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June 2002
California Oak Report
CEQA Comments Archive
The Planning and Conservation League Foundation (PCL) has created an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) comments and mitigations archive that is available to the general public when commenting on an EIR. The comments are archived by the type of resource impacted. PCL goals are to minimize the general public's need to start from scratch each time draft EIR comments are submitted and to build a collection of EIR comments and proposed mitigations that incorporate good ideas that can be offered to decision makers. The oak woodland comments the California Oak Foundation are contributing to the archive deal with common woodland planning problems we encounter statewide. PCL archive users must remember that it's not enough just to borrow comments from the archive and assume they're ready to use. To be effective, users must create comments that are appropriate to the project on which comments are being submitted. Failure to do so could seriously weaken the effectiveness of your EIR comments and your legal position in court. PCL's EIR archives are located at
http://www.pcl.org/Land%20Use/Comments/summary.html
Board of Forestry
In January, 2002, the California Oak Foundation requested that the Board of Forestry increase the current retention standards for oaks on 7.2 million acres of private timberland. COF representatives have submitted scientific data to a Board committee, most recently at its June meeting in Marin County, that clearly demonstrates that current retention standards are biologically inadequate. The Department of Fish and Game has been supportive of COF's position. Information shared with the Board includes research presented almost 25 years ago at the first California oak symposium held in Claremont.
"Mature oaks with scattered conifers and a moderately heavy understory of shrubs and grasses ranked highest for number of species and abundance of birds, rodents, deer, and elk. Next in importance was the edge between the above type and young oak stands, followed by the edge between mature oaks and conifers.
A much more important factor, however, appears to govern wildlife abundance and oak woodland habitat use: Acorns. Large California black oaks with well developed crowns are consistently part of the three habitats in which the largest number and the most species of wildlife are observed."
Sudden Oak Death
State and federal funding to combat sudden oak death is running out just as efforts to enforce a nationwide quarantine are gearing up. During the past three years the federal government has contributed $4.5 million and the state $3.6 million for research, education, removal of dead trees, fire protection and quarantine enforcement. The bulk of this money, around $5 million, is being spent on the epidemic this year but no new monies are currently in the pipeline.
University of California scientists are playing it close to the vest as to whether SOD is able to infect and kill redwoods or whether the pathogen has been found in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. According to UC's Dave Rizzo, "We will announce the results when we announce the results." Due to the gravity of the matter, any results on redwoods will be submitted to a scholarly journal for review before release, Rizzo said.
Merchandise
The 5th printing of the Oaks of California paperback is now available. Order forms are on our website at http://www.californiaoaks.org/html/merch2.html or you may order by calling or faxing our office (specify "5th printing"). The newest edition includes an appendix about Sudden Oak Death. We can only hope the next version will be to complete the history of the disease with the story of it's treatment and cure. Oaks of California continues to be a beautiful book we are proud to offer, filled with colored photographs, descriptions and history of California's indigenous oaks as well as the wildlife inhabitants of the oak community. $22.95 in paperback ($20.66 to members). A limited number of hardbacks are also available, first printing, unrevised only.
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