Do not cut these trees down!
Los Osos environmental activist Joey Racano weighs in on the controversy surrounding the Morro Coast Audubon Society’s plans to remove Eucalyptus trees from the Sweet Springs Nature Preserve.
As misunderstood as King Kong and standing nearly twice as tall, the Eucalyptus of California is alive and well, and living in Sweet Springs Nature Preserve. There are as many varieties of Eucalyptus as there are flavors at Baskin Robbins, with names like Blue Gum, Wooly Butt and Black Peppermint. As with many trees inhabiting present-day California, the Eucalyptus originated elsewhere, and some, like the Black Peppermint, grow taller in their native lands. There are some who disparage the mighty Eucalyptus, branding her an alien, an invasive, a weed to be eradicated. But like it or not, this tree is now part of our ecosystem, and causing us to redefine the word native.
