Supervisor to Seek Emergency Oak Law

Ventura County Supervisor Vicky Howard said Monday that she plans to try to intervene to stop oak trees from being cut down in the county before a proposed new tree-protection ordinance can take effect.

Howard was responding to the removal of 100 oak trees on the Newhall Ranch between Simi Valley and Piru as part of a “ranch beautification” project by the Newhall Land & Farming Co.

County officials are already working on one oak-tree protection ordinance, but final action on that by the Board of Supervisors is not expected until June.

Howard said she will urge the Board of Supervisors today to enact an urgency ordinance to prevent further destruction of oak trees in the county until the new law is in place.

“We’ve been working on the ordinance for six months,” Howard said. “My concern is that people will become aware it’s going to be passed and that they will start pulling out trees.”

A spokesman for Newhall Land, which runs a 15,000-acre citrus and cattle operation on the Newhall Ranch, said oaks there are being removed under a “ranch beautification” program. Company officials said the work will reduce shading of citrus, tidy overgrown areas and clear new pastureland for cattle.

The oak tree cutting has brought strong criticism from environmentalists in the county and from some residents of areas near the ranch.

But Supervisor Maggie Erickson Kildee said Monday that emergency measures might be too restrictive. “I don’t believe in hampering the farmers. They’ve been good stewards of the land,” Erickson Kildee said.

Howard agreed that farmers are more likely to save native trees than are developers. “But Newhall Land & Farming Co. is not only one of California’s biggest farmers, it’s one of the biggest developers,” she said.

Newhall Land holds a total of 118,000 acres in California, ranging from Sacramento to Ventura counties. Five thousand developed acres of Valencia in the Santa Clarita Valley were once part of the Newhall Ranch, and an additional 5,000 acres in that area are planned for development, officials said.

Marlee Lauffer, the firm’s director of community relations, said, “The company is pleased with the success of the new town of Valencia. Where it is appropriate, we may look at developing other areas.” The Ventura County portion of the Newhall Ranch was removed from the county’s agricultural preserve last year, which would allow development in 10 years.

Todd Collart, manager of the planning division’s zoning administrative section, said permits would be required for oak tree removal under the new protection ordinance that the county is considering. But he predicted that the final version of the law will not be presented to the board until June.