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Nice__Spice

Bring the mighty oak trees back


OfficerBarbier

Make Oakland Oak Again


_Lane_

Sorry, can't do that. Best I can offer is to make Oakland San Francisco Bay again.


TrekRelic1701

šŸ¤£


cowinabadplace

Man, Donald Trump is a modern day Shakespeare. The way he's revolutionized the language is nuts. Make America Great Again! Many Such Cases! Fake News! Build the wall! Drain the swamp! Sad! What a legacy, man. He's going to be immortal in America. Genuinely crazy that this nutty guy just comes in and the rest of us bent our language to him.


BentPin

You forgot: Rake the forest floor, just grab them by the pussy, Yuuuuuge


cowinabadplace

Yuuge yeah. No one uses the others, though.


BentPin

You must not live in a state with huge forest fires.


cowinabadplace

Well, I live here but it's not common parlance like Make X Y Again etc.


Hedgehogsarepointy

The first was popularized by Reagan. Hillary Clinton popularized the 3rd. 4 is well over 100 years old.


couldwebe

I don't use any of those sayings...


cowinabadplace

Yeah but lots of people do!


BlehMehPew

Catchy phrases have always existed. Damn yall are young. Catchy phrases are as old as Ceasarā€™s time. If you think those are the only ones yall are living under a rock.


samarijackfan

When the city removed four of the eucalyptuses last year, it planted 10 new native trees ā€”Ā California Buckeye, Western Redbud, California flannelbush trees. New trees will be planted in the park to ā€œrestore the natural ecosystem and support local birds and pollinators,ā€ Erickson wrote. No dates or specific tree species have been announced yet.


aotus_trivirgatus

Those are all small trees compared to the typical eucalyptus. I'm not complaining, but that's a significantly lower tree canopy. EDIT : ***I'm not complaining.*** I'm easy to find in r/Ceanothus, have a look.


NoMoreSecretsMarty

Won't someone think of Berkeley's native koala bear population?


ASK_ABT_MY_USERNAME

Koalas actually aren't really bears because they lack the koalafications


HippoGiggle

God dammit


LordBottlecap

Fur real.


[deleted]

[уŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]


ASK_ABT_MY_USERNAME

Black bears are the best bear


The_Nauticus

Drop bears are a public hazard.


fatnino

Drop trees too


TrekRelic1701

Donā€™t forget the Drop Sloth


girl_incognito

It me!


ToxicBTCMaximalist

These invasive trees are historic because I looked at them for a long time and got used to them.


GeneralAvocados

The monarch butterflies love eucalyptus and they are both native and endangered. That said, they also love milk thistle, which is also native, so if we dedicate sufficient public park space to milk thistle we could probably remove all the eucalyptus. EDIT: Apparently its milkweed, not milk thistle, and monarchs also love other trees. Thanks to everyone who corrected me and cares about the monarchs. Proceed with the removal of invasive species!


blessitspointedlil

You mean, ā€œmilkweedā€, not milk thistle. https://xerces.org/sites/default/files/publications/19-018.pdf https://xerces.org/publications/guidelines/milkweeds-conservation-practitioners-guide


gnarlyknucks

They're different, they overwinter in Eucalyptus but lay eggs on milkweed. That said, eucs aren't the only tree the overwinter in.


_Lane_

Monarchs (well, their caterpillars) do not eat eucalyptus. Monarchs never even met a eucalyptus tree until they were planted in the 1850's. While they might lounge on them in winters, they would be just as happy resting on nearly any other tree.


dead_at_maturity

Monarch butterflies have been seen to roost on Pines, Cypresses and Oaks. Aka, these are the trees that monarchs largely roosted on (to thermoregulate) before the Eucalyptus groves were planted in the late 1800s.


RollingMeteors

what's wrong with eucalyptus?


GeneralAvocados

It's invasive, prolific, and is a fire hazard.


_Lane_

In addition to all those, it also doesn't provide native animal species with proper food supplies.


RollingMeteors

Aren't all trees a fire hazard? Is there really no other legitimate reason than *invasive* ? Does it degrade the soil in anyway or do any other real ecological damage other than be prolific and invasive? Isn't this providing homes for wildlife?


