THE CASE OF THE MISSING TREES

Sunday's SacBee had an article that raises a lot of frustrating questions.  Briefly, a  Rancho Murieta developer chopped down 500 oak trees, one of the last remaining, untouched stands of Blue Oaks in Sacramento County. This was done with the approval of the county, and the developer supposedly posted a bond for one hundred thousand dollars (a pittance) to guarantee that they would plant other trees; the small number of trees they actually planted were either planted improperly on a golf course, without required approval, or were not cared for. Now there's a huge mess involving a missing, or a never posted bond, and questions about follow-up on a tree planting plan.  Sacramento County had continued to issue building permits, despite the developer's failure to follow through on tree promises, for a subdivision that is full of cracked foundations (clay soil isn't that new of a concept in California, guys), and just last month sued the developer for 1.99 million dollars, to pay for the county to plant trees. This being 2008, the developer is of course in "deep financial trouble." Translation:  the developer may be judgment proof, as in 'you can't wring water from a stone.' 

Bungling county, clueless or malfeasant developer- the deeply distressing issue here is the utter disregard of the importance of those 500 oak trees, of how crucial they were to the support of an ecosystem, and of how irreplaceable they were. In California these days, if you play that word association game, when you say "oak" most folks don't say "long burning firewood."  They say "sudden oak death", the common name for Phytophthora ramorum , which has killed over a million native oak and tanoak trees in coastal California counties. It's such a shame, a real sorrow that these 500 oaks,  which because they were in the Central Valley were not currently threatened by sudden death from a fungi-like disease, nevertheless met developer induced sudden oak death, with the full complicity of Sacramento County.

"Woodman Spare that Tree," hasn't had a lot of play in this state as of late, or ever, come to think of it.  No matter the tree, there has been a concerted effort to chop it down, and convert it to cash, whether for lumber, or to clear land for development, or, as exemplified by Sierra Pacific Industry as they "change paradigms", to do both. 

Well, "mitigation means never having to say you're sorry", as the quote more or less goes- and that's what mitigation means in this state, whether for trees, animals, or the much maligned fairy shrimp.  The California Environmental Quality Act, with all the best intentions in the world, and I think all the worst intentions in the world, has been subverted by the development process, aided and abetted by municipal and county planning departments, and by council persons and supervisors, to be, when push comes to shove, all form and no substance. Yes, sometimes a small victory for the environment is eked out, but by and large, it's all about the process.  Sometimes the process takes many, many years, and lawyers on both sides have a more than decent income, but it's an unusual day (if ever), when preserving California's increasingly depleted resources wins the day. When all is said and done, sadly, the trees get chopped down, and usually, the developer pays into some mitigation fund, and the sun sets on yet more development, and yet less wild lands in California.

Up here at Donner Summit , one hundred thousand or so trees will be chopped down to enable Royal Gorge LLC, Mr. Syme, a cluster of Fosters, and investors, including investors who own property in Serene Lakes to pull down well on a billion dollars.  Obviously none of these folks were listening to all those tree poems recited as schoolchildren- and certainly not this one- "Developments are made by fools such as we, but only God can make a tree." More like they memorized the stirring verse , "All those enviros shout and holler, but we'll sell the Sierra's soul to make a dollar."

And all the trees up here, including old growth that provides habitat for many species, including martens, and maybe even wolverines?  How much will Royal Gorge LLC be required to promise to pay Placer County to replace what they cut down?  Will Royal Gorge LLC ever actually have to pay, and, more importantly, how will money replace all the destruction they cause?  Money doesn't bring back displaced and dead animals. Money doesn't fix holes ripped in the fabric of the Sierra.

And if this latest situation in Sacramento County is anything to go by, promises of money are worthless.  Here, trees of great worth were replaced by promises that meant nothing.  Will Royal Gorge LLC's development be yet another chapter in the case of the missing trees?