Poisoning of Oaks Shocks Avila Beach

This small beach community on the Central Coast has been captivated by a knotty mystery--replete with shadowy suspects in a leafy upscale neighborhood, nighttime poisonings and an outraged citizenry.

The victim? Twenty-one oak trees.

“This has turned into a real whodunit,” said a baffled and slightly chagrined Art Trinidad, supervisor of the county’s code enforcement office. “It’s getting a lot like a TV movie.”

But in this environmentally conscious area of California, what is being called the Oak Tree Massacre is no laughing matter. Citizens are using words usually reserved for child molesters and presidential assassins to describe the punishment that should be meted out once the offender is caught.

“The community is just up in arms,” said Trinidad. “The words I’ve heard are ‘flayed’ and ‘skewered.’ ”

Nobody knows for sure why someone injected a foreign substance into the tree trunks several weeks ago. But speculation has focused on the fact that without the trees, several lots in the new San Luis Bay Estates will have a virtually unobstructed view of the sea about a mile away.

“Removal of the trees turns a fine lot into a spectacular lot,” said Trinidad. “It turns a fine subdivision into the Riviera.”

While battles over environmental regulations and fights over scenic views are nothing new, this incident has become a cause celebre in San Luis Obispo County because of the unusual nature of the crime and the brazenness of it. The trees cover more than an acre and can easily be seen from the public beach as a brown scar on the hills above.

“This is shocking,” said Tom Guernsey, a local resident. “Not just because the trees were poisoned, but it was so blatantly done.”

The fact that the incident occurred in Avila Beach seems on the cruel side of ironic to local residents. Unocal is just completing the cleanup of hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil that had leaked from pipelines under the town, one of the worst pollution disasters in the West.

“Avila Beach has gone through hell,” said John Salisbury, a local farmer. “We’re just now building back up.”

Some people have expressed hope that the trees could come back, but Salisbury is not optimistic. After driving past the security gate at the bottom of the hill, he led the way into the grove of poisoned trees abutting Lot 21 of a street to be called Heron Crest.

“They didn’t even throw dirt on it to hide it,” Salisbury said, stooping to point to a series of holes drilled at the base of each tree, where the poison was apparently injected. It looked like it was done with a hand drill, and residents think it happened late at night, when no one was around.

Standing, Salisbury cut bark from several small branches, revealing a hard, brown material underneath. “That’s not green. That’s gone,” he said.

Salisbury and his wife, Maridel, are among those who have offered reward money. “I’ll pay double to get the SOB in a closed room by myself,” Salisbury said.

A $5,000 reward has been posted. Trinidad said it could have gone higher but he refused to accept any more money because he was concerned that missing children cases don’t generate that kind of interest.

“That’s pretty darned significant for some oak trees,” he said of the reward.

The San Luis Obispo County code prohibits the removal of trees in the coastal zone unless they are diseased or dead. Violations are misdemeanors, punishable by six months in jail or a $1,000 fine.

Trinidad said authorities searched the home of the owner of one of the lots on Tuesday. They found no evidence of value, he said. He also interviewed the man at length.

“He’s aghast,” Trinidad said. The man does not presently have a permit to build a house, but plans to do so in the future.

The owner of one lot, Richard Eichhorn, said, “We’re the victims up there. I feel violated.”

Trinidad said the interview provided information that could lead investigators in an entirely new direction. The suddenly widening list of suspects ranges from vandals to people sympathetic with the property owner, to environmentalists trying to undermine new development by making home builders look bad.

“In many ways, it’s peculiar,” he said of the case. He admitted to feeling a bit embarrassed that an apparently simple case of vandalism has turned into something resembling a murder mystery.

But he remained optimistic that the crime will be solved. As for the poison used, Trinidad said it appears to be nothing more than saline solution--or saltwater.