Oakland releases proposed Vegetation Management Plan

On 9/20 the City of Oakland released its long awaited Vegetation Management Plan/EIR for review. HCN has gone through it and found the once again, the City has developed a plan with the inputs of the native plant restoration zealots, and not much else.

There is a consistent bias in the plan towards eradicating (primarily) eucalyptus through various means. Probably the most egregious examples of this are the plan to cut down three (3) huge eucs on Alvarado road above Garber Park. How these huge trees, disconnected from any other significant vegetation pose a fire risk is hard to understand. What is understandable, however, is that a vigilante nativist group has effectively taken control of Garber Park, public land, and converted it into a nativist paradise. The last 3 trees still stand at the entrance to this park, and the "Garber Park Stewards" just can't have that.

Other examples of bias are sprinkled throughout the document, including plans to eradicate eucs at the North Oakland Sports field, Joaquin Miller, and Marjorie Saunders Parrk. Additionally, the City has expanded the vegetation free zones adjacent to roadsides from 30 feet to 100 feet, and has increased the acceptable maximum tree diameter for removal from 8 inches to 10 inches.

The point of all this is to once again use public funds to advance a nativist agenda on public lands.

We urge our followers to comment on this flawed plan/EIR by first reading the document at www.oaklandca.gov/projects/oakland-vegetation-management-plan.

attending the public meeting on November 1 at 3:00 PM ....https://www.oaklandca.gov/boards-commissions/planning-commission

and sending in comments opposing the plan in its current form to..... DEIR-comments@oaklandvegmanagement.org by 11/4 at 5:00 PM

thanks for your ongoing support!

HCN