily lit strips hang loosely off their trunks and whirl blazing up into the flammable canopy above or are carried by the wind many kilometres ahead of a fire to speed its advance.” This is an edited extract from Firestorm: Surviving the Tasmanian bushfire by Jon Henley (Guardian Shorts £1.99 / $2.99) Get it from Amazon Kindle or directly from Guardian Shorts It was 20 years ago today that a rapidly moving fire in the Oakland Hills east of San Francisco ravaged a community Here is the way we describe it in our Infamous Fires Around the World document: commonly referred to as the Oakland Hills fire or East Bay Hills fire and destroyed 2,449 single-family dwellings and 437 apartment and condominium units Eleven of the fire victims died in traffic jams on Charing Cross Road while evacuating Eight others died on narrow streets in the same area The economic loss has been estimated at $1.5 billion The fire started when an ember from a grass fire the previous day blew beyond the fire hoses that were still on the fire perimeter and started a new fire have grown back and some of the residents that lived through the 1991 fire are worried when they look around and see that some of their new neighbors are not doing as much as they could to prevent another disaster Here is an excerpt from an interesting article in the Mercury News: As autumn returned and the mercury hovered in the 90s in the Oakland hills he lost two houses in one of the nation’s deadliest and most destructive urban wildfires destroyed more than 3,800 homes and killed 25 people including the Browns’ former baby sitter Although he tries not to dwell on the horrible memories — or the chance of another devastating blaze — Brown and other survivors of the Oakland hills fire worry that the painful lessons of that day are being forgotten they are being ignored by the many newer residents who didn’t experience firsthand the hell of Oct Even the subtlest signs of danger make him nervous “I’m looking at the two houses below me and the branches are touching the house,” Brown said from his perch on Buckingham Boulevard — less than a minute’s walk from where the fire erupted on a hot Sunday morning If someone throws a match in there it will set the whole block off.” But it isn’t just those who lived through the Oakland hills fire who are anxious about what they fear is a growing complacency that has built up alongside the stately homes in these steep Fire officials say that time has not only given rise to dense stands of fast-growing and fire-susceptible eucalyptus on public lands it has also given vegetation on private property throughout the hills 20 years to mature It often takes a second notice before residents take heed and clear a defensible space around their homes to protect it from fire Olivia Judson, an evolutionary biologist, recently traveled to Australia where she learned a little about fires in eucalyptus forests. In an article she wrote for the New York Times, she wonders if some plants have specific characteristics that make it more likely that fires will burn intensely. Here is an excerpt from her article ….It’s common knowledge that plants regularly exposed to fire tend to have features that help them cope with it — such as thick bark or seeds that only grow after being exposed to intense heat or smoke But what is less often remarked on is that the plants themselves affect the nature and severity of fire dead branches burn more readily than living branches so a tree that keeps dead branches (rather than letting them fall) makes it easier for a fire to climb into a forest canopy: the dead branches provide a ladder for the fire twigs catch light more readily than branches so a twiggy sort of plant can catch fire more readily than its non-twiggy sister Many plants that live in places prone to fire are highly flammable — more flammable than plants that live elsewhere This has led some to speculate that these plants have actually evolved to cause fires: that they “want” fire and have evolved features that make it more likely that a spark will become a flame Many plants depend on fire for their propagation longleaf pine forests do not burn regularly the pines will be replaced by water oaks and other species So — runs the argument — fires are desirable because they kill the competition Plants that enhance fires may thus have an evolutionary advantage: they murder the competition while creating the right circumstances for their own seeds to sprout showing that a trait has evolved because it enhances fire is difficult oily leaves are more flammable; but perhaps the real advantage of oily leaves is that insects don’t enjoy eating them their flammability may be a by-product of tasting terrible The best evidence that some plants may have evolved to promote fire comes from pines Some species of pine keep their dead branches; others tend to self-prune As you would expect under the torch-me hypothesis the more flammable species — the ones with the dead wood — also tend to have seeds that are released by fire The author seems to think she is the first person to consider this concept It has shaggy bark and does not self-prune its limbs readily run up the trunk of the tree and become a crown fire It has a fire return interval of about 300 years and fires tend to be of the stand replacement type The serotinous cones open and disperse the seeds after the fire promoting the resurgence of another lodgepole forest UPDATE: Chuck Bushey wrote to us about this Bob Mutch actually wrote his MS thesis on this topic at the University of Montana in the late 70’s It was later published in the Journal of Ecology and I think he was the first to formally express the concept in the scientific literature Wildland Fires and Ecosystems – A Hypothesis Oakland officials and the city’s fire department are keen to accept a $4m federal grant to clear young eucalyptus trees and other plant species not native to the area They say clearing away the trees and brush will help prevent another deadly firestorm like the