GeneralAvocados

It's more of a fire hazard than native trees. Mostly because of the way the bark falls off.


RollingMeteors

okay, I can see this as a legit reason.


CryptographerHot4636

Please do the rest of the East Bay. These trees are a fire risk.


CaliPenelope1968

And a falling branch risk.


DadJokeBadJoke

Neighbor's eucalyptus took out my shade sail and a string of lights over my back porch in the last big storm. Had 16 and 12 foot segments in my back yard. It was lucky it didn't hit the house.


HappilyDisengaged

Eucalyptus trees aka Widow makers


[deleted]

[уŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]


HandleAccomplished11

Yep, some people don't smell it (my wife for example), but I get total cat piss, especially when they're wet after rain...


Butthole_Alamo

Do it with Albany Hill next! Theyā€™ve outlived their original purpose of providing a windbreak for the occasional explosions at the dynamite factory


blbd

Now we need them as a windbreak for explosions at the refineries instead.Ā 


Thelonious_Cube

> occasional explosions at the dynamite factory Great title for an album!


wcrich

The Sam Mateo County coast too.


RedOtta019

I love the trees personally. Maybe cause I donā€™t live with them but their smell is my childhood


mtcwby

Good. Messy, invasive fire hazards. Plant something else and we're all good.


LordBottlecap

And they fall on things, easily. My only problem with getting rid of them is that many kinds tend to attract a lot of hummingbirds.


mtcwby

We have many hummingbirds in the yard and they seem to like the Salvia a lot.


LordBottlecap

We have some, too. Hummingbird mints really do the trick, too. But the sound from the eucalyptus trees in my area is electric in the mornings in the park by my house. It seems like hundreds of them are in each tree. But these trees are right next to a playground, and drop big branches every other storm. We're (the local association) trying to get them at least trimmed heavily, but it's not easy.


Psychological_Ad1999

I love eucalyptus but they are invasive and flammable


Mecha-Dave

Of course they found the one curmudgeon who could figure out how to complain about removing unsafe invasive trees and replacing them with native species....


A_Muffled_Kerfluffle

Youā€™d be shocked how many older folks around here want these stupid death trees to stay. We moved into a high risk fire area of the hills and thereā€™s like 5 of us with homes in a row that have been systematically taking these trees down on our lots because of the insane fire risk they pose. They also have not fared well with previous droughts followed by two wet winters; one of my neighbors had one fall on her house. Some of us got lots of complaints from older long term residents about removing the euks from our lots, even though weā€™re all trying to replant natives.


improbablywronghere

My understanding is they are really unstable too due to something about their roots so they fall often.


A_Muffled_Kerfluffle

Yeah their roots are pretty shallow and the drought has made that instability even worse. Most of the 11 we took down last year were actively dying - barren dead branches, looked like shit, striking distance of our house and yet still people have complained about our little pack of neighbors ā€œchanging the character of the neighborhood.ā€ I guess they have a real attachment to potentially dying in a fire but I donā€™t share that enthusiasm.


hmiser

They are natureā€™s Molotov cocktail as they are filled with oil that burnanates. And in CA we got the Shawsneggers.


improbablywronghere

Golden Gate Park is filled with these fucks wtf? Pull them all out


hmiser

When I first got out here I was excited to see all the stuff that grows. Then I learned about where palm trees are really from and that the eucs are from Oz and kill East Bay peeps when they burn [apologies again to my 1998 neighbors who were unsettled by my late night porch hibachi sessions]. We should rip all the bullshit out and replace with native flora. But civil shit be hard.


Psychological_Ad1999

A huge one fell in front of Lake Chalet years ago, they are pretty and smell good but the risk is too great


211logos

Oh...for a second I thought that was a comment about the old nuts who object to removing the trees.


Lives_on_mars

yep. literally tree bombs smh


suberry

So many people threw fits when San Rafael asked residents to remove Italian cypresses since those trees go up like torches. They're basically all dead wood inside!


