- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Even though California's majestic oak trees are generally considered drought tolerant, the last four years of well-below-average rainfall are taking a toll, reported the Sierra Sun Times.
"In some parts of the state, oaks are being deprived of water for as long as nine months, creating extreme water stress," said Greg Giusti, a forest and wildlands advisor for UC Agriculture and Natural Resources. Giusti is headquartered in the UC ANR Cooperative Extension office in...
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
The goldspotted oak borer continues to threaten oak trees, Tom Scott, area natural resource specialist located at UC Riverside, told participants at conference on sustaining native oak woodlands in Los Angeles, the Monrovia Patch reported.
Scott said there is still a quarantine on moving firewood out of San Diego County to prevent the spread of the damaging insect.
Reporter Sandy Gillis wrote that Larry...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
The cover story in the Feb. 4 edition of the color magazine New Times is a well-written 2,300-word history of Avenales Ranch, east of San Luis Obispo, which has been the site of UC collaborative research for decades.
The story centered on 92-year-old family patriarch Jim Sinton, who inherited the 12,000-acre ranch from his grandfather. The owner of a local general store, Sinton's grandfather provided goods on credit to homesteaders who held the property in the late 1800s. As they went broke, he acquired the land and assembled the vast acreage where today cattle run, majestic oaks dot the landscape and a hunting club helps generate income.
Sinton, a...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
The first indicator cited in a San Jose Mercury-News story about the 2008 drought is the number of phone calls coming into the local UC Cooperative Extension office.
The second paragraph of the article says the "unusual number of calls" are from people asking why their camphor trees and liquid ambars are wilting.
"This year we've had so little rain that for trees that are not adapted — and even those that are — there is simply no moisture in the ground except for (what) we are applying," the Mercury-News quoted Bethallyn Black, UCCE urban horticulture advisor in Contra Costa County.
She said some...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
UC Berkeley Cooperative Extension natural resources specialist Doug McCreary knew it was a matter of life or death . . . . This spring, landowners were wondering whether they should yank out oak trees that were uncharacteristically brown or bare.
McCreary took quick action to save trees' lives. He gathered information for a news release assuring people the die-back was probably not a sign of Sudden Oak Death and urging them to wait at least a year before pulling out trees. The story was picked up by the Associated Press and run in several Northern California newspapers, including the