one that whipped through the hills in 1991 That fire killed 25 people and destroyed nearly 3,500 homes The densely populated and wooded hills in drought-stricken California have long served as a potential fire hazard How best to reduce the danger has been a source of heated debate since the 1991 firestorm Some residents and environmentalists argue that low-lying brush is the primary concern rather than the 500,000 eucalyptus trees dotting the hills has filed a federal lawsuit to scuttle the tree-cutting project the Sierra Club and another environment organization filed a lawsuit last week arguing that the tree-cutting plan does not go far enough The Sierra Club wants all of the eucalyptus trees in the region felled and replaced by native plant species The Sierra Clubs says the trees are highly flammable and were never meant to grow in the area The Sierra Club says the trees were introduced in the area a century ago by lumber speculators The Oakland city council was scheduled to consider acceptance of the Federal Emergency Management Agency grant on Tuesday night said state authorities must still conduct and environmental review of the project before the cutting can start Fema’s initial proposal was to cut all eucalyptus trees in the area But the project was scaled back after the agency received 13,000 comments from residents and others The plan now calls for “thinning” smaller trees not native to the area over a 10-year period declined comment on the competing lawsuits and the grant proposal or sign up for a new account to continue reading We hope that you continue to enjoy our free content THIS SERVICE IS THE EXACT REPLICA OF OUR NEWSPAPER  - PAGE BY PAGE AS IF IT WERE IN YOUR HANDS Get Started in accessing our paid content at no additional fee for the duration of your membership. To signup for a new membership please click here. no promotional deals were found matching that code The crosswalk at Eucalyptus Avenue and Galloping Hills Road is the location where a fatal injury occurred in 2019 and a woman jogging after work was severely injured in 2020 Improvements will be made to the crosswalk this summer including upgrading it to a “ladder-style” crosswalk is located at Central Avenue and C Street in Chino Several crosswalks in Chino Hills are being proposed in a study to be upgraded to “ladder-style.” Drivers now have a protected left turn at Peyton Drive and Eucalyptus Avenue when heading west on Eucalyptus A new plan on roadway safety issues in Chino Hills has identified the intersection of Peyton Drive and Eucalyptus Avenue with the most traffic accidents A total of 21 accidents occurred at this intersection between 2014 and 2019 the city changed the signal hardware to include a protected left-turn arrow for southbound Peyton traffic turning west (left) onto Eucalyptus drivers were allowed to turn left when the protected green arrow changed to a green light Peyton between English Road and Eucalyptus was identified as the road segment with the most traffic accidents primarily funded by a state grant and conducted by LG2WB Engineers analyzed six years of collision data between 2014 and 2019 and determined that 382 collisions occurred in Chino Hills 28 were fatal or resulted in severe injuries The years 2020 and 2021 were not used because of traffic irregularities during the pandemic according to public works director Daniel Bobadilla the collision rate is seven times less than the statewide rate which demonstrates that Chino Hills has a “relatively low fatal and severe injury collision rate.” The plan is called the “Local Road Safety Plan” and is now required by Caltrans for all local agencies to demonstrate need and establish eligibility to apply for grants Bobadilla described the plan as a “10,000-foot view” of the potential for road safety improvements that could take as long as 10 years to complete “One of the main reasons for developing this plan is to allow us to qualify for grant opportunities,” he said The five intersections with the greatest number of collisions are Peyton at Eucalyptus 11; Soquel Canyon Parkway at Los Serranos Country Club Drive The five road segments with the greatest number of collisions are: Peyton between English Road and Eucalyptus 21; Peyton between Chino Avenue and Bedford Lane 15; Chino Avenue between Woodsorrel Drive and Peyton 14; Soquel Canyon Parkway between Los Serranos and Pomona Rincon Road 14; and Peyton between Rock Springs Drive and Beverly Glen Road Suggested improvements include back-plates with reflective borders and upgrading crosswalk striping and signal phasing The following roadway segments experienced the greatest number of collisions with fixed objects: Peyton between Chino Avenue and Eucalyptus five; Eucalyptus between Calle Barcelona and the fire access road five; and Grand between Pleasant Hill Drive and Chino Hills Parkway Improvements would include removing or relocating the fixed objects and installing delineators The following roadway segments experienced the greatest number of collisions related to speeding: Peyton between Grand and Chino Avenue five; Chino Hills Parkway between Peyton and Pipeline four; Soquel Canyon Parkway between Pipeline and Butterfield Ranch Road Improvements would include installation of speed warning signs The intersections that experienced the greatest number of collisions that involved pedestrians included: Soquel Canyon Parkway at Los Serranos Country Club Drive Improvements would include installing advance stop bars before the crosswalks and modifying signal phasing The intersections that experienced the greatest number of collisions that involved bicyclists included: Peyton at Eucalyptus two; and Soquel Canyon Parkway at Los Serranos Country Club Drive Improvements would include installing bike lanes Improvements were recommended for 18 uncontrolled marked crosswalk locations including Eucalyptus Avenue at Galloping Hills Road where two severe accidents occurred in 2019 and 2020 Juan Liu of Chino Hills was killed on Sept when she was