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Letter: Oak forest plays vital role in California’s ecosystem 

Oak tree protection ordinances–The California Wildlife Foundation submitted the following letter to the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors to voice their support for an ordinance that would protect oak trees and native forest. They plan to present the letter at the special board of supervisor’s meeting to address the topic of oak tree and native forest protections on July 15.

The letter reads:

Dear Honorable Board of Supervisors, County of San Luis Obispo,

The California Oaks program of the California Wildlife Foundation commends you on the protections under consideration today as you deliberate the appropriate response to the clear cutting of oak trees at Justin Vineyards, the Adelaida, and other sites. This testimony is submitted in support of the Interim Zoning/Urgency Ordinance. The focus is on oak woodlands, in keeping with our program’s dedication to sustaining California’s primary old growth resource.

Senate Bill (SB) 1334, passed in 2004 and signed by Governor Schwarzenegger, brought the conversion of oak woodlands under the purview of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), but it exempted oak woodlands on agricultural lands. An estimated 82-percent of oak woodlands are privately held with little or no protection. We respectfully offer that oak woodland protections are vital conserving the natural and agricultural heritage of the county.

Oak Woodlands support San Luis Obispo County’s high value cropping systems and natural heritage: California’s oak woodlands and oak forested lands form an ecological backbone that supports the economy and environment. These lands sustain healthy watersheds, sequester carbon, and provide habitat for diverse plants and wildlife-generating benefits that extend across property lines.

Oak woodlands protect the quality of greater than two-thirds of California’s drinking water supply. They stabilize soil, provide shade, and replenish groundwater. Oaks are also drought tolerant, with deep roots that reach groundwater resources, and a root system that extends into the granite matrix to access nutrients and soil moisture. These resilient characteristics will gain importance as the changing climate introduces greater variability in weather patterns.

Oak woodlands have a productive understory of grasses that support approximately 60-percent of California’s rangelands. For many years oaks were removed from ranch lands until it became
clear that forage quality is enhanced by the presence of oaks and degrades in the years that follow the removal of oaks.

Oak woodlands provide food and critical habitat for California’s native species, including 2,000 plants, 5,000 insects, 80 amphibians and reptiles, 160 birds and 80 mammals-many of which are listed as threatened, endangered, or species of special concern by the state or the federal government. 

An estimated 675 million metric tons of carbon dioxide is stored in oak trees as well as the understory in oak woodlands. Net present value of greenhouse gas emissions forms the foundation of the state’s carbon dioxide reduction objectives stated in the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (Assembly Bill 32, Pavley), as well as the California Forest Protocol preservation standards. Thus, a ton of carbon currently sequestered by oak woodlands is more critical than a ton of oak woodland carbon stored in the future. Additionally, every ton of C02 released into the atmosphere by oak woodland conversion-alongside the loss of the woodland’s role in carbon sequestration-represents a measurable potential adverse environmental effect.

Economic value for agricultural producers

Conservation easements on oak woodlands can add economic value to working landscapes, providing an important incentive to protect natural resource values. Voluntary conservation easements provide tax benefits for landowners if legally defined resource values are protected in the easement.

The importance of maintaining healthy oak woodlands

Intact regenerative natural resources continue to provide ecosystem services over time, differing from built infrastructure, that depreciates. Oak restoration, while important, is on balance, a small step towards restoring the many ecosystem services of a mature oak woodland. Oak seedlings require many years to reach maturity. Thus, assuming the replanted oaks are able to reach maturity, the net result is many years of lost watershed function, and carbon sequestration, wildlife and plant habitat, following the destruction of the oak woodland.

Thank you very much for your consideration and for your leadership in conserving San Luis Obispo County’s invaluable oak resources.

 

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