Save Our Forest celebrates Arbor Day

FALLBROOK – A fitting way to celebrate Arbor Day is to plant trees. Almost 70 Fallbrook residents volunteered to do that at the March 9 Tree Planting Festival. Live Oak Park was also a fitting site for the new trees.

With Save Our Forest members serving as tree captains, volunteers from Boy Scout Troop #731, National Charity League, and Fallbrook Land Conservancy all pitched in to get the job done. They planted a total of 32 new trees in the park.

This treasured park has been protected by residents for many years, actually threatened at one point with closure to be sold and developed many years ago. Then, Fallbrook Land Conservancy Chairman Wallace Tucker pulled the community together to fight that possibility. It still is a community treasure today.

The plans for this year were in the making already when a giant 200-year-old oak fell near the dog park. Ironically the tree fell right where 12 oak sites were staked for the new planting. Oaks, very drought tolerant, have quite shallow roots to absorb all the moisture possible.

It is not unusual for oaks to fall during years of so much rain; 17 live oaks fell on Live Oak Park Road in the winter of 1992-93. That happening was actually the impetus of the Save Our Forest group. Residents rallied to plant 165 donated oak trees on the road, on nearby cross streets, and 65 in the body of the park.

The week between the fall of the trees and the event, park rangers worked to remove the fallen tree before the March 9 Tree Festival, only a week away. Roger Boddaert, the Tree Man of Fallbrook, was instrumental in pulling the entire event together, while the Live Oak Park Coalition supported SOF as well to help make it a festive occasion.

San Diego County Parks and Recreation provided 20 California Live Oaks, Quercus agrifolia, to be planted in the interior of the park, while Roger Boddaert donated 12 Engelmann Oaks to be planted near the dog park.

The morning started at 8:30 with giving tree captains a refresher on planting the 24" box trees. The volunteers arrived at 10 a.m. and they got to work. By noon, all the trees were in the ground.

It was a successful day helping to create a more healthful environment for all Fallbrook residents.

Submitted by Save Our Forest.