hit by a car while using the crosswalk at 8:45 p.m alleging that the crosswalk is not properly designed or constructed to provide for safe crossing of pedestrians Chino Hills assistant city attorney Elizabeth Calciano said the claims were received by the city in March 2020 but a lawsuit was never filed against the city Ashley Bautista was jogging across Eucalyptus Road adjacent to the crosswalk but not in the crosswalk Her parents filed a lawsuit the following month against the city alleging that Eucalyptus at the intersection of Galloping Hills Road was designed without adequate signs and striping which presented a “dangerous trap.” The lawsuit is ongoing Improvements to the crosswalk are expected to take place in the summer while the city is in the process of improving the asphalt on Eucalyptus between Peyton and Chino Hills Parkway The study recommends that the crosswalk be upgraded into a “ladder-style” crosswalk with black and white stripes resembling a ladder (see photo above) and installing a barrier such as a railing or post that guides pedestrians into the crosswalk Bobadilla said flashing beacons will also be installed The city’s Traffic Safety Commission will review the study and determine which projects should receive priority The committee consists of members of the Chino Hills Police Department The committee’s actions are reviewed by the Public Works Commission during its monthly meetings During a discussion of the plan during the Nov Councilman Ray Marquez asked why Carbon Canyon Road was not included in the study Bobadilla responded that the state highway is in the jurisdiction of Caltrans The Public Works Commission recommended approval of the plan in March with Commissioner Mike Kleczko raising concerns that the study did not suggest specific improvements for each intersection “The solutions were the same for every intersection,” he said The plan was presented to the city council eight months later because it was being reviewed by the city’s insurance agency and the city attorney’s office to ensure the city was not putting itself in a position of liability there are no recent results for popular videos Would you like to receive our breaking news news This is the exact replica of our weekly printed paper Would you like to receive our news updates Your browser is out of date and potentially vulnerable to security risks.We recommend switching to one of the following browsers: on October 31 The Oakland Hills Fire may have started on the ground but the Eucalyptus trees surrounding people’s homes in the Oakland-Berkeley Hills helped it burn more and spread even further The highly flammable non-native species accounted for 70 percent of the energy released through combustion of vegetation during the fire Eucalyptus trees still surround many homes and live in many of Oakland’s parks while residents debate whether they should be saved or removed as fire hazards assistant fire chief for the East Bay Regional Parks District Fire Department they can go through a process called “crowning out” in which a 100-foot tree can burst into flames within two to ten seconds The tree can produce flames as tall as its height so 100-foot trees are capable of creating 100-foot flames “It’s like a major torch exploding—like a huge Roman candle going off,” Swanson said “There’s a definite roaring noise and you get the sight of it and feel this strong wind that can just pull your hat right off your head.” the inland dry-hot Diablo Winds stirred up burning embers of leaf and bark on the ground—“like throwing matches out of your car window driving down the road,” Swanson said Eucalyptus are coated in a flammable and fragrant oil that collects at high concentrations at the base and junctions of the trees the flames quickly spread to the trees’ stems and eventually crowned out at the top of tree Exploding embers were carried westward by winds that gusted up to 65 miles per hour Many of the fiery particles then landed on wood shake roofs the East Bay Regional Parks District removed tens of thousands of Eucalyptus in Claremont Canyon Herbicides were used in all areas to remove the trees and in some clear-cutting was also used—a process which involves uprooting of all the trees in one area with a tractor as well Because of public concern about herbicide use and tree removal today the East Bay Regional Parks is making greater efforts to minimize the change to the landscape by using a “thinning out” process instead thinning out is the process of removing younger Eucalyptus trees that have trunks less than 12 inches in diameter and spacing the largest trees about 20 to 30 feet apart from one another in an effort to slow down the spread of a potential wildfire from tree to tree spacing out the trees also provides areas of sunlight where native vegetation can re-grow in areas that were once shaded by the taller Eucalyptus canopies it doesn’t allow enough sunlight for undesirable weeds—like Poison Hemlock and Scotch Broom shrub—to spread Swanson said that thanks to thinning out Eucalyptus parks staffers have been seeing successful comebacks of native species like the native Coast Live Oak “Deer thrive on acorn mast produced by oaks other raptors and other birds using the area more,” Swanson said “When there’s a really dense stand of trees the prey base do not enter the stand and even if they did raptors couldn’t enter them because the trees are so dense.” Some environmental groups have expressed concern that overzealous vegetation clearing efforts—both by homeowners and through official channels—would threaten endangered hillside species found almost exclusively in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties, is a large shrub with reddish or grayish bark that produces white blossoms. “The city has been more aggressive in clearing any kind of vegetation after the fire and it’s pushed residents to be clearing around their homes,” Ralph Kanz conservation director for the Alameda Creeks Alliance “Frankly not many people know what a pallid