Caltrans Says 38 Eucalyptus Trees Slated for Removal North of Eureka
Eucalyptus trees line one side of 101 north of Eureka. [Photo from Caltrans]
Soon motorists may notice tree crews working along southbound U.S. Highway 101 between Eureka and Arcata. They’ll be there to improve the overall safety of the area. While there are over 500 eucalyptus trees along the corridor, a third-party arborist has determined a number of those trees are “high-risk,” meaning they are either unhealthy or have a potential for limbs to fall on motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians. 38 eucalyptus trees are slated to be removed while 179 will be pruned.
As many know, eucalyptus trees do not grow naturally in this area. A number of factors have resulted in the deteriorating health of these trees, according to the arborist. They noted that although we cannot predict all failures, identifying those trees with observable defects is a critical component of enhancing public safety. Therefore the tree removal and pruning is being performed to maintain public safety.
With work beginning as early as Tuesday, January 21, a southbound lane closure will be in effect on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and weekends from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Also southbound traffic may be stopped for a couple of minutes intermittently on occasion in order to safely work on the larger trees. Cyclists will still be able to travel along the route for the duration of the project and will be subject to the same intermittent traffic stoppages as motorized vehicles. Please proceed with caution through the work zone.
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My question is will there be different trees planted in the general area after these are removed? Even little skinny trees are better than open patches along the highway.
More than likely, NO!!!
I don’t think there are any other kinds of trees that can grow where so much eucalyptus offal has poisoned the soil for so long. Might’ve been a lot better if cypress had been planted there to begin with, but cypress grows very much more slowly.
yep, salt adapted perennial ganja, organic of course.
There is a beautiful bay view behind those trees!
Damn straight! Eucalyptus, hell, any tree doesn’t belong in bay wetlands!
There’s a completely uninteresting view of grey mud and/or muddy water, exactly the same as the view from any other spot on the bay.
You should open your eyes more. No view is the same around the bay. Maybe if you are void of perspective!
Them trees where planted thar to slow the wind comeing on to the airport for better take off that wind comeing off that flat bay can be strong at times that why them trees are that
No, the trees were planted as a windbreaker by a farmer, we’ll before the airport…..
That’s sucks!
Yeah too bad its not all of them but its a start.
Lots of wood for the wood lot…
I actually wanted to know if this would be available to the public?? Love me some eucalyptus firewood,
You can bet that the top men at cal trans will be having plenty of fire wood
When used as woodshop mulch, they have excellent weed-suppressing properties.
I tried to chop eucalyptus with an axe once. Darn near broke my axe! Some tough wood!
Does anyone have any proof that these trees have dropped branches on cars ever?
NO!!! It’s more of a What If s(h)ituation!!!
You’re right! We should WAIT till one or more of them drops a branch or falls onto the highway or a car before doing anything! WE NEED PROOF!
Captain Crunch, call the CHP.
I did have a piece of bark smack my windshield on a windy and stormy night last week, with the piece of bark nearly the length of my windshield. No cracked windshield, but it sure got my attention.
Those huge woody seeds they drop are pretty hazardous to bicyclists as well.
All trees need maintenance. They dont need elimination.
It was CalTras’ arborists that kept reccomending removal.
Yes, way back in 1969 before they went in and really pruned them up a branch came down and hit my car. It was about a 4″ branch and if it had hit the windshield it would have come right through into the car.
I was bicycle commuting from Ole Hanson Road to Eureka in the late eighties. Found out afterwards I was seeing the last of the one log trucks. “redwood summer”. Almost got taken out by eucalyptus branches and car sized redwood bark strips alike! Finish the bike path around Humboldt Bay!
If it happens by 2022 I pledge to buy Willie a bike and try to organize a meeting to get him (and everyone else too!) away from the computer for an afternoon to celebrate! 😎☮️💟 🌎
I was hit in my car last March.
I watched a branch come down on a windy Christmas Eve 4 years ago and smash a windshield of a car going 50 MPH. Nearly caused the driver to lose control. He pulled over with a large branch 6’ long, 4” diameter on his hood.
The railroad years ago planted the trees for railroad ties.
