Tree Mitigation

“Just a Few Bugs in the System” (July 26) illustrates how bureaucratic ineptitude and incompetence waste taxpayer dollars, resulting in the failure of a relatively simple mitigation project. While the apparent failure of native oaks to regenerate in the wild is a complex and alarming problem, growing oak trees is a simple process that a child can be taught to master. All it takes is a little care and attention.

The first two efforts by Caltrans and the U.S. Forest Service to plant Engelmann oaks in Love Valley were miserable failures. This is inexcusable and unacceptable. That a significant threat to the third attempt to grow these trees goes without a response is outrageous. Simply throwing one’s hands into the air and proclaiming “we just have to wait and see” is not acceptable.

The purpose of mitigation is to repair the environmental damage caused by a project. The project’s proponent, in this case our government, must take the necessary management procedures to ensure success. All that is required for a successful mitigation is to choose an appropriate site, plant healthy stock, provide some supplemental water and nutrients, and take appropriate pest control measures as needed. Careful management in the first few years should result in success rates of 90-95%.

For the third time, this has not happened at Love Valley. Inexplicably, a severe attack by grasshoppers that has already claimed 10% of the oaks goes unchecked. Why are the government biologists surprised by the increase of a pest following a wet year? This is how nature works. There are several legal, effective options available to control this pest, including pesticides, that pose a negligible risk to the environment, non-target organisms and man.

After three dismal years, it should not be necessary to demand that Caltrans and the U.S. Forest Service deliver the goods. Performance like this is unacceptable in the private sector and must not be tolerated in government.

DOUG GETTINGER, Oceanside