manzanita is and with all good intention they will go and cut own down without knowing it is a rare species with only 1,200 or 1,300 left in the world.” Oakland resident Kanz said that removing the Eucalyptus would allow for more native species like the pallid manzanita to grow but he is in favor of doing it in a gradual way “Arguably the best way to do it would be to go through and take a few every couple of years out and in 10 or 20 years you will have cleared out all the non-native and be back to natural restoration of the native environment,” Kanz said “The reality is that it’s cost-ineffective It’s much easier to go through and log all Eucalyptus trees You get them out of there and you’re done and working on restoring native species The Hills Conservation Network is a small group of concerned Oakland Hills residents who do not want to see the Eucalyptus cut down Director Dan Grassetti says the parks service should better manage the undergrowth beneath Eucalyptus and acacia trees to prevent fires from spreading up the trees Grassetti worries that the plan to eradicate Eucalyptus is about favoring native plants and not so much about fire safety With the 20th anniversary there has been a tendency to vilify these trees rather than deal with the real causes of the 1991 fire,” Grassetti said He cites human error and technical problems—like narrow roads and the inability to shut off natural gas lines as factors that lead to the fire’s spread “There are problems that could be fixed without cutting down millions of trees,” he said In May 2010 the Hills Conservation Network sued the East Bay Parks District over Measure CC which called for wildfire mitigation work ranging from Miller Knox Regional Park to Chabot Regional Park The Hills Conservation Network raised concerns about the greenhouse gas effect of removing so many trees as well as the use of the herbicide Garlon 4 in removing Eucalyptus “There are a lot of concerns about the health impact of Garlon reaching to the soil and getting into aqueducts,” Grassetti said herbicides are the only proven technique to effectively remove Eucalyptus which can easily sprout back up from a base of a chopped-down or burnt tree Swanson said that herbicides are only administered by licensed applicators on days when it is not raining and that the status of the treated trees is checked on an almost daily basis The application process of Garlon 4 also involves applying an additional oil to help Garlon 4 be absorbed into the stump and the tree’s root system A blue or green dye is also applied to show when the herbicide reaches the core of the stump so that park staffers don’t apply more Garlon 4 than necessary Swanson says parks staffers leave standing the largest trees that often do the best job of storing carbon and encourage the growth of other trees that serve the same purpose but are less flammable “Of the 3,000 acres in which we were managing vegetation there were about 250 acres that the lawsuit was over and on this we agreed to modify treatment on 75 acres which are principally occupied by Eucalyptus,” Swanson said although they were agreed to by both parties and that’s very important.” The Parks District is current moving ahead with plans to remove trees around Lake Chabot and the Environmental Education Center in Tilden Park Swanson said that due to the lawsuit they will be “thinning out” 60 acres of trees this modification will not reduce the plan’s fire prevention effectiveness The plan will continue to be discussed this year and removal is set to begin in 2012 Swanson said that thinning out highly flammable trees is the best method to prevent a future fire from spreading as quickly as the 1991 fire the question is not if another wildfire will happen “We’ve known for a couple of hundred years that what influences fire management is fuels We can’t do much about the weather and the topography is not changing much at all The only factor of the triad we can influence are the fuels,” Swanson said “This area of the Oakland Hills has a history of burning every 15 to 25 years and the last one was in 1991 It would not be a surprise to anyone that there would be one in the coming future.” Eucalyptus were nowhere near the start of the 91 fire and most large eucs survived where everything else burned The myth is that trees set fire to houses when the fact is it’s the other way round The 91 fire was a vegetation fire for only the first three minutes; after that for the next two days it was a structure fire A typical house has twenty times as much fuel as an equal area of forest Eucs tend to resist ignition because of their high moisture content the fact that they stay green all year and the lack of low-hanging branches the fire sweeps through the understory and moves on before the euc reaches ignition temperature A euc crown fire occurs only when the understory fuel burns long enough –like when a house is burning The euc sends up sprouts when it is chopped down partly because the press was loathe to blame the Fire Department and partly because the”nativists” had long been anxious to eradicate the eucs The huge Treasure Island fire a few years ago is a good example: in history there had never been a forest fire on the island an unstoppable fire swept the island — the only trees to survive was a small grove of eucs that hadn’t been cut the very landscape that the nativists want to “transform” our hills into Why would we want to create a landscape that resembles the Southern Calif hills that burn so regularly and ferociously Oakland North welcomes comments from our readers but we ask users to keep all discussion civil and on-topic Comments post automatically without review from our staff but we reserve the right to delete material that is libelous We request that commenters consistently use the same login name Comments from the same user posted under multiple aliases may be deleted Oakland North assumes no liability for comments posted to the site and no endorsement is implied; commenters are solely responsible for their own content Oakland North is an online news service produced by students at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism and covering Oakland, California. Our goals are to improve local coverage, innovate with digital media, and listen to you–about the issues that concern you and the reporting you’d like to see in your community. Please send news tips to: oaklandnorthstaff@gmail.com Fiona Ulrich on April 30 Haydee Barahona on April 29 Daniela Castillo on April 24 oaklandnorthstaff@gmail.com University of CaliforniaNorth Gate HallBerkeley, CA Oakland North is an online news service produced by the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism for, and about, the people of Oakland, California.  