Map, Mark, Monitor

Congratulations, Green Valley!!!!   

 Thanks to the hard work and perseverance of LA County Fire’s Deputy Forester Melissa Valente, Green Valley residents will be able to have their oak trees injected for free!    Melissa is your contact person:  Melissa.valente@fire.lacounty.org     She will take your information and she will make all of the final decisions regarding which oaks to inject.  To make your application easier, a QR code will become available soon.   We are the first GSOB community to have a grant for injection.     This is your opportunity to be proactive in treating your oaks for GSOB.  The actual injections will not begin until around October since rain helps the trees absorb the treatment.  (Keep doing your rain dance!)

There are approximately 15,000 oaks in Green Valley and the LA County funds will not be enough to inject each one.  The Green Valley Oak Tree Alliance will also apply for grants in order to keep the funds coming for the next 10 years.  LA County’s present grant will end in 2025. (The added complication is that injection needs to be repeated every two years.)  To be involved, please consider the steps below before submitting your trees to Melissa. They are not required but they will smooth out the process for everyone:

MAP: 

  1.  Make a map of the oaks on your property. 
  2. The map is a quick layout of your house and outbuildings and for your eyes only.  Draw circles to indicate all of your oaks.  Begin numbering your trees from 1 to 5 inside each circle. #1 is the first tree you would not want to lose to GSOB. #2 is the second tree you would not want to lose to GSOB.  Continue to number in that order and go beyond 5 if you have more. 
  3. Take photos of your top 5 choices.
  4. The priority oaks will be the ‘heirloom’ or ‘heritage’, big trees.   The number of trees to be injected under this first round is unknown since the cost varies by tree size– maybe 5 oaks per property?  Hopefully, more.   Some GV residents have 50+ oaks on their property but this round is an opportunity for every resident to apply.  Melissa would like to tabulate the numbers by July-August to be able to plan the process.

MARK:

  1. It is important for all homeowners to know the status of their oaks.
  2. Are there any GSOB holes on the tree?
  3.  Is the canopy thinning?
  4. Is there any sign of bark bleed?  These are dark patches on the trunk might indicate the tree is fighting off some type of bug or disease.  Quite often GSOB in GV.
  5. The GSOB adult creates a very specific “D” shaped exit hole on the trunk of the tree. Scan the trunk of each tree from the ground to about 6’ up the trunk. Using magnifying glasses and a headlight is the best way to look for these holes.  They are tiny!  Count the total number of holes on your tree or note the lack of GSOB holes.  Our oaks have many attackers but round holes are not GSOB.  Do look carefully: a round hole may be a ‘D’ when viewed from another direction.
  6. Melissa will be having GSOB-identifying workshops at our community club.  Also, pick up a GSOB ID card at the community club meetings (2nd Tues of every month) or at the GV Water Office. There is a plastic D cutout on the card but the ‘D’ you are looking for will be even smaller.  Use a dot of bright nail polish to mark any holes you find.  Or quickly mark the holes with chalk but remember to go back with permanent paint.  Teach your kids or grandkids how to look for the holes.
  7. Count the number of holes you find.  When an oak has 25 or more holes, it may not survive in spite of injection.  The tree may have been girdled by the bug– preventing the injection fluid from flowing to the upper portions of the tree. Melissa can determine the tree’s ability to be helped by injection.
  8. Document the details of each of your oaks: canopy, D holes, bark bleed.

MONITOR:

  1. Please consider monitoring and documenting the status of as many of your oaks now.  GSOB has only one lifecycle per year.  The larvae have wintered inside the tree and will exit in their adult form around April or May, creating those ‘D’ holes.  The exit time varies on temperature.  A warm Spring may speed up the process.  Monitoring the status of your trees at the beginning of this process as well as in the years to come will be very important.
  2. Melissa Valente has set aside funds for research as this project goes forward since we are the first GSOB community to have a grant for injection.   We hope the research will document the success of injecting oaks and help the other communities which have GSOB.  Unfortunately, in spite of all the efforts, GSOB will be in our community for a long time.  Melissa has kept money aside to take down dead and heavily-infected oaks. Her research, along with our efforts as a community, may help slow the spread.  Each and every healthy oak preserves the microclimate of our unique town of Green Valley.