Calabasas : Restoration Trust Plants Seedling Oaks

A wilderness preservation organization has begun planting oak seedlings near Malibu Creek State Park in an ongoing effort to help preserve the region’s oak trees.

About 35 coast live oak and valley oak seedlings have been planted over the past month along a trail leading from the park to a new park under construction in Calabasas, said Jo Kitz, program director for Mountains Restoration Trust.

Kitz said her organization began planting seedlings three years ago in Malibu Creek State Park, and that about 70 of the 75 seedlings have survived.

Rosi Dagit, a conservation biologist for the Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains, said oak trees have had problems regenerating throughout Southern California. She said part of the reason is that oak seedlings have been deprived of water due to competition from nonnative mustard grass and wild oats.

Also, Dagit said, because of the loss of oak habitat elsewhere, the birds and animals that carry the seedlings in their droppings are more scarce. And ranching has taken its toll, she said, because cattle eat seedlings and compact the soil, making it difficult for seedlings to get a start.

The city of Calabasas has agreed to provide water via specially installed irrigation lines to help the young seedlings reach independence, Kitz said.