California “Big Trees” under threat

It’s not my week to post on the blog, but this is a PSA for California residents. Having visited the Capitol grounds in Sacramento, I find it important to make others aware of the plans to remove a number of large and historically important trees for the purpose of building a parking garage and expanding the Capitol building space.

I’m not a California resident, so in a sense it’s none of my business. But I am an urban horticulturist, and an arborist, and committed to preserving trees especially in urban environments. These trees are irreplaceable unless you want to wait a few hundred years. The plans to “relocate” some of these large trees are probably not realistic given the size of the specimens.

More importantly, this is public space and the public should be actively involved in discussions. But the process has been secretive and under the radar of a public more concerned, and rightly so, about COVID-19 and all the associated fallout from the pandemic. But it’s not too late.

Please share this post with California residents who have should have a say in how their land should be managed.

For those Californians interested in supporting the effort to save the trees at Capitol Park and call for the development of a Park and Tree Management Plan, you can sign the petition at https://www.change.org/p/california-state-legislature-save-california-state-capitol-park.

More importantly, you should call AND write to your own California legistator at this website findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov, as well as the two Legislative leaders who can really pause the project and guide its re-planning:
Senator Toni Atkins, President pro-Tempore of the Senate, 916 651 4039 and senator.atkins@senate.ca.gov. UPDATE: This email does not appear to work. Try using this form.
Assembly Member Anthony Rendon, Speaker of the Assembly, 916 319 2063 and speaker.rendon@assembly.ca.gov

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Linda Chalker-Scott

Dr. Linda Chalker-Scott has a Ph.D. in Horticulture from Oregon State University and is an ISA certified arborist and an ASCA consulting arborist. She is WSU’s Extension Urban Horticulturist and a Professor in the Department of Horticulture, and holds two affiliate associate professor positions at University of Washington. She conducts research in applied plant and soil sciences, publishing the results in scientific articles and university Extension fact sheets. Linda also is the award-winning author of five books: the horticultural myth-busting The Informed Gardener (2008) and The Informed Gardener Blooms Again (2010) from the University of Washington Press and Sustainable Landscapes and Gardens: Good Science – Practical Application (2009) from GFG Publishing, Inc., and How Plants Work: The Science Behind the Amazing Things Plants Do from Timber Press (2015). Her latest effort is an update of Art Kruckeberg’s Gardening with Native Plants of the Pacific Northwest from UW Press (2019). In 2018 Linda was featured in a video series – The Science of Gardening – produced by The Great Courses. She also is one of the Garden Professors – a group of academic colleagues who educate and entertain through their blog and Facebook pages. Linda’s contribution to gardeners was recognized in 2017 by the Association for Garden Communicators as the first recipient of their Cynthia Westcott Scientific Writing Award. "The Garden Professors" Facebook page - www.facebook.com/TheGardenProfessors "The Garden Professors" Facebook group - www.facebook.com/groups/GardenProfessors Books: http://www.sustainablelandscapesandgardens.com

6 thoughts on “California “Big Trees” under threat”

  1. I remember using some of these trees during a workshop on tree inspection that I did with the Society of Municipal Arborists back in 2012. Now they about to be chopped because…they can’t figure out how to build parking underground?

    Please petition and call–especially if you are in California! Your capitol is about to change from an arboretum to a concrete jungle.
    And thanks to Linda for spreading the word:

    Reply

  2. Thank you for this information and your inspiration to advocacy for these treasured trees. Unfortunately, the email address given for Senator Toni Atkins appears to be incorrect. My message to her was bounced back saying it was undeliverable.

    Reply

  4. I phoned Senator Atkins office and had the opportunity to educate one of her staffers about the issue and then sent a link to this blog in a follow-up email message to that particular staffer. You can reach Senator Atkins through her aide, Barbara Hubbard, at barbara.hubbard@senate.ca.gov and/or just phone her 916-651-4039.

    Reply

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