UC Berkeley and the City of Oakland are seeking Federal monies (i.e. TAXPAYER DOLLARS) to clear cut hundreds of acres in Alameda and Contra Costa counties (in the East Bay Hills of the San Francisco Bay Area) and in the Miller Knox/Shoreline (a facility of the East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) on San Francisco Bay).
(Read FEMA's FULL Environmental Impact Statement here: http://ebheis.cdmims.com/Home.aspx)
They plan to turn the healthy trees in to wood chips and then soak the area in thousands of gallons of Monsanto herbicides to prevent them from resprouting.
They claim this will reduce wildfire risk to homes and businesses, but in fact it will have the opposite effect. Meanwhile, Californians will be exposed to toxic fumes from the herbicides and hundreds of thousands of tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere from the destroyed trees, thereby contributing to climate change.
There are only SIX DAYS LEFT for the public to comment on this plan, which has been kept quiet by the parties involved. Forests are vital to our lives and environmental health! Tell FEMA and UCB to leave the trees where they are. Your tax dollars should not be used for this type of wanton destruction.
We, the undersigned, support the efforts of The Hills Conservation Network and others in opposing the current plan to clear-cut thousands of trees in the Berkeley/Oakland Hills area in the interest of "reduced fire risk."
Cutting down thousands of healthy trees, as proposed in the Draft EIS is unacceptable as it will inflict enormous environmental damage, expose the public to thousands of gallons of toxic herbicide, destroy wildlife habitats, destabilize steep slopes, and actually increase the risk of hazardous wildfires.
We join with the Hills Conservation Network in requestion that FEMA "retract this EIS and remove those portions of the EIS that call for clear-cutting tall trees. The EIS should instead support a far less destructive methodology that would focus on a "species-neutral" approach, focusing on eliminating ground fuels and the fire ladder, thinning where appropriate, and limbing up as needed to ensure minimal risk of crown fires. Killing more than 50,000 trees and poisoning them for up to 10 years will have disastrous effects on this beautiful and healthy ecosystem, and cannot be allowed to happen."
Thank you.
