Article originally printed in The Sacramento Bee

by Matt Weiser

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will plant more than 30,000 trees on Sacramento River levees next winter, a move that would seem to contradict its own policy calling for levees across the state to be stripped of their trees.

The Army Corps in 2007 advised California levee managers that trees and shrubs threaten levee stability and must be removed. The order, which has been put on hold while negotiations continue, would eliminate millions of trees from hundreds of miles of levee in the Central Valley.

It was the first time the national maintenance standard had been imposed in California, which has long operated under separate rules that permit trees. Those trees now compose most of the remaining riparian habitat in the region, providing vital food and cover for wildlife.

In a little-noticed exemption, however, the Corps in October granted itself permission to plant more trees. Officially called a “variance,” the move applies to 83 sites, mostly along the Sacramento River, where the Corps performed emergency erosion repairs after storms in 2006.

Those repairs involved covering the eroded levees with giant hunks of rock, called riprap. Now the Corps will go back to those sites to plant willow trees and bushes to improve the habitat altered by the riprap.

The Sacramento District of the Corps sought the exemption from its headquarters in Washington, D.C. Claire Marie Turner, a project manager at the Sacramento district, called it evidence the policy can be flexible by allowing trees where they are needed for habitat and don’t harm levee safety.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/04/14/4413341/levee-trees-catch-a-break.html#storylink=cpy

Earth Day is this Sunday, April 22. To learn about how Earth Day started and how it’s grown, visit this site.

How will you celebrate and protect the planet that we live on? All of us at California ReLeaf hope that you’ll plant a tree!

Trees do so much to help our planet. To learn how they benefit our soil and water, click here. To find out how they clean our air and reduce energy consumption, click here. On Sunday, we hope you’ll give the Earth the gift of trees!

The U.S. Forest Service challenges you to get outdoors and take photos of your urban or community forest. You could win $200 in outdoor gear from the National Forest Foundation.

To read the full contest rules or submit a photo, visit urbanforest.challenge.gov.

Recently, the Urban Forests Ecosystems Institute, better known as UFEI, updated their website. Updates have been made to SelecTree and an Urban Tree Key has been added.

The Urban Forest Ecosystems Institute addresses the increasing need for improved management of the urban forests in California.

Whether looking for tree selection, tree identification, tree health, urban wood use, urban forest management information or just looking at pictures, their resources can help.

Next month, Fallbrook Village Association will rename  its Beech Street Park as Jackie Heyneman Park. Jackie, a long-time volunteer with Fallbrook Land Conservancy’s Save Our Forest Committee, is being honored for her outstanding community service.

The dedication ceremony is scheduled for 11 a.m. on May 5th at the park.

Congratulations, Jackie, and thank you for your years of service to trees and your community!