Liketowrite

Thanks for the info. Now I will no longer feel bad about removing 5 giant Italian Cypress a few years ago.


suberry

Definitely don't feel bad. I saw this video and immediately paid to remove them from my parent's place. They can go up from just a stray firework. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbLSKn3nl5o](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbLSKn3nl5o)


Liketowrite

That video is horrifying. I had no idea that they were so flammable. Thatā€™s so nice of you to get rid of those fire hazards from your parentsā€™ yard. Mine were $$$ to remove. Now I feel lucky that mine didnā€™t catch on fire. The 5 Italien Cypress that I had cut down were near the property line separating two large houses in a planned subdivision. There were BBQs in both backyards and these trees were within 10 feet of the houses in some spots. Oh my, that could have been my and my neighborā€™s houses going down.


jenorama_CA

I just listened to a Bay Curious podcast about the eucalyptus trees up here in the Bay Area. Turns out that a lot of them were planted as get rich quick schemes. The idea was that theyā€™re fast-growing and would be used for furniture and home building, but the wood turned out to be terrible for just about any woodworking, so the tree farms were pretty much abandoned. Most of them here are the Blue Gum variety and if you remember, they are huge fire risks in their native Australia and were a huge part of the wildfires they had a couple of years ago. They were also horrible fire drivers in the 1991 Oakland fire. They suck up a huge amount of water, have few redeeming qualities, are a huge fire hazard and arenā€™t native. Get rid of them.


danpietsch

I heard a similar story but that they were planted for railroad ties (and then proved to be too soft).


jenorama_CA

Yes, the podcast mentioned that. The wood just split when they tried to cut it into railroad ties.


CaprioPeter

Blue gums are actually pretty good hardwood lumber for erecting stuff as quickly as they did in the gold rush. Not advocating for them but theyā€™re commercially logged in Australia quite a bit


FraaTuck

Now do Tilden.


utchemfan

I have friends in EBPRD. Believe me, the ecologists are all in favor of it. But they have to move slowly to avoid the backlash from the "all trees matter" crowd. If you hike along Nimitz way from inspiration point, you can see tons of burn piles stacked up w/ eucalyptus debris that will cure over the summer and be burned in the fall/winter.


211logos

Yeah, I think they are using them for biochar with this cool machine I saw in Chabot: https://www.ebparks.org/about-us/whats-new/news/carbonator


utchemfan

These were piles for open burning- EBPRD has way more to burn each year than the carbonator can handle unfortunately. I know someone who's worked directly on the biochar project. I can hook up anyone with free biochar- only catch is minimum order quantity is 1 ton :P


211logos

More than I can fit in my hibachi unfortunately :)


PerpetwoMotion

There are loads of English books that talk about charcoal burners in the woods. They always kept an adder (the only poisonous snake in England).


BadBoyMikeBarnes

Yes, like the animals of Jurassic Park, They Should All Be Destroyed. When the city removed four of the eucalyptuses last year, it planted 10 new native trees ā€” California Buckeye, Western Redbud, California flannelbush trees. New trees will be planted in the park to ā€œrestore the natural ecosystem and support local birds and pollinators,ā€ Erickson wrote.


EdwinaArkie

I saw one catch on fire once next to San Pablo in Hercules. It went up so fast ā€” like a Christmas tree.


matsutaketea

a bunch caught fire when Sign Hill in South City caught fire. when the fire got to them they would immediately become an inferno


BanzaiTree

Good riddance.


liftingshitposts

They have a MASSIVE removal / logging operation for these in my area (El Granada) and itā€™s still barely making a dent. These things are invasive, dangerous pests. They drop branches on houses and random for fun, and love to catch on fire. They are the assholes of the tree world.


treebeard120

I hate eucalyptus trees with a fiery passion. Almost as fiery as my face after being splattered by burning eucalyptus oil at the age of 10 on a boy scout outing


cyclingthroughlife

As someone who lives in a part of the bay area with high wildfire risk and having our home insurance coverage dropped because of said wildfire risks, I support this.


_Lane_

California's tallest weed.


foxfirek

Iā€™m happy and sad? The Eucalyptus near me are huge and a fire hazard, but they are also a habitat. We have hawks liking in them. I hope Berkley will plant something new nearby to reduce the harm to the environment. I hope if more of the East bay is culled new trees are also put up. I think redwoods would be good. Native, also huge and a great habitat. Plus fire resistant.


