Vegetation Near Signpost 29 in Claremont Canyon in Oakland, California

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This area just south of Claremont Avenue is often touted as a good example of what can be accomplished by cutting down the eucalyptus, pine, and acacia trees, as is planned very soon for the rest of UC Berkeley's land in Claremont Canyon and Strawberry Canyon. The photos below proceed to the southeast along Summit House Trail from Signpost 29. Once you get a little ways up the trail from the highly visible area near the road, you will encounter stumps that are all surrounded by dry dead weeds, mostly long-dead poison hemlock. There are other areas of dry brush in the open sun and dead wood on the ground. None of this is a lower fire risk than living trees of any species. These photos were taken on Saturday, October 24, 2015, apparently about a decade after the trees were cut, yet the dry stumps surrounded by dry dead weeds remain.

For some photos of the threatened trees in Strawberry and Claremont Canyons, with narration from a slide presentation, see bapd.org/treestalk.html. For an outline of arguments against the cuts, filled with citations from scientific studies and government documents, see bapd.org/treenotes.html.

These photos by Ken Cheetham are free for any not-for-profit use. For more of my photos in Strawberry and Claremont Canyons, see my longer sequence.