Our goal is to produce professional and engaging journalism that is useful for the citizens of the city. About 50 people attended an Aug. 21 talk which featured backyard beekeeper Richard Edwords discussing the history of bees in East county and how they are now being used in modern society. The local talk, facilitated this time by Alpine Historical Society is the second in the series hosted last round by Lakeside Historical Society. Although Edwords leaned loosely on the lectern and added jokes throughout his casually dispensed speech, the key points of his presentation such as explaining how bees sniff out bombs and why some honey is sometimes poisonous were all serious in nature. Historically, he said, East County was a hub of honey from the time John Harbison— the namesake of Harbison Canyon— invented a new bee box design in 1859 which allowed for honey access with less upset to the hive. Harbison was a San Diego resident but kept bees throughout El Cajon, Lakeside and Alpine, Edwords said, a train ride away from the city with a connecting ride into the backcountry. However, just a few decades earlier, those bees would not have existed in California, let alone East County, Edwords said, as their buzzing ancestors were introduced to the west coast with railroad expansions. “Nowadays, they would be considered an invasive species. Native Americans didn’t even have a name for them, they were called the ‘white man’s fly’ because they were brought out west but weren’t very effectively used to begin with so they were kind of a pest,” Edwords said Honeybees have been prevalent for over a century in East County, he said, with a flavor that reflects history and local vegetation. According to Edwords, Harbison produced enough honey each year to fill 11 railroad transport cars, each the equivalent of a modern-day semi-truck, due in part to a three-month buckwheat bloom in San Diego County. “Buckwheat is an amazing plant, it blooms for three months straight. Not many plants do that and Harbison took advantage of that extended bloom. He was either really lucky or really good,” Edwords said with a chuckle. The Eucalyptus Hills neighborhood in Lakeside was originally established as a source of wood for railroad ties… then, people realized the brittle wood was useless for developing rail lines and the trees were left standing, prime pollination grounds for honeybees. “Pure eucalyptus honey tastes like cough syrup,” Edwords said, grinning. Honey from Escondido tastes like the citrus grown throughout the area, he added, a sure sign the bees are pollinating a particular grapefruit farm and honey from alfalfa farms tastes a little bit like black licorice and has a deeper color than other varieties. The concept of varietals is not unlike wine grapes, he said, with factors like rainfall and local weather patterns affecting each vintage but honey production has a relatively low profit margin and is not where the bees can make a buck. These days, Edwords said, the profit comes from using the bees as rented pollinators, sometimes at the cost of their life thanks to widespread pesticides. “Pesticide poison is a problem across the U.S. but locally, if you leave your bees in Imperial Valley for 28 days, half of them will be dead,” Edwords said. Bees are also put to work in modern-day combat zones, he said, used to sniff out bombs in the Middle East. Trained to sniff out buried explosives, the fact that bees are airborne and delicately poke at the earth makes them a wiser investment than dogs or pigs who risk stepping on landmines. In a return to ancient medicine, he said, honey is also being revisited for medicinal properties. “You know, the ancient Egyptians used honey for medicinal purposes and there’s evidence of antibacterial properties- what food product could you still eat 3,000 years later? Not many,” Edwords said. To glean the same benefits today, he said, shoppers should track down pure honey with no preservatives, a challenge with some countries’ exported honey, and keep from heating the honey. “I have customers who want to see the dead bees and wings in the honey to prove it hasn’t been processed,” Edwords said. Typically, Edwords said, his presentation partner 101.5 KGB radio personality Coe Lewis would take over to talk about using bees in biofences but she is currently in Africa working on another bee project: biofences installed through non-profit Nsefu Wildlife Conservation Foundation to reduce animal poaching. “It’s difficult and expensive to build a large fence which can keep an elephant contained,” Edwords said, but the massive animals are naturally scared of bees and can be herded away from poachers with a line of hives. Poachers are known to slaughter an elephant for its tusks, then poison the carcass to prevent birds of prey from circling and giving away their location, Edwords said. Other scavengers like lions enter the scene and eat the poisoned elephant, then die in a second blow to the ecosystem. Charles Peterson / FlickrNovember 30 That is perhaps the only thing that everyone agrees on blue gum eucalyptus are characteristic of the San Francisco Bay area despite being native to an Australian island half a world away They just happen to thrive in the Bay climate and many were planted either for timber