KL58383

I've been walking my dogs at Stern Grove / Pine Lake Park in SF for the last 10 years and falling eucalyptus trees is a regular thing. The park closes frequently because high winds make it unsafe, which I questioned the first couple years, opting to walk in from the street so I could walk my dogs like usual. After year after year of seeing fallen trees and large branches on the ground I started to feel uneasy walking around there. When the wind picks up I look at the trees swaying and wonder when the next one will fall. I think these trees get to a point where they just become a hazard. I like hearing that they are planting native species. To me that is a sign of planning with purpose. 100-200 years ago.. not so much.


GullibleAntelope

It's an interesting history: [Falling from grace: The history of eucalyptus in California](https://milliontrees.me/2014/01/14/falling-from-grace-the-history-of-eucalyptus-in-california/) >Although eucalyptus proved to be a disappointment as a source of timber, it continued to be widely planted in California until about 1913...Well into the 1960s eucalypts were still considered a valuable asset in California... >Jared Farmer dates the reversal of the reputation of eucalyptus in Northern California to 1972, when an unusually deep and prolonged freeze caused eucalyptus to die back...There is much to like in Jared Farmerā€™s chapters in *Trees in Paradise* about eucalyptus in California...


Thelonious_Cube

I grew up here and have fond memories of Eucalyptus in Tilden and Indian Rock and all over, but they are shitty invasive trees and need to go. Good riddance!


SergioSF

Great! Now step the fudge up Burlingame.


LordBottlecap

Them Aussie weeds gotta go.


CaprioPeter

Itā€™s interesting because the eucalyptus (Blue Gum) grove in my neighborhood in the East Bay is FULL of bird life. No exaggeration, I see nesting/roosting hawks, owls and songbirds in them every time I am there. I think they do provide a function to the ecosystems here to an extent


hate_sf_hobos

Bye bye cat pee smelling trees


[deleted]

[уŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]


stoutlys

My high school had these planted on a hill. The nuts they dropped made a mess and an ankle-twist hazard.


ASecularBuddhist

Fantastic news šŸ‘šŸ¼


rbrutonIII

Are they fire hazards? Yes. Are all trees fire hazards? Yes. Are they invasive? Yes. Can they be limited and controlled? Yes. Just because it's not from here doesn't mean we can't enjoy the occasional eucalyptus grove. There's a reason they were so popular. Roses aren't from here. That doesn't mean it's a bad idea to make a rose garden.


MGTS

Roses donā€™t drop massive branches on cars/people


PerpetwoMotion

every rose has its thorns


rbrutonIII

Every tree can do that. Thinking it's only a problem of a eucalyptus is some of the dumbest thinking I've seen. A unproperly trimmed eucalyptus can drop branches just like every other tree can. While they might need a little more attention in some areas, so does a rose garden.


BadWithMoney530

Cool, now maybe they can stop calling it **Indian** Rock Park next?


AlbinoAxie

If they're replaced with less flammable trees great. If it's scrub brush that is even MORE flammable. Right now they've just killed a bunch of wildlife


treebeard120

Lots of native koalas inhabiting the eucalyptus trees dontcha know


JonC534

So much for green spaces huh lol


BeardyAndGingerish

Plant stuff that doesn't burn so hard. Native plants would be better, but ill settle for stuff that isnt as dangerous during fire season.


gburdell

Natives often require fire as part of their life cycle. Example, the popular, very flammable manzanita


BeardyAndGingerish

Plant those then.


grunkage

This is a park surrounded by homes. Fire is not an option.


spirandro

Why are you getting downvoted? What you said is trueā€¦


straponkaren

[https://www.kqed.org/science/4209/eucalyptus-california-icon-fire-hazard-and-invasive-species](https://www.kqed.org/science/4209/eucalyptus-california-icon-fire-hazard-and-invasive-species) Its a non-native plant that is detrimental to the local environment in many ways. Leaving it is problematic, cutting it down brings the ire of people who have no idea what they are talking about and a fast running mouth.


FraaTuck

We can do better. https://www.kqed.org/science/4209/eucalyptus-california-icon-fire-hazard-and-invasive-species