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April 2009
California Oak Report
Trees Significantly Offsetting Human Carbon Emissions
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has estimated that human activity emits 32 billion tons of carbon dioxide each year, but only 15 billion tons actually stays in the atmosphere adding to climate change. New research using long-term data from 250,000 trees shows exactly where some of the ‘missing’ 17 billion tons per year is going.
The journal Nature recently published a study that found nearly one-fifth of fossil fuel emissions are absorbed by forests across Africa, Amazonia, and Asia. Dr. Simon Lewis, a Royal Society research fellow at the University of Leeds, found that on average the trees are getting bigger and absorbing more CO2, contrary to the theory that mature forests are carbon neutral as a result of the carbon absorbed by new trees being balanced by that released from old trees dying. Lewis said "tropical forest trees are absorbing 18 percent of the CO2 added to the atmosphere each year from burning fossil fuels, substantially buffering the rate of climate change."
The Leed’s carbon findings clearly demonstrate the reason California’s greenhouse gas regulatory policy has placed a premium on conserving native forests.
One California Forest Achieved
In 2000 California Oak Foundation petitioned the Board of Forestry to apply the California Forest Practice Act to the conversion of oak woodlands where significant environmental effects occurred. This appeal was prompted by the complete failure of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) to conserve or mitigate oak woodland impacts. Essentially, oaks woodlands were being treated like second-class forests, with no meaningful conservation measures provided by CEQA.
The Board of Forestry response to an oak woodlands regulatory role was - no thanks. COF and the Mountain Lion Foundation then filed their 2001 "One California Forest" lawsuit against the Board seeking a summary judgment declaring unlawful California's policy of failing to apply the Forest Practice Act to conserve oak woodlands.
In 2002 the San Francisco Superior Court ruled in favor of the Board in the COF-Lion Foundation suit and subsequent appeals were unsuccessful. Operating on the philosophy that if you don’t like the news then go out and make some of your own, COF turned to the state legislature for remediation.
In a very difficult 2003-04 term struggle, Senator Sheila Kuehl deftly steered Public Resources Code §21083.4 into law, despite the most formidable opposition ever arrayed against an environmental bill. Just as the general public had decisively decided the legislative fate of the Oak Woodlands Conservation Act of 2001 (Helen Thomson), Californians overwhelming support for oak woodlands conservation again made the critical difference in Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signing SB 1334 in 2004.
SB 1334 took oak woodlands partway to first-class forest status, providing the bridge to the final component necessary to attain a fully regulated oak woodlands resource, advent of the 2005 California Forest Protocol, with its carbon biological emission standards that apply to the conversion of all native forests. Ironically, with two (habitat/carbon) biological effects now subject to CEQA oak woodlands review, woodlands are far more regulated today than they would have ever been under the Board of Forestry. In fact, outside of trees placed in reserves, California oak woodlands now contain the most protected native trees in the United States of America.
Nevada Land Trust Branching Out
The Nevada County Land Trust has announced that over 650 acres of rolling oak woodlands fronting the Bear River is in escrow for a sale at $3.1 million. If all pieces fall into place, the acquisition of the southern Nevada County property called Garden Bar Preserve will become a first-of-its kind purchase for the NCLT, more accustomed to dealing with land easements. The trust has 20 parcels in conservation easements, 90 percent of which were donated. "It’s a real change in strategy for the land trust," said Executive Director Marty Coleman-Hunt.
This acquisition compliments 912 acres of land secured just across the river by the Placer County Land Trust and another 1,555 acres of agricultural easements held in the Bear River watershed. NCLT officials are banking on financial support coming largely from the state-run Wildlife Conservation Board, despite the uncertainty of the state’s budget and a hold on Proposition 84 contracts. “It’s something they’ve identified that they want to fund,” said NCLT president Joe Byrne. The Sierra Nevada Conservancy and State Resources Agency have also shown interest in the project. The land trust has set a goal of raising $300,000 from private donations.
Shasta Land Trust Adds 5,000 Acres
Shasta Land Trust has completed a conservation easement on the 5,000-acre Cow Creek Ranch in Shasta County. The completed easement represents the conclusion of over two years of coordinated efforts by the owners of Cow Creek Ranch, SLT and their partner organization the Trust for Public Land. Working only with willing landowners who are motivated to conserve their property, SLT has helped conserve over 16,000 acres of land in the region since 1998.
Cow Creek Ranch features an impressive array of habitat types that support many species of wildlife. Extensive blue and black oak woodlands, riparian corridors along several creeks, ponderosa pine stands, springs and ponds all can be found on the property, along with expanses of upland dryland grazing areas.
The conservation easement on Cow Creek Ranch joins similar SLT easements for over 8,000 acres of ranches in the Cow Creek watershed, helping support the local ranching economy and ensuring the diverse natural resources of the region continue to thrive for generations to come.
Funds for the easement were provided by the Wildlife Conservation Board and the Preserving Wild California program of the Resources Legacy Fund.
Merchandise
We use this space this month to remind you about free resources available on our website:
Compatible Plants Under and Around Oaks - Sixty-nine pages of plant charts and care guidelines.
Acorns and Eat ‘Em - Fifty pages include 35 acorn recipes as well as interesting historic oak and acorn trivia.
Investigating the Oak Community - One-hundred-ten page curriculum guide is designed to involve 4th through 8th grade students in a variety of activities that will develop their awareness, understanding, and knowledge of the important role of oaks in the California landscape.
How to Collect, Store, and Plant Acorns
Care of California's Native Oaks
Preserving Family Lands in California
Oaks 2040: The Status and Future of Oaks in California
Oaks 2040: Carbon Resources
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Fax: 510-208-4435 oakstaff@californiaoaks.org
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