They never planted them thar for rail road ties 😂😂😂 I think red wood in massive amounts did that job them trees were planted to slow the wind comeing in on the air port so plains would have better control during take off planted as rail road ties HaHaHa😂😂😂😂😂😂
No. They didn’t. You are an idiot. Those trees do nothing for the airport!
The trees give pilots a visual reference to the runway end nearest the freeway. I would suggest talking to pilots to confirm my comment and ask any other questions about the trees and their effect on the air currents surrounding the airport. My experience with eucalyptus maintenance is, like the redwoods, if the stumps are left in the ground will regenerate .
One hit my truck last week. You dipshits need to screw on your thinking caps!
38 eucalyptus trees are slated to be removed while 179 will be pruned.
As many know, reading comprehension matters
What company got the contract? Anyone know who to reach out to for a bid?
Oh crap. I was hoping that they would all go.
Good I had to swerve to avoid being hit by a falling branch last night. Thank goodness there was no one in the passing lane.
Let the koala bears have them. They already have the clap, and they’re on fire. It’s the least we can do
I was also hoping all those stinky, messy, limb dropping trees would be cut down. I watch them every time I drive by hoping nothing will hit my car. The wood could be used for the elderly or low income families in the winter.
No messier than any other trees
Their seeds are large and woody. Their leaves break down very slowly and suppress growth of native foliage. They’re extremely flamable too, and toxic to almost all native animals.
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.
More like a bike/walk trail.
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
With a pink hotel, a boutique
And a swinging hot spot
Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got til its gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
They took all the trees
And put ’em in a tree museum
And they charged the people
A dollar and a half to seem ’em
Mark,
thanks.
Thanx also, to Joni Mitchell, for her song “Big Yellow Taxi”, fom which those lyrics originate!!!
They – CalTrans – have the “Expect Delays” sign up now.
And yet, when the first big storm this winter downed tons of every other type of tree in the area, the eucalyptus trees there and elsewhere were all perfectly fine. I’m beginning to think the whole fragile trees claim is baloney.
With the Bomb Cyclone that hit us this Fall, did any trees come down? I did not hear of any. So what kind of a storm is it going to take to bring them down, or have we been miss lead, for the sack of a trail that as the man in charge said “ maybe we’ll get a couple a good decades out of it” before it’s under water.
Thanks. Critics oppose eucalyptus removal along 101
https://www.times-standard.com/2018/03/16/critics-oppose-eucalyptus-removal-along-101/
Those “stinky limb droppers” provide the wind shelter for Eureka’s little Murray Field airport. That’s why they are never all coming down at the same time. The FedEx and UPS planes would not be able to take off and land. These trees were planted for the windbreak for Murray Field. There was no thought given to frustrated bicyclists along 101 – which didn’t exist back then the way it is now – and which no sane person would have ridden a bike on in those days from all the log trucks and the lousy road surface. Additionally, were all the eucalyptus to be removed at the same time, that section of roadway would be less secure as their root structures are holding the embankment in place against the ever-increasing high tides. Sorry to bust the “we hate eukies” bubble – but we need those trees so 101 stays open and so Murray Field stays operational.
No we don’t dipshits. The trees were planted by a farmer for his crop as a windbreaker. Quit spreading false information. Theyou are taking down what they can without melting snowflakes!
Are they being removed because of the trail or because of the 101?
Thanks.
Ya was thinking the same, billboards toppled and gas station metal roof torn off in that crazy windstirm from the cyclone just offshore but no issues with these trees…hmmmm.
I bet money there will be more crashes from wind gusts in that zone(the wind already gusts up the valley there) as well as increase in falling trees and limbs from remaining trees who are used to having their neighbors help hold them up.
I’m sorry to see them go they’ve been there as long as I can remember and I’m 67 years old they do make for a very nice Windbreak but evidently they’re not in good shape and need to be taken out I just glad they’re not going to take them all
I walked the area they are referring to right after the bomb cyclone and found very few branches down. There was a lot of trees and branches in the Arcata Community forest however. Walked it again today and there is almost nothing on the tracks. I am not saying they should not prune the trees but cutting them all down and spraying the stumps with glyphosate is not supported by reality. Just some twisted agenda.
