Measure to Halt Bulldozing of Oaks Narrowly Loses

A ballot initiative aimed at protecting California’s native oak trees from being bulldozed to make way for vineyards in Santa Barbara County narrowly lost Monday, with about 3,000 uncounted votes not expected to affect the final outcome, a county elections official said.

Unofficial results Monday afternoon showed that the Native Oak Protection initiative, or Measure K, had 53,865 votes against it, or 51.1%, to 51,647 votes in support, or 48.9%, said Bob Smith, the county’s elections division manager.

Results of the Nov. 3 election were delayed by 33,500 provisional and absentee ballots that took two weeks to tally, Smith said. About 3,000 votes remained uncounted but were unlikely to affect the official outcome, which was expected Friday, he said.

Residents got the measure on the ballot after discovering that about 850 oaks along U.S. 101 in northern Santa Barbara County were bulldozed and dragged into ravines to make room for grapevines.

Kendall-Jackson Winery, which owns the land, defended the action, saying it planned to replace the lost trees by planting 8,000 seedlings.