Feds Say Plan to Remove Trees in Hills Needs Work

By Dixie Jordan

A draft environmental impact statement (EIS) on a plan to cut down tens of thousands of eucalyptus and Monterey pines from the Berkeley-Oakland hills and treat the tree stumps with herbicides to prevent regrowth is "insufficient," federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials say.

The impact statement was prepared by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is considering grant applications from the University of California Berkeley, the East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) and the City of Oakland to remove an estimated 85,000 trees from 998 acres of land stretching from Wildcat Canyon to Anthony Chabot Regional Park to reduce wildland fire risks.

"The DEIS articulates well the difficult decisions involved in reducing wildfire risk," says a June 17 letter from Kathleen Martyn Goforth, a manager with the EPA.

But the statement was still rated as "environmental concerns — insufficient information" due to the EPA's "concerns regarding potential impacts to natural resources and herbicide use," the letter says.

"We are concerned that some aspects of the project could result in degradation of natural resources and may not provide for natural regeneration," Goforth writes.

The letter also asks FEMA to provide more information on "the location, type, amount and application method for herbicide use."

In "detailed comments" attached to Goforth's letter, the EPA recommends that FEMA "consider whether more aggressive restoration efforts may be necessary to turn such areas back into a natural state."

It also suggests that FEMA consider whether a proposed 24-inch-deep layer of wood chips (created from downed trees) would retard the ability of native plant species to ultimately populate the cleared areas.

The EPA also asked for more information on herbicide applications, including the type of Roundup to be used, more specifics on where herbicides will be applied and potential effects on several plant and animal species of concern.

The DEIS also does not adequately address the possibility that people or animals could enter areas treated with herbicides after the chemicals have been applied, the EPA says.

The EPA comments also note that some grant applicants have "infrastructure development plans" that may overlap with tree removal areas, "such as faculty housing, campus retreat center, recreational use and mixed-use development in the southern shoreline area" [the Miller-Knox Regional Shoreline in Richmond, included in the regional park district's application].

"It is unclear whether the trees in these overlap areas would be removed for construction purposes regardless of whether they are removed as part of the proposed project or not," the EPA says.

"The document should provide an estimate of the extent of development, likely location, and the biological and environmental resources that would be affected if the proposed vegetation removal is inducing additional development."

Background

The tree clearance plan has provoked strong feelings from both proponents and opponents. Some hill area residents, especially, have cited the flammability of eucalyptus trees and feel that their removal is needed to protect homes from fire danger. Other groups are concerned about the loss of tree cover and the extensive use of herbicides.

A hearing on the draft EIS held in May at Claremont Middle School drew a stand-room-only crowd with dozens of speakers. (You may read about that meeting here.)

FEMA's draft EIS also covers more than 1,060 acres of adjacent park district land that isn't included in the grant application. That brings the total area under consideration to 2,059 acres, or 3.2 square miles.

Among the areas covered by the grant are Claremont Canyon, Strawberry Canyon, Oakland's Caldecott sports field and adjacent land above the Caldecott Tunnel, Frowning Ridge (Grizzly Peak Boulevard) and portions of Tilden Regional Park and Sibley Regional Volcanic Preserve.

Additional regional park lands include portions of the Sobrante Ridge, Wildcat Canyon, Huckleberry Botanic, Redwood, Leona Canyon, Anthony Chabot and Lake Chabot parks and preserves, and Miller-Knox Regional Shoreline.

According to the executive summary of the draft EIS, the agencies would cut down all non-native trees in the designated areas. The smaller felled trees would be chipped, with a layer of wood chips up to two feet deep covering up to 20 percent of the cleared area (a little under two-thirds of a square mile).

Larger trees and branches would be cut into lengths and scattered on the sites, with some trees placed to help control erosion.

For More Information

—The FEMA website "East Bay Hills EIS for Hazardous Fire Risk Reduction."

—You may read the complete EPA letter and attached comments here.

—"Death of a Million Trees" and "California Progress Report" for arguments against funding the grant applications.

—Claremont Canyon Conservancy for arguments in favor of the proposal.

—On the Hills Emergency Forum, "After-Action Reports from the 1991 Oakland-East Bay Hills Tunnel Fire" and "20 Years After" for information on changes made by the Oakland Fire Department in the wake of the 1991 fire and a critical report on the OPD response at that time.