Local News in Brief : Beefed-Up Oak Tree Protection Approved

A beefed-up ordinance to protect oak trees has been approved by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, but the board left unsettled how to define heritage oaks, the older trees the ordinance is principally designed to protect.

The ordinance requires a permit to cut down or move any oak more than 25 inches in circumference, with county officials giving special attention to any effort to remove heritage oaks.

The county attorney’s office recommended that a heritage oak be defined as any oak tree that is more than 3 feet in diameter or that, regardless of size, has historical or cultural significance in a community. Oak tree activists, however, want a more liberal definition, saying some trees deserve heritage oak status simply because of their beauty.

At the urging of Supervisor Mike Antonovich, the supervisors instructed the county legal staff to meet with preservationists and prepare a definition.