If you would actually read the press release you would see that there are over 500 trees in that section and they are only removing 38 with defects that make them vulnerable to breakage. There was no mention of glyphosate. If there’s a twisted agenda it’s only in the comments blowing this out of proportion.
What good is a windbreak where no one is there. Don’t see a lot of families having picnics out there.
It was for the airport across the highway.
Nope, a farmer….
The draft plan for the Bay trail does include the use of glyphosate to try to keep the trees from re-sprouting once cut down. Although you are right this particular plan does not.
There is nothing wrong with those trees except for the People who fear a limb falling off and the people who are going to prophet off cutting them down. Such bullshit
Or people who have had one of these branches assault their car….
Those trees were planted as a WIND BREAK. Would you rather get blown into the car next to you or worry about a branch hitting your car?
Branch hitting me.
When was the last time you saw or heard of a Eucalyptus tree falling over or dropping limbs? NEVER EVER that’s when you jerks. Leave our beautiful tree alone.
Caltrans has not applied for the proper permitting required by the Coastal Commission. District Supervisor of CA Coastal Commission Melissa Kraemer, has been informed by phone: (707-826-8950 Ext 9), by Email: [email protected], as she told me that Caltrans must apply for a proper permit, and this has not been done or noticed. Those trees are 100 years old and planted by the property owner at that time. This is entirely illegal, and must go properly through the permitting process. Notice how they think they are starting this Tuesday, January 21 and Monday is Martin Luther King Jr. Day and a holiday. Snakes trying to cut these trees down since 1925. As stated by many above, not one tree fell in last years windstorms that had PGE shut our power down for days, or ever. A friend of mine said she saw one small branch fall. I asked this friend how big was it and this friend showed me a two feet long stick and about a half inch wide. Many many other trees fell onto power lines and caused huge problems. If these Eucalyptus trees are cut, the corridor will be flooded even sooner. These Eucalpytus trees serve as mitigation to hold the raising water back from flooding. Another friend has a photo taken in a recent large storm (I think last year, but maybe the year before). The bay was a couple inches from flooding the Eureka to Arcata Corridor where the 2nd Eucalyptus row is from CA Redwood Co (used to be) and that row ends just before Indionola by the bay across from Cash & Carry. The Eucalyptus are running along the railroad tracks; they are not hurting anyone….NOTHING ON ANY RECORD IS IN THE FEIR; ONLY EXAMPLES FROM OTHER PLACES…these historical Eucaplutus trees slow people down (Call Keep Eureka Beautiful/ Eureka Heritage Society/Timber Heritage Society and the numbers above to report this illegal activity nobody has seen posted and no permit has been obtained that is needed to cut even one Eucalyptus) tree. Caltrans themselves knows the corridor will be flooded soon on a regular basis and they had a meeting all about this several years ago to decide where the Corridor would be relocated or raised. The choices were along Samoa but risen up, up above Old Arcata Road? or raising the corridor up. People attending listened and put their stickers on what they thought might be feasible. Caltrans wants their project, and they want the new project they are surely predicting to have when the corridor is soon to be under water in every winter storm. These are your tax dollars at work here. As I said to the Caltrans man two weeks ago, before yet another life was lost at Indionola, is to put in a light that trips when two cars are going south to turn left on Indionola from of 3 to 7 or if three cars back up at any time to trip the light Cars are piling up to turn left onto Indionola and backing up into the southbound fast lane. This light will stop north bound traffic (Eureka to Arcata), for a 1/2 minute to let all the cars go. Again, put the light in now and leave the trees alone. There are bigger fish to fry. Eureka now has about 25 stoplights on 101 through town. Or maybe more once they put another one in by In and Out Burger, only a block south of the good drive through coffee place, where Mr. Fish empty store now, and Chevron. I have to go to Pierson’s Building Center for a new pot for my inside tree and soil, and I will count the lights from K-Mart light at the south part of Eureka, north on Highway 101 (Broadway/4th/5th Street
through town to V St before entering the corridor. Stop violating the law, Caltrans.
They’re not cutting all of the trees. Only 38 out of approximately 500. This doesn’t even qualify as “thinning.”
