The Army Corps of Engineers has expanded its tree marketing system in Altadena after community pushback following a NBCLA report on the removal of oak trees that may be still healthy.
Besides the previously utilized blue dot, a yellow dot, yellow ribbon and a brown dot are added to the marking system, the Army Corp announced.
Each signals the following:
- Blue Dot – Trees marked with a blue dot at the base and a barcode have been determined to be hazardous and are scheduled for removal.
- Yellow Dot with Yellow Ribbon – Trees where a property owner has submitted a hazardous tree removal waiver will be marked with a yellow dot at the base and a yellow ribbon wrapped around the tree. The barcode will be removed, and this update will be cataloged in the contractor’s system to ensure the tree remains in place.
- Brown Dot – If a tree is reassessed and determined to be non-hazardous by a higher-level ISA-certified arborist, it will be marked with a brown dot over the existing blue dot. The barcode will be removed, and this update will be recorded in the contractor’s tracking system, confirming the tree will not be removed.
The Army Core said it hopes to “enhance transparency and improve processes” with the new marking system in a statement to residents.
A Waiver of Hazardous Tree Removal form is also available for owners interested in waiving tree removal.
“We are committed to listening to the community and improving our processes,” said U.S. Army Col. Eric Swenson, commander of the USACE Los Angeles Wildfires Recovery Field Office. “Our goal is to provide a clear, fair, and transparent system that respects property owners’ choices while prioritizing safety. The new tree markings and flexibility in how information is received reflect our commitment to making this process as accessible and efficient as possible.”
The Army Corps asks that residents do not mark trees themselves.
Altadena Green, a grassroots organization run by volunteer arborists, took to the streets in recent weeks to mark and protest the removal of healthy trees during phase 2 of the cleanup process.
“The oaks are one of the most resilient trees,” said Wynne Wilson, a member of Altadena Green in an interview with NBCLA. “They are going to come back, and we have seen many oaks marked for removal.”
The group’s efforts, however, were initially met with mixed results.
“We’ve had two people so far. In spite of extensive waivers, their trees were removed. And they were marked and tagged by our team of arborists,” Wilson said. “We’re marking the health of a tree, how large it is, also that we expect it to live.”
New research shows those healthy trees could be absorbing more carbon than initially expected.
“During the daytime, trees are taking up something like 60% of the fossil fuel CO2 that’s being emitted,” said USC professor William Berelson.
Recent data from air quality sensors placed around Los Angeles is giving USC researchers insight into the canopy lost in the fire burned zones.
“With how many trees we’ve lost, and how much, what potential uptake of CO2 we lost because we lost so many trees, and then what trees we could plant to start taking up CO2 and start to capture that CO2 back up again,” said Berelson.
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