Eucalyptus is perhaps the most iconic and most controversial plant in California. My latest, about the fight over what to do with it, which often feels like a proxy war about climate adaptation in a state on the brink.https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/dec/16/california-eucalyptus-trees-environment-comic …
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Replying to @susie_c @bedwardstiek
This had too much but-opponents-say-the-earth-is-flat for me....
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Replying to @kimmaicutler @bedwardstiek
They've won most of the lawsuits they've filed to preserve the trees -- it's worth noting how they've managed to do that and what their arguments have been.
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Replying to @susie_c @bedwardstiek
While it’s true that there would still be fires in the East Bay hills if they were cleared, brushfires are less deadly and easier to evacuate than fires that have crowned into tree tops. Also much less fuel load. I’ve read 70% of the 1991’s energy release was eucs.
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Replying to @kimmaicutler @susie_c
I interviewed the HCN and an EBRP fire control official during the brawl over getting FEMA funds for Euc eradication -- there was less distance between them than I thought.
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The HCN fully acknowledged Eucs were a fire hazard -- just argued it was better to manage it with fire breaks, pruning low branches, raking out bark litter to eliminate fuel loads, etc.
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Fuel *ladders, not loads.
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Replying to @bedwardstiek @susie_c
Yeah but then you have to prune them, clear bark every single year, which is more expensive than managing a native brush/oak terrain.
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Replying to @kimmaicutler @susie_c
Yah, but logged Eucs re-sprout from cut stumps, sending up multiple, stubbier trunks where there used to be one. Fixing that either takes additional labor, or lotsa Roundup. I think the reason HCN got traction in court is b/c public agencies didn't analyze the alternatives.
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Also, IIRC land ownership in the East Bay hills is so fragmented (UC, EBRP, EBMUD, City lands, private homes) that eradication's really difficult--there will likely be Eucs left on somebody's property sending seeds blowing over to any place they've been logged.
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The last Santa Barbara Fire was spotting 1 mile ahead of the firefront. NSW fires this season were spotting 12 miles ahead of the firefront. Berkeley is only 3 miles wide from the hills to the bay.
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