REDWOOD NEEDLES

Presented by the Sierra Club Redwood Chapter Newsletter, The REDWOOD NEEDLES

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Sudden oak death and management of oak woodlands

By Brent Gudzus

The phenomenon known as Sudden Oak Death, or Oak Mortality Syndrome (OMS) was first observed in Mill Valley in 1995. OMS kills tanoaks and live oaks. The immediate cause of death is an infestation of two types of very tiny beetles, the western oak bark beetle (flea sized) and the oak ambrosia beetle (rice grain size). There is also a fungus associated with OMS that is used as food by the ambrosia beetle larvae and which eventually produces numerous half-inch round crusty and black fruiting structures on the trunks of the afflicted trees. It is also thought that the fungus may have a hand in the death of the trees as well. Both beetles have been associated with stressed or dying oaks in the past but it is only recently that they are thought to have begun killing trees. Many of the dead and dying trees have Armillaria root disease which may or may not be what allows the beetles to overtake and kill the oaks. There is now a California Oak Mortality Taskforce that has taken up the cause of OMS in our state.

In a related issue, The California Oak Foundation (COF) and the Mountain Lion Foundation have sued the CDF to create a statewide framework for the protection of oaks. Currently, the CDF does not consider oaks to be covered under the Forest Practice Act and so they do not require a timber harvest plan for oak woodlands. Because oak woodlands constitute approximately 10% (10 million acres) of the total land area of California they are a very important part of the environmental heritage of California and need to be protected and monitored to protect their ecology and watershed. It is not clear if the suit is successful whether or not the CDF will be eventually be responsible for helping to ameliorate the effects of OMS as part of their management of oak woodlands. Traditionally the CDF has contended that oak woodlands are the responsibility of the local city and county governments, but there are few such local governments who have taken a strong stand to protect the oaks within their boundaries.

For more information about OMS and the suit against the CDF please see the following links:

http://www.californiaoaks.org/ExtAssets/tanoak.pdf

http://www.californiaoaks.org/html/newsletter.html

http://www.californiaoaks.org/ExtAssets/complaint.pdf

http://www.suddenoakdeath.org/

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