PART I (of II): Important Information All Carmelites Should Know About Our "Urbanized" Forest

General Plan/Coastal Land Use Plan Coastal Resource Management Element

Urbanized Forest, Parks and Open Spaces

Since the early 1900s Carmel’s forest has been carefully nurtured and enhanced. Monterey pines, Coast Live oaks and other trees were often planted when lots were first sold or developed in an effort to extend the forest cover and range. Over time, the resident’s ongoing interest in the forest and natural environment resulted in the adoption of ordinances, resolutions, policies and a Master Plan relating to trees. Taken together, these documents have successfully guided the City's tree program over the years. However, since the measures were adopted at different times to address separate concerns, they lacked a sense of overall cohesion. In order to meld these documents together, the first Forest Management Plan for the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea was adopted in 1971. In early 2001, the City updated the Forest Management Plan and incorporated it into the Local Coastal Program. (LUP)

Carmel's forest is an “urbanized” Monterey pine forest rather than an “urban” forest. “Urban” forests are planted after development and typically consist of single species, regularly spaced trees planted in a row between the sidewalk and the street. An “urbanized” forest exists before development and is characterized by its diversity in species, age and randomness in tree location resulting in meandering streets of varying width. (LUP)

To many, the “urbanized” forest is the character-defining feature that makes Carmel-by the-Sea so unique. The forest, along with the beach and ocean, is the City’s largest and most visible natural resource. Homes are nestled into the native Monterey pine and Coast Live oak on a grid of streets that yields to trees more than to engineering expediency. Upper canopy trees impart a distinctive ambiance and identity to the City. Lower canopy trees soften and provide screening of development. Together the mix of upper and lower canopy trees establishes a powerful sense of place. (LUP)

In a city with few formal street improvements or drainage systems, the “urbanized” forest also serves to convey runoff from the watershed to the beach and Carmel Bay through a variety of natural drainages, swales, and creeks. The forest performs the important functions of absorbing water from the soil, reducing runoff, filtering pollutants, and minimizing erosion. As such, the “urbanized” forest reduces the amount of polluted runoff and in large part, helps the City comply with the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Phase II Storm Water permit regulations. (LUP)

In recent years, the Monterey Pine forest has suffered from a severe outbreak of pitch canker disease spreading throughout much of the City. The initial findings of a survey of the east side of town (east of Junipero Avenue) revealed that 50% of Carmel’s pines were infected with pitch canker and 2% of the standing trees were dead. The City has responded in the past by removing dead and dying trees and disposing of the infected materials. During the years of 1999 to 2001, the Forestry Department removed roughly 180 pitch canker-infected pines. Roughly 70% of those trees (125) were young trees 12”or less in diameter. Up to 70% of the younger trees east of Junipero Avenue now appear to be infected. Older trees are less susceptible to infection and only 30% of these are infected. (LUP)

The City’s Forest, Parks and Beach Department has an ongoing program of replacing dead and diseased pines on public property. The City also has been working on developing a disease-resistant pine and has been successful in planting 15 pines that have so far proved to be completely resistant to the disease. However, the loss of Monterey Pines due to pine pitch canker and other causes on private property continues to be an issue. (LUP)

The City of Carmel maintains an ongoing survey of trees by species and size, started in 1971. Since that time, the numbers of Monterey pines on public property declined roughly 2%, while the decline on private property has reached 10%. It is unclear whether pine pitch canker is entirely responsible for the decline on private property; there are many other factors including disease, development impacts, and old age. Though many large mature trees can probably survive pitch canker, given the age of the City’s Monterey pine forest, coupled with the susceptibility of young trees to the disease, the overall health of the City’s pine forest may be in jeopardy. As the number of Monterey Pines declined since 1971, the number of Coast Live Oaks increased 17% on private property and 40% on public property. The increase in oaks, dramatic as it may be, cannot offset the loss of Monterey pines, which impart a very different sense of place for the village. (LUP)

Steps must be taken to minimize the threat to existing healthy Monterey pines and new seedlings to ensure continued diversity in species, age, and location. This document includes policies to respond to this issue. Disturbance and/or removal of mature and disease resistant trees during construction or other development activities should be avoided. Permit conditions requiring replacement trees for those removed from private land should be monitored and enforced to ensure that the trees are healthy and reach maturity. Replacements should also be in like kind. It is essential that these and other policy directives be carried out to ensure that the Monterey pine forest landscape is protected so that the forested character of this unique coastal village is preserved. (LUP)

COMMENTS:
· “The City’s Forest, Parks and Beach Department has an ongoing program of replacing dead and diseased pines on public property.” (LUP) Yet the Forest and Beach Commission noted in March 2006 that since the fall of 2003, 350 trees had been removed and 95 dead and dying trees stood awaiting removal; only 92 trees had been planted by staff in the same time period.

· “The City of Carmel maintains an ongoing survey of trees by species and size, started in 1971.” (LUP) Yet the figures for the Number of Public and Private Trees in Carmel-by-the-Sea in the LUP (certified 2004) date from 1976-1979 and 1983-1986. Moreover, more recent survey results are not posted on the city’s web site.