The Saratoga Retirement Community’s expansion plans, currently in process, would cut many trees. Among the trees slated to be cut is a majestic cork oak (tree 136) that provides a granary and a home to a colony of acorn woodpeckers. The removal of the tree will make room for grading, a pathway, and a swale. The Planning Commission will discuss the project on May 8th.
Please ask the Planning Commission to preserve the cork oak tree, and to find alternatives (such as removing a few parking spots) for the swale and the pathway.
Acorn Woodpeckers are fascinating birds (see the recent Bay Nature story "Acorn Woodpeckers in Five Acts"). They live in large social groups and work together to store thousands of acorns in granaries, like the granary in the Saratoga cork oak. Colonies nest and raise young together. Lets protect the Woodpecker Colony of Tree 136!
How to engage
Please attend the Planning Commission on May 8th, at 7:00 p.m. and tell the commissioners that Acorn Woodpeckers are special to you, and that their tree must be preserved. You may participate in person (Civic Theater, 13777 Fruitvale Avenue, Saratog) or on ZOOM. Alternatively, please use the City’s Form to send a written comment on the upcoming discussion of the retirement community.
You may also email or call the Saratoga City Council members and ask them not to allow the removal of the iconic cork oak and to protect the Woodpecker Colony of Tree 136!