or for scenery from the 1850s onwards but getting a fuller understanding requires a walk deeper into the woods It is a classic Bay Area dispute: greens vs cancelled grants to remove eucalypts in the East Bay I became interested in the Great Eucalyptus Debate several years ago. In 2011, I wrote a book, Rambunctious Garden that reported on new exciting directions in conservation Among these was a reassessment of non-native species maybe we had been spending too much time and money removing non-natives in a quest for an unobtainable purity money we could have spent on something else like land acquisition or climate change mitigation People were trying to cut down all the eucalyptus trees just because they were non-native All the talk about fire risk was just “a cover story.” Recently we spoke on the phone “They learned that the public is not interested in killing trees or eradicating plants just so it can look like it did 250 years ago,” she says “They learned that they have to use fear tactics McAllister has “reams” of studies that she says shows that the trees aren’t a fire hazard—or any more of one than the native shrubs and trees She points in particular to the “fog drip” that these large lanceolate-leaved trees collect and retain making them Sigg actually agrees that fire isn’t the main reason to remove eucalyptus His central motivation has always been “the importance of saving natural ecosystems”—in this case the oak woodland-grassland that predated the eucalyptus at many sites around the Bay Sigg and McAllister have tried to remain cordial over the many years that they and their allies have disagreed about the blue gums They haven’t always managed to stay on speaking terms And both sides naturally see science as supporting their own position According to Doug Johnson, executive director of the California Invasive Plant Council whether the Tasmanian blue gum deserves to stay depends a lot on one’s goals for a particular site much of the disagreement is not on how to achieve a shared goal “There are a number of competing visions for the wildland-urban interface,” he says And then he ticks off just a few: “the safety aspect of wildfire protection the cultural and recreational aspect of the beauty of large trees the practical greenhouse gas storage aspect It is Johnson’s belief that while “intelligent people and well-meaning people” are working on each side positions have unfortunately become calcified unbending no matter what any new study says “People fit the information to the narrative,” he says Even invasive species conferences now feature panels on how to work with exotics to achieve restoration goals The embrace of eucalyptus may be part of this pendulum swing As far as the public perception is concerned the herbicides used to kill exotics certainly don’t help sell the idea of removing the trees “When it comes to using herbicides to control invasive plants there is a strong underlying narrative of fighting authority and any kind of synthetic product especially something made by a large corporation and especially if that company is Monsanto,” Johnson says I ask Johnson whether having an independent third party weigh in on some of these questions might be useful When it comes to working with the horticultural plant trade—often the entry point for non-natives that go on to spread beyond home gardens—he’s had luck with using research by botanical gardens as a “trusted messenger” for science that all sides can believe “We trust them to be scientifically based and horticulturalists know they love plants and don’t think they will be overly cautious and restrictive without good reason.” Could a study on the relative risks and benefits of removing or retaining these Australian giants be explored for a number of different goals (Most NAS studies are paid for by federal agencies but a California state agency could fund a study or the NAS could use some of their internal funding to take it on themselves.) Macalister isn’t 100 percent sure she could trust a NAS report but she likes the idea better than charging a local university with studying these issues but if you must put the dice in particular hands the Academy is certainly better than local options,” she says whether to hone the axe and ready the glyphosphate or simply spread a picnic blanket under the canopy and relax there would be an agreed-upon set of facts the differences of opinions would flow from different values and there’s always hope that opposing values can expand and melt into each other—that compromise and compassion can be achieved This post appears courtesy of Last Word on Nothing The intersection of Eucalyptus Avenue and Galloping Hills Road was the site of the second pedestrian accident in five months on Monday when a 33-year-old resident was hit be a vehicle A 33-year-old Chino Hills woman was hit by a car in the crosswalk at Eucalyptus Avenue and Galloping Hills Road on Monday just five months after a 31-year-old resident was killed in the same crosswalk Ashley Nicole Bautista was found in the westbound lane of Eucalyptus Avenue west of Chino Hills Community Park suffering from injuries when deputies from the Chino Hills Police station arrived at the scene at approximately 6:30 p.m She was struck by 24-year-old Karolyn Rose Jaranilla of Chino Hills who was driving westbound on Eucalyptus according to a press release from the Chino Hills Police Department Bautista sustained major trauma and was transported to Pomona Valley Medical Center in Pomona Jaranilla remained at the scene and cooperated with the investigation by a vehicle also driven by a 24-year-old and transported to Pomona Valley Hospital where she died a short time later Reaction was swift this week on Chino Hills neighborhood social media pages after Kathy Wilkinson posted that she saw Ms Bautista in the roadway during a walk with her dog Wilkinson told the Champion Tuesday she saw a slumped figure in the road and somebody standing over her She said a man got out of his car and began directing