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Residents urge council to save young coast live oaks in shoreline adaptation plans
Summary
Public commenters including Damien Mason, Carolyn Mason and Amos White asked the council and staff to preserve small coast live oaks along the Harbor Bay Shoreline Trail and include them in nature‑based sea‑level rise adaptation designs rather than remove them.
Several residents and local environmental advocates used the meeting’s oral communications period to ask the council to preserve young coast live oaks along the Harbor Bay Shoreline Trail and to integrate those trees into nature‑based shoreline adaptation projects.
Damien Mason (member, CASA Oakland‑Alameda Adaptation Committee) said the young coastal live oaks—currently one to three inches in diameter—are not yet large enough to be protected under the city’s protected‑tree rules but have the potential to mature into significant shoreline stabilizers. "Coastal live oaks are the most valuable players of coastal protection," he said, and asked staff to find ways to retain the trees in final design plans.
Amos White, executive director of 100ks Trees for Humanity, told the council the city has declared a climate emergency and urged staff to "seek to protect and preserve these trees and all mature trees" in shoreline adaptation efforts. Several speakers noted native‑plant approaches outperform hard structures like seawalls by building living resilience.
