LETTER: Dramatic oak death

EDITOR: Thank you for the recent article about Sudden Oak Death.
The number of dead and dying trees, particularly tanoaks, has
increased dramatically in the past few months, and presents a
serious fire danger. Taking down and cleaning up the dead trees, is
beyond the capability and resources of most small landowners. There
is also concern about dead trees snapping onto power lines. While
PG & E arranges for the identification and trimming of trees
that endanger power lines, the recent heat wave may have provided
the fatal blow for many diseased trees. The tree monitoring and
trimming process appears not to have kept up with the rapid
increase in dead trees.
The California Oak Mortality Task Force has a website that
provides useful information: www.suddenoakdeath.org. However, at
this point, we need additional help ‹ as individuals or small
communities, and as a County ‹to obtain resources to deal
comprehensively with SOD. There should be a County agency where
people can seek information and assistance. People may need
site-specific advice about which trees to remove and how to go
about it, without creating other types of problems.
We will need information and resources for appropriate
restoration. There needs to be more effort to ensure that tree
trimming crews observe recommended sanitation practices and do not
contribute to the spread of SOD. Finally, we need to have more
frequent inspections of trees adjacent to power lines.
One would hope that state or federal assistance might be
available, e.g., through the California Department of Forestry and
Fire Prevention. This is a problem of such magnitude and urgency,
that it requires the collaboration of our elected officials and
state and local agencies.
– Madeleine Rose and Ed Berger, Forestville