Trees don’t stop warter
OH NO!!’ They don’t have a permit to cut down trees?! When did we as a society accept the fact that we now need a permit to do anything? One government agency has to take tax dollars and give it to another government agency so they do their job? Sounds productive
Correction. the email address for Melissa Kraemer is with a K not a D
You are correct Uri. You have a sharp eye for detail. Thanks very much for the correction. Now I can’t seem to access a way to correct my typo above, so I will type the correct email address again here: CA Coastal Commission District Supervisor Melissa Kraemer’s email is [email protected] and her phone number is 707-826-8950 Ext 9. Unless Melissa forgot to send me an email, to my knowledge Caltran’s has not filed the proper permitting or noticing to proceed with their plan that they are appearing to do be doing under the radar. In addition Herbicides do not belong near the bay or anywhere for that matter, so Humboldt Baykeeper Jen Kalt has also been notified. Sorry in advance for all typos…
What’s next? Are they going to take down whats left of the Midway drive in screen too? Is nothing sacred anymore?
Personally, I wish they’d put it back in service… Have kids serving diner food on roller skates and everything. Maybe not nightly, but at least a few times a summer, probably organized by one of the local food-and-theater places.
Fuck CalTrans and their insensitive, ‘we own the right of way and we know best’, clear cutting, bulldozing ways!
If there is a PROTEST, I will be there!!
Those trees predate the airport and were planted by aliens who kept having their grazing cattle blown over the hill by the terrible winds that sweep in from the blue pacific.
“I wanna love ya but I’m gettin’ blown away” Sorry Neil Young.
NCJ coverage of the Eucalyptus trees issue from 2009: https://www.northcoastjournal.com/humboldt/o-eucalyptus/Content?oid=2128713 with a little history of their origin.
Good detective work Dave!
Caltrans is gonna have a war on their hands when they try doing this~!!!
Removing 38 out of ~500 trees, I doubt if most folks will even notice.
War over thinning less than 8 percent?
I wish this many people got upset about caltrans not fixing potholes.
Jake,
One of the reports said all but 100.
Anybody know?
That’s true. The railroad planted them near tracks so they would have a ready supply of wood to repair the railroad. Unfortunately, they found that the wood was not usable for railroad ties. I think it was too soft. I was told that if you find a large group of eucalyptus trees planted together you can bet there is an old railroad track nearby.
When it was windy, I used to hold my breath when I rode my bike between Arcata and Eureka. I felt the same way when I drove my car during a storm, too.
No Meg; the railroad did not plant those Eucalyptus Trees. They were planted by the owner of that property and what became to be named Murry Air Field back in 1921 down to Indianola, as a windblock. Yes, they had dairy cattle grazing there, as that was the owners profession, among many other things that owner did. This was before the corridor was built in 1925, so people had to be self-sustaining. This was after the dykes were put in, keeping that land from being under water. Those owners were there from around 1880 to 1933, when they had to move in with their children down south, due to being elderly. It is true that the railroad tried to use Eucalyptus trees (not these Eucalyptus) for railroad tracks, but they found out that did not work. Thankfully Eureka City Council prevented the Eucalyptus Trees across from the graveyard at Myrtle and West from being slaughtered. Walking in the graveyard, I took photos of those trees and they provide nesting for birds and a beautiful landscape when people are visiting the graves of their loved ones buried there. If the trees are damaged, it is because Caltran’s has been way over-trimming them that I believe was in an attempt to have them die.
For the record Eucalyptus trees are sometimes used for Rail Ties but they have to be old and straight. People living on the bottom lands know how bad the wind can be and stressful on livestock as well. In other words a wind break can be extremely valuable not only to people and live stock but wild life also
This non-native obsession is getting a bit out of hand. A species is either useful or not. In this case the trees provide value in many ways. Getting rid of them will cause problems.
If they don’t have a permit they will have to get one.
Misty,
thanks.
The ones near Myrtle are nice, good they saved them.
Emergency Projects approved by public agencies are exempt from Coastal Permits. See section 30600 of the Coastal Act.
Only 38 to be removed is underwhelming. Much ado about nothing.
Emergency projects approved by public agencies are exempt from Permits per the Coastal Act Article 1 Section 30600.
Only 38 trees to remove out of 500+ is underwhelming. Much ado about nothing.