California city OK’s project near world’s oldest oak tree

The Inland Empire city has approved a development project 450 feet away It’s derived from the world’s third-oldest known organism – a giant scrub oak tree that’s more than 13,000 years old.

While environmental groups and some city council members argued that scientists were merely “guessing” about the potential impact of development on the tree, Jurupa Valley The city council ultimately approved the project by a 3–2 vote.

Those in favor said they believed the project had taken adequate steps to protect the world’s oldest oak tree and that the project was unlikely to harm the tree.

An accompanying conservation plan will cover 30 acres of the rocky reef, which Quercus palmeri or Palmer’s Oak, has been given to a Native tribe. The Kizh Nation, Gabrielino Band of Mission Indians, has agreed to take care of the land.

However, another native tribe says the tree resides on their homeland, and they have been barred from participating in the negotiations.

“This is a really difficult decision, but it’s a responsible project that will benefit everyone,” Council Member Leslie Altamirano said after several hours of emotional public testimony.

“The best part is that we have an opportunity here to set an example and give the land back to the First Peoples. So I want to make sure that, in my lifetime, I was able to do that,” she said before voting yes on the project. “So tonight, I’m going to stand with the Kizh Nation.”

The whole room echoed with applause.

“We understand the significance of the Jurupa Oak and have always been committed to its preservation,” said Brian Hardy, a representative of developer Richland Communities. The plan, backed by the Kis Nation, “will provide protections that do not exist now or in any previously approved project. We are pleased the City Council understood this and voted to approve the project,” he said in a prepared statement provided to the Times.

The project calls for the construction of about 1,700 homes and a light industrial park. A coalition of environmental groups worries that the pavement could create a heat island effect that would put further stress on the tree, which already lives in extreme conditions. They also worry that the development could deplete or contaminate the tree’s water source, or harm the tree’s root system.

In response, the city ordered additional root and heat studies in June. Environmental consultants concluded that the heat impact would be minimal — they said there are hundreds of feet between the tree and any parking lots, and the developer plans to take measures to keep the sidewalks cool.

The consultants also said the roots did not extend into the construction site, nor did they reach any groundwater that could be affected by the development.

“I think we’ve got a pretty good idea of ​​where the oaks get their water from and how deep the roots go,” said Michael Tuma, lead biologist at FirstCarbon Solutions. “Some of the other arguments that the opposition has made are getting further and further away from reality and what’s supported by science.”

The biologists decided not to map the tree’s root system, as this would require invasive measures that could damage or kill the tree. Instead, they based their estimates on previous studies of similar trees.

In the absence of conclusive data, the coalition wants the city to preserve more land for the tree by cutting down light industrial buildings and business parks planned nearby.

“All of us, the coalition members who are concerned about the tree, we are not opposed to the development project,” said Tim Krantz, conservation director for the Wildlands Conservancy. “We are only concerned about the areas around and upstream of the oak.”

A botanist at UC Riverside noticed the tree in the late 1990s. He thought the tree was like a fish out of water: The oak was growing in a place that was much hotter and drier than the species’ normal habitat.

He and a colleague estimated that the tree may have first grown at the end of the last ice age, when the climate was much colder. In a 2009 study, they found that the oak tree is about 13,000 to 18,000 years old.

The tree has survived for millennia through genetically identical seedlings or cloning. This means that the original trunk of the tree has long since died out, but its genome still exists. One of the authors of the paper compared the tree to the ship of Theseus – a mythical ship that has been completely rebuilt with new parts.

Still, this tree has been an enduring part of the landscape ever since mastodons and saber-toothed cats last roamed Southern California. For native tribes in the area, the oak played a central and sacred role in seasonal ceremonies and everyday life.

According to a plan drawn up by the developer, the city and the Kizh Nation, the piece of land surrounding the oak closest to the tree will be turned over to the tribe before construction begins. The tribe will also be given $250,000 to preserve the land.

However, the Shishongna Tongva Nation, Corona Band of Gabrielino Indians, says the land is their homeland and that they have been excluded from discussions with the city.

Laura Jaime, a tribal cultural anthropologist for the Shishongna Tongva Nation, said the oak tree is “a sacred ritual site, especially for our villages.” “We walk along the Santa Ana River, so it’s been ancient that we’ve known about this sacred ritual site.”

Jamie said that because the land is now privately owned, they have been forced to hold the ceremony elsewhere – possibly since the early 1800s.

The city sent requests for input on the project to a handful of Native tribes in 2015 and 2019. But, because of the stress of the pandemic, the Shishongna Tongva Nation didn’t have the resources to participate, Jaime said.

Since then, the tribe has “contacted the city, various departments, the Planning Commission and the City Council through email correspondence,” Jaime said. “We were then ignored.”

Environmental groups working in concert with the Shishongna Tongva Nation will likely continue this fight in the courts.

Because the Kizh Nation identified the tree as a cultural resource, the city was legally required to keep information about the tree confidential, including its exact location. This has prevented outside biologists and experts from viewing key environmental studies, including how construction vibrations would affect the tree.

“This is kind of a classic developer tactic of creating an us versus them situation,” said Krantz of the Wildlands Conservancy. “In this case, just between two tribes … it’s completely disingenuous.”