To: Gay Luster, Oakland Tree Services Division
Mayor Libby Schaaf; City Councilmembers Dan Kalb, Abel Guillén, Lynette McElhaney, Annie Campbell-Washington, Noel Gallo, Desley Brooks, Larry Reid, Rebecca Kaplan; Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission (PRAC)
Dear Ms. Luster, Mayor Schaaf, City Councilmembers and PRAC Members,
Please do not approve the Oakland Zoo’s application #T15-049 to cut down fifty-seven (57) California live oak and other native trees in the heart of Knowland Park.
The City’s Municipal Code puts design responsibility on developers to avoid harm to the City’s protected trees, especially the California live oak, Oakland’s living symbol depicted in its logo.
Oakland Zoo execs should not be permitted to destroy these mature trees in one of the East Bay’s finest remnants of original native California... not even to build a $60 million expansion project.
While The New York Times salutes local volunteers who are planting oak saplings and nurturing the remaining oaks in the City in a wholehearted effort to “re-Oak” Oakland, it is incomprehensible that City leaders would simultaneously allow annihilation of so many beautiful, thriving oaks.
Knowland Park’s heritage oaks must be preserved and protected if Oakland’s zoo is indeed to be hailed as “a leader in conservation education and stewardship of the natural world.”
Please deny this tree removal permit.
Feel free to add your personal comments:
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