traffic but cars were still speeding on Eucalyptus Wilkinson said the intersection is very popular with hikers and walkers because of the nearby trail and park “Drivers don’t even see the crosswalk,” she said “When you’re a pedestrian in the crosswalk even if you put your hand out.” She suggested the city install a push button that activates flashing lights on the crosswalk Galloping Hills/Buckhaven area resident Ray Ocampo said when he drives out from Galloping Hills he finds it difficult to see vehicles coming up on Eucalyptus unless he goes over the crosswalk because the fence along Eucalyptus obstructs the view but if you’re driving eastbound on Eucalyptus the crosswalk is not readily visible because there is a shallow dip on the intersection,” he said especially if you’re going more than 35 miles per hour.” Mayor Art Bennett said he was saddened about the accident and hopes the pedestrian recovers “This is very unfortunate and it’s the second time there has been an accident in the same location,” he said “We’re going to put this on fast forward to address the safety concerns and see what we can do to alleviate the problem.” John Walker said the traffic investigation for the accident in September was completed in January He said the primary collision factor was unsafe speed He cited the Vehicle Code section that stated the safe speed in which to travel for the conditions (pedestrians crossing the roadway) is “zero miles per hour.” the city had been actively searching for grant funding to conduct an analysis of the city’s crosswalk system according to Public Works Director Daniel Bobadilla Bobadilla told the Public Works Commission on Wednesday that the city received a $72,000 grant requiring an $8,000 match from the city to be funded with gas tax funds He said the “Local Roadway Safety Plan” will be prepared by a consultant and is scheduled to be completed in December 2020 that two accidents occurred in five months the goal is to look at the intersection separately from the overall study,” he said “We want to see what we can do to improve the safety at that crosswalk.” Bobadilla said there is sufficient lighting at the crosswalk and it is properly striped He advised residents to pay close attention when they’re walking and driving “Crosswalks are not a safe haven,” he said “People have a false sense of security that they are safe They need to pay attention and look around.” Late October has historically seen many large destructive wildfires in California. In addition to the Esperanza fire that killed five U.S Forest Service firefighters seven years ago today October 20 through November 1 at times has been an extremely busy period of the year for firefighters somewhat dry (some wetting rain) low is passing through Northern California Although professional long range forecast don’t indicate the possibility of Devil Winds in So as we were only 6 and 7 years old at the time The 2007 Santiago Fire is a yet-unsolved arson-caused incident http://flashovertv.firerescue1.com/videos/2485418344001-santiago-fire-shelter-deployment/ we were taught that wildfires were a part of the CA ecosystem and that all firefighters were (are) our heroes The Old Fire started the same day as the Cedar the Old fire started earlier in the morning I was listening on my scanner when it started as it burned east then south into the Del Rosa area of San Bernardino The Grand Prix was already burning west of the Cajon Pass area The aircraft out of San Bernardino tanker base were already comitted to a fire on Camp Pendleton Also BDF engine 36 was comitted to the Grand Prix fire already or else they would have been at the start area in about 5 minutes This is also happened with the Panorma Fire in November 1980 on October 20 Eucalyptus trees tower above hills and parks throughout the East Bay providing shade to all who pass under and homes to many animals these trees are dangerous intruders that have got to go A plan to reduce the number of eucalyptus trees in the East Bay Hills reportedly to help protect the area from wildfires like the one that devastated the Oakland Hills 24 years ago this month has sparked heated controversy and divided activists Supporters of the plan insist immediate action is necessary “It’s only a matter of time before we have a really bad wildfire,” said Carolyn Jones the public information supervisor for the East Bay Regional Park District Opponents say cutting down trees is not the answer this would be about the last thing they should do,” said Dan Grassetti president of the Hills Conservation Network the City of Oakland and the University of California at Berkeley  are planning a joint project to reduce fire risk  Backed by a $4.65 million grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency dead trees and non-native trees­–particularly eucalyptus–across 800 acres in 11 regional parks including the Miller/Knox Regional Shoreline and Wildcat Canyon in Richmond wildfires clear away brush and other dead plant material which builds up indefinitely until it decomposes have allowed forest floors to become overloaded with brush even a small one can become a runaway blaze seemingly instantly The drought also means wildfire season lasts longer These circumstances are not likely to change any time soon this is not a trend that’s going away,” said Virginia Reinhart communications manager for the San Francisco Bay chapter of the Sierra Club Preventing the Next Oakland Hills Firestorm: An Oakland North/Richmond Confidential Production from Richmond Confidential on Vimeo Those who want eucalyptus removed note that the trees may seem a natural part of the landscape but they are not native to California—and they burn easily Eucalyptus was introduced to the state “as a source of hardwood lumber [around] the late 1800s to 1930s,” Jones said The trees were planted very close together which results in a “monoculture [where] nothing else grows” and which “cuts off biodiversity—no animals  That lack of diversity weakens the surrounding ecosystem