A GOOD PARK... PART TWO

So, I finally got time to get on the phone to Alameda Parks and Rec. dept today regarding the dead and dying redwood trees (see first post below). I left a message on their repair line and also a voice mail for Dale Lillard who is the director of Parks and Rec. I was expecting not hear back from anybody until the new year. However, about 20 minutes after I left the voice mail Dale called me back. You gotta love this aspect of living in a small town. Good luck getting that kind of response in S.F. or Oakland. Mr. Lillard was very nice and said that they were aware of the problem and were trying to figure out what to do about it. Part of the problem in figuring out what is going on is that there are perfectly healthy trees right next to dying ones. Now some of the dead trees have have just been plain vandalized. For others it is less obvious what is going on. Might be soil contamination that existed when the trees were planted, might be lack of water, might be run off from BayPort construction, might be chemicals being dumped by construction workers, and could be all of the above.

Here is what I do know. There are (or were) 117 redwood trees planted the full length of Linear Park. Of that total 27 are missing, dead, or so far gone that they'll need replaced. " I'm sorry Mr. Redwood your prognosis is not too good, the fact is you're toast Mr. Redwood, dead tree standing and all that jazz." In addition there are about 20 or so other trees that are showing signs of stress. That is they are showing brown tips at their growth points, and lots of yellowing or brown needles. These trees probably will join the dead tree standing club if prompt action is not taken to save them.

Here is where things stand right now. Mr. Lillard indicated that I should get in touch with John McDonald who is their head of maintenance and that Mr. McDonald could arrange to do a walk through of the park with me and fill me in on what they have done and are going to do regarding the redwoods. I left a voice mail for Mr. McDonald who is out of the office until Jan. 2nd. I'm hoping to meet with him by the end of next week or shortly thereafter. I will keep you posted as this moves along.

My feeling is that Parks and Rec. are a little baffled as to what their next steps should be. I also get the feeling that they have not completely investigated the situation to see what is going on. (I could be wrong on that, but I don't think I am.) This is where a little polite citizen action comes into play. Parks and Rec. is pretty responsive to citizen input (the joy of small towns again). If they hear from a few more of us park using, dog walking, bike riding Alamedeans on the subject of taking care of the redwoods in Linear Park... well it should help to focus their attention on solving the problem sooner rather than later.

So, get out to Linear Park and look at the trees for yourself and then let your fingers do the walking. Parks and Rec. Maintenance Line is 510-747-7541. Parks and Rec. head of maintenance is John McDonald at 747-7530. Director of Parks and Rec. is Mr. Dale Lillard at 747-7529. I find that just leaving a voice mail works very well. It gets your point across and keeps it short and sweet. Also it means that you can call when it is convenient for you rather than trying to make time during office hours to call.