Re-Oaking Silicon Valley

A postcard from the early 1900s highlights a valley oak tree in San José, currently Silicon Valley's largest city. Image courtesy California Room, San Jose Public Library

Allan Taylor sent me a link to an article describing efforts to bring back the oaks to Silicon Valley. Originally an oak savannah containing several oak species (Q. lobata, Q. agrifolia, Q. wislizeni, Q. kelloggii, Q. douglasii), this area is now an urban landscape dominated by the typical trees of traditional city landscaping: London planes, liquidambars, sequoias, magnolias, etc.). Apple and Google have led the way by building new campuses planted with oaks, but will it be possible to convince other institutions and homeowners to choose native woodland species and thus restore the oak woodland ecology? Read Eric Simon's article for the full story. The full version is published on Medium (Disrupt the Street Tree), and an excerpt appeared in Bay Nature Magazine (A Street Tree Revoluion in Silicon Valley). Recommended reading for anyone planning to attend the IOS Conference in California next October!