The Cupertino Courier

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Tree removal planned for restoration of corridor

Oak preservationists say it's not OK to replace with acorns

By HUGH BIGGAR

The focus of the latest battleground over trees in Cupertino are oaks scheduled for removal in the proposed Stevens Creek Corridor Park.

The city's plans to remove some trees, including mature oaks, in the park have drawn the attention of Oakland's California Oak Foundation. The foundation has urged Cupertino to reconsider.

In a sharply worded letter to several Cupertino agencies--including its city council and parks and recreation department--about plans for the oak trees, California Oak Foundation president Janet Cobb wrote: "Your city is going to be held up as the worst possible example of responsible conservation in the region and the state, unless you rethink and revise this project." In particular, Cobb highlighted the role of mature oaks in sustaining wildlife and ecosystems.

City officials say Cupertino is equally concerned about the environment, pointing out that seeing the forest for the trees, as it were, overlooks other parts of the Stevens Creek Corridor Park plans.

"It's an environmental issue on both sides," said City Manager Dave Knapp. "We are relocating the creek to help restore it." Plans call for realigning Stevens Creek to its natural boundaries. The realignment will remove "channeling"--concrete lining of its banks--and improve fish passage. "Some trees have to go to accommodate that," he said, "but many more trees are going back in than coming out."

In a written response to the California Oak Foundation, the director of Cupertino's parks and recreation department, Therese Smith, wrote, "I want to reiterate that we share the same goal for habitat restoration, although we are working in different regulatory environments."

Cobb calls Cupertino's replanting plans "ridiculous." In an interview

with the Courier, she said, "If oaks have to be removed, planting three acorns for each native tree is not appropriate mitigation." Cobb also notes development and the tree disease, sudden oak death, endanger oak trees across California. "We have lost more than one million oaks [along the Oregon and California coast] and they also provide 330 species of wildlife with food and cover."

Cupertino spokesman Rick Kitson said the city is well aware of such concerns.

"We have to meet rigorous ecological standards and the environmental issues have absolutely been addressed," he said, adding that the realignment of Stevens Creek will help sustain a number of plant and wildlife species. Kitson also said the broader plans for the park are part of a 25-year acquisition process by the city that rehabilitates land after commercial uses.

Cupertino resident Gail Bower remains skeptical.

"The city needs to preserve as many trees as possible because they are not easily replaced," she said. "They are already mature trees and now we'll have to wait at least 20 years for them to grow back."

She also questioned why the city's public works department recently removed a mature coastal live oak in Blackberry Farm without first receiving the required permit.

"How is the public supposed to trust the city when they can't follow the rules they set for themselves?" Bower asked.

Kitson said the live oak was removed because it was sick and had significant decay. "There is a genuine push by city council to get more protection for trees," he said.

As a part of that push, the council has asked the planning commission to review the city's tree ordinance at its Sept. 26 meeting. At that meeting, the public works department is also expected to retroactively apply for a use permit for its removal of the coastal live oak.