‘Holistic’ plan proposed for golf course tree replacement

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Uploaded: Wed, Dec 11, 2013, 9:59 am

by Sue Dremann / Palo Alto Weekly

The removal of 543 trees from the Palo Alto Municipal Golf Course could offer an opportunity to restore a portion of the Palo Alto Baylands to its natural state, the city's Parks and Recreation commissioners learned Tuesday evening.

A renovation and flood-control project would remove the equivalent of 6 acres of tree canopy from the course as part of the Golf Course Reconfiguration and Baylands Athletic Center Expansion Project. About 300 of them would be replaced.

The replacement trees would be smaller, native Bay Area species with less canopy, and it could take decades for the canopy to catch up to the level of environmental benefits offered by the trees standing today, according to a proposal report.

City staff presented the commission with three proposals for how to mitigate the tree removal, from replacing the trees in locations spread throughout the city to situating them all in city open space. The third proposal, a hybrid plan, would restore a portion of the Baylands to native wetland in addition to replacing hundreds of trees, Urban Forester Walter Passmore said.

Trees were not part of the native landscape to begin with, he noted.

The plan would net the city more than 800 trees to replace the 543 removed. In addition to planting trees at the golf course, some 500 saplings and seedlings at Pearson-Arastradero Preserve would be identified for focused preservation efforts, Passmore said.

Parks and Recreation commissioners were intrigued by the hybrid plan. It presents an opportunity to improve the wetlands while replacing the city's canopy, they said.

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'Holistic' plan proposed for golf course tree replacement