eucalyptus bark and leaves contain chemical compounds that are highly flammable Not everyone agrees that reducing the number of eucalyptus trees is the right way to address the fire hazard Grassetti said the focus should instead be on clearing ground fuels such as dry brush “There is essentially no [connection] between what they want to do and fire risk … The fire problem we have here is not caused by trees.” He said the fact that eucalyptus is an import is beside the point suggesting that fire prevention is a ruse to justify a different sort of environmentalist goal “If the agenda is to clear trees that weren’t here 200 years ago “It would be a terrible shame to lose this beautiful environment—shade habitat for other animals—because of someone’s strong belief system that some species don’t belong here.” He also questioned what makes a species native and who determines that “Who decides the demarcation between what’s native & non-native …  Two hundred years ago—why not 300?” he asked Save East Bay Hills is a group of residents in the Oakland Hills village of Montclair who are actively opposed to the plan A spokesperson said the tree-removal project would heighten “the risk of another devastating fire … expose citizens to large amounts of dangerous chemicals …  [and] exacerbate climate change,” in an email to Richmond Confidential The Sierra Club and East Bay Parks dismissed those concerns The district also says it will leave trees alone that have birds living in them at the time Environment | Featured | Front | Government Richmond Confidential welcomes comments from our readers Richmond Confidential assumes no liability for comments posted to the site and no endorsement is implied; commenters are solely responsible for their own content Richmond Confidential is an online news service produced by the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism for, and about, the people of Richmond, California. Our goal is to produce professional and engaging journalism that is useful for the citizens of the city.Please send news tips to richconstaff@gmail.com Riley Ramirez on May 5 Jennifer Ugwa on April 30 Haydee Barahona on April 29 Subscribe to Richmond Confidential to get the latest news sent straight to your inbox richconstaff@gmail.com University of CaliforniaNorth Gate HallBerkeley Richmond Confidential is an online news service produced by the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism for Our goal is to produce professional and engaging journalism that is useful for the citizens of the city The wildfires that are now threatening Sydney and other parts of New South Wales those things are going to burn like torches and shower our suburbs with sparks." Like many plants native to fire-prone regions eucalyptus trees (aka gum trees in Australia) are adapted to survive — or even thrive — in a wildfire Fallen eucalyptus leaves create dense carpets of flammable material and the trees' bark peels off in long streamers that drop to the ground providing additional fuel that draws ground fires up into the leaves fast-spreading "crown fires" in the upper story of eucalyptus forests the eucalyptus oil that gives the trees their characteristic spicy fragrance is a flammable oil: This oil combined with leaf litter and peeling bark during periods of dry can turn a small ground fire into a terrifying explosive firestorm in a matter of minutes That's why eucalyptus trees — especially the blue gums (Eucalyptus globulus) that are common throughout New South Wales — are sometimes referred to wryly as "gasoline trees." Get the world’s most fascinating discoveries delivered straight to your inbox And after a bushfire sweeps through an area the eucalyptus trees have an advantage over other plants and the seedlings thrive in freshly burned "Give a hillside a really good torching and the eucalyptus will absolutely dominate," Bowman told KQED "They'll grow intensively in the first few years of life and outcompete everything." The threat posed by eucalyptus groves spreading beyond Australia was highlighted in 1991 when a wildfire torched the hills surrounding Oakland That conflagration killed 25 people and obliterated more than 3,000 homes according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and was blamed primarily on the thousands of eucalyptus trees found throughout the Oakland Hills Despite their well-earned reputation as a firefighter's worst nightmare eucalyptus trees remain a favorite landscape specimen renowned for fast-growing stands of tall shade trees that help repel insects through the same fragrant eucalyptus oil that's blamed for fueling wildfires That's why some Bay Area residents are opposing a plan proposed by FEMA and the city of Oakland (plus other local agencies) to clear the Oakland Hills of eucalyptus trees and other nonnative trees Groups like the Hills Conservation Network contend that the clearing is actually an environmentally destructive effort to create space for new UC Berkeley facilities But local experts are steadfast in declaring eucalyptus trees public fire enemy No CalFIRE [the state's firefighting agency] has categorized the East Bay Hills as a 'Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone,'" Klatt added Eucalyptus trees also aren't winning any friends among ecologists concerned about invasive species The California Invasive Plant Council (Cal-IPC) considers the eucalyptus a moderately serious problem considering its rapid spread and its ability to displace native plant and animal communities And its worldwide spread — eucalyptus trees are now found on every occupied continent — presents a worrisome scenario in the face of global warming which is expected to make wildfires more common "What the hell have humans done?" Bowman said "We've spread a dangerous plant all over the world." 'We are creating the fire equivalent of an ice age': Humans have plunged Earth into the 'Pyrocene' What's in the pink fire retardant being dropped on LA Science news this week: International blackouts and 'T