Venerable tree gets the ax Venerable tree gets the ax (April 21, 2004)

Non-native tree's demise continues the debate over its place in the landscape

by Sue Dremann

Atop a hill in the middle of Arastradero Preserve, a venerable tree presides over the rolling green grasslands and oak forests. The 100-foot tree, a eucalyptus, has been targeted by Acterra for death because it is a nonnative species.

Two months ago, Acterra, the Palo Alto environmental-minded nonprofit that has stewardship over Arastradero Preserve, cut huge wedges out of its 10-foot-wide trunk. Slicing wedges around the circumference of the tree's trunk is called "girdling," a process that cuts off a tree's access to nutrients, causing the tree to slowly starve to death.

Slicing wedges around the circumference of the tree's trunk is called "girdling," a process that cuts off a tree's access to nutrients, causing the tree to slowly starve to death.

The tree is estimated to be 50 years old, said Gregg Betts, open space superintendent for the City of Palo Alto who has been hiking beneath its massive limbs for 15 years.

A registered nurse, Bonnie Berg hikes almost daily in the preserve, and the tree has brought solace to her after working with people all day. Berg's eyes welled with tears as the tree, which she has named "Magnifique," came into view during a hike on Monday morning. Four months ago, rounding a bend in the trail, she noticed a major limb had been cut from the tree. Six weeks later, she discovered that despite its apparent good health, the tree had been girdled.

"I was absolutely dumbfounded. It tore my heart out," she said.

The untimely demise of Magnifique is just the latest example in an ongoing debate over the place of nonnative plants in open space environments. On one side are restorationists, who believe that to restore native ecosystems, nonnative species must be eradicated. On the other side are those who believe nonnative plants should be an accepted part of the landscape, even considered part of the evolutionary process, regardless of whether they displace native ecosystems.

The battle can become rancorous, complete with accusations of "plant Nazis" flying. But Berg wants only to draw attention to the need for reason.

"The last thing in the world I want to do is make people angry, but I want people to think about what they're doing. It's just one beautiful tree all by itself. There are no little eucalyptuses springing up all over there," she said, in reference to the frequent proliferation of sprouting seeds that have helped win the eucalyptus, a tree native to Australia, its reputation as an invasive species.

The killing of Magnifique "is a sad and irreversible reminder that acting from principle alone can cause much harm and create ugliness and death where there was once grace and beauty," she wrote in a letter to the Weekly.

When it comes to old landmark trees, Berg thinks there should be more public education before an ax is taken up.

A request for comment from Acterra had not been returned by press time.

Magnifique is the only remaining eucalyptus in the interior of the preserve, said Betts. He confirmed that the tree was not reproducing new seedlings. Eucalyptus creates a high fire danger, and its leaves exude chemicals that preclude the sprouting of native plants, he said.

"Their root systems tap water in the area and sap water available for other seedlings." The area surrounding Magnifique was a ranch house site that has become a key restoration site at the preserve, he said. Acterra and the city plan to plant five native oak trees in the area.

The giant eucalyptus will become a snag - a dead tree that provides habitat for other creatures - woodpeckers, hawks, small mammals.

On the hilltop around the ranch home site, fruit trees still stand near the eucalyptus tree. Bluebird houses hang from its branches, part of a program to help the native birds proliferate in the area.

Native bunchgrasses comprise a small colony adjacent to the tree, and a sprinkling of wildflowers - amsinckia, goldfields and brodiaea - dot the largely nonnative grassland in bright specks of orange and blue.

A pair of swallows perched on whip-like branches of the venerable tree. Long peels of bark gather in its trunk crotches like whiskers on an aging sage.

"I still keep hoping that some miracle will happen and it will live," Berg said.

Special sections editor Sue Dremann can be e-mailed at sdremann@paweekly.com

E-mail a friend a link to this story.