Torrey Pine on Long Branch Saved by Residents and OB Rag Now Needs to Come Down

Photo by Carole Landon-Stone

The lone Torrey Pine at 4633 Long Branch, saved by local residents along with the OB Rag 11 years ago, now is dead and needs to come down.

After multiple “trimmings” and the cutting off of major limbs over the years by the city, the Torrey — which dominates the block — is now brown and is dangerous to residents and houses along the street.

The tree has a long saga, including efforts to cut it down back in 2018.

With its current state, some local residents have been reaching out to different governmental agencies and the media for assistance in bringing the once-stately tree down. At least one local TV station is due to come out to the tree this morning for a report.

It once was designated as a Heritage Tree.

Frank Gormlie
A former lawyer and current grassroots activist, I have been editing the Rag since Patty Jones and I launched it in Oct 2007. Way back during the Dinosaurs in 1970, I founded the original Ocean Beach People’s Rag - OB’s famous underground newspaper -, and then later during the early Eighties, published The Whole Damn Pie Shop, a progressive alternative to the Reader.

7 thoughts on “Torrey Pine on Long Branch Saved by Residents and OB Rag Now Needs to Come Down

  1. This is sad news indeed. Locals on Long Branch Ave. did so much to save this Torrey over the years, but now it’s dead.

  2. I looked at it yesterday and it was indeed sad. Where the ne’er do wells failed, thanks to the community effort, a little beetle succeeded.

  3. Here is the city’s response: They will remove it by the end of the year, 5 months away.
    CBS 8 reached out to the city, and received this response:

    “We are aware of this Torrey Pine and the city’s Urban Forestry Team has been inspecting and documenting it for some time now. We believe this Torrey Pine, with a 45″ diameter trunk, succumbed to various insects as well as a few too many dry winters. We did try and treat it for insects last year to no success and the tree is now selected for removal by the end of the year.”

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