Here is some sad news in Ocean Beach.
Somebody cut down the two young Torrey Pines that were planted a couple years back close to where the 90 year old Torreys were taken down in front of 4630 Saratoga Avenue. This had to happen Wednesday afternoon, January 3, in broad daylight.
One is still standing but not for long. It will suffer a slow death since the cut nearly completely girdles the tree — cutting off its vascular system along with its transport of water and nutrients.
Others suffered deep cuts. These photos were sent to the Rag by a Saratoga resident who was very upset. He told us there’s a deranged devil cutting down OB’s few remaining native trees — some thing the community should know about. He advises OBceans to watch for any suspicious activities and to question anyone who is harming them. This is destruction of public property at the very least and should be reported.
The Torrey Pine is the rarest pine tree in North America and is actually one of the rarest pine trees on the planet. They are largely extinct today except in two isolated areas — Torrey Pines State Natural Preserve just up the coast from OB and Santa Rosa Island. They are listed as Critically Endangered.
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
You wrote that this is public property. I can see the trees were in the public right of way but do you know who planted them? The city would not have planted new Torreys like that, so I suspect a private citizen planted these. Really a shame to see vandalized trees.
Yeah, you’re right – they appear to be in the Public ROW but as we recall from the city taking down those Point Loma palm trees, the public doesn’t have the right to say anything about what’s in the Public ROW.
So sad. Would think residents of Saratoga who are opposed to the original Torrey’s would be the ones invested enough to do something like this? Obviously no reason to bust out pitch forks for conjecture, but sure seems like it was a neighbor who would do something like this…..
On the positive side… a lot of the Torrey’s planted at the cliffs are looking better and better….
I don’t like that there are vigilantes taking down trees, however, the original trees that were there didn’t survive because they were planted in the wrong place. There simply is not enough room, approximately 6 feet between the sidewalk and the curb, for the roots to grow the way they need to in order to support their long term growth. Just take a look at how much damage that has been done to the street and adjacent sidewalks on that block and it would be easy to see why the neighbors would be against these trees being re-planted. And, by the way, these trees were not indigenous to this area, as reported in the OB Rag on November 9, 2010. They were merely leftover from a tree nursery that was only established in order to supply trees to the city for a WPA project in the 1930’s.
https://obrag.org/2010/11/the-torrey-pines-of-ocean-beach/
Not true Sam. They are indigenous to the Torrey Pines Preserve, less than 16 miles away.
“16 miles away” does not equal Saratoga ave. Furthermore, your own reporting details that there were no trees on Saratoga, prior to the nursery leftovers being planted there. With all of the infrastructure of a “modern” city surrounding these trees, they simply do not have the habitat necessary to survive. I love Torrey pine trees in their appropriate environment, but not smack dab in the middle of the city.
The claim that Torrey Pines are not native to Point Loma is like saying Native Americans are not native to Point Loma because there are none naturally here now. Ten thousand years ago, Torrey Pines forests were all along the California coast, which by the way was at least two miles West of where the shoreline is today. And climate change did not just start now, it has been happening all along. Five thousand years ago, the sea level was 400-feet lower than it is today and I venture to guess that at that time, Torrey Pines forests extended all the way to Point Loma. Sea level rise, decline for plant populations, and the native people moved away as time ticked onward. And now we have monster wave cycles tearing apart sea walls, piers and making change. As Bob Dylan sang, “The times they are a changing!”
Thank you Ron.
I get it, but you guys are missing the point. These trees are not in a physical environment that allows them to thrive which subsequently makes them a danger to those who live near them and a nuisance to the city and anyone who uses that road or walks along those sidewalks. Why should we replant trees in the same place that has caused untold amounts of damage to our infrastructure? Who would be served by this?