The Laurel Canyon Land Trust has entered into a purchase and sale agreement to acquire and permanently preserve two parcels along Laurel Canyon Boulevard. The two lots are located at 2135 and 2141 Laurel Canyon Boulevard (APN 5567-029-007 and 5567-029-008). The land is home to several mature, native trees - including a large Coast Live Oak that can be seen as you drive along Laurel Canyon Boulevard - which is a locally designated scenic highway. The purchase price is $150,000.
The Land Trust has secured a $125,000 contribution from the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority to acquire the parcels using Community Facilities District Funding. But, we still need to raise $30,000 to cover the remaining purchase price as well as other associated acquisition costs. Can you help us? This will be the twelfth acquisition project of the Land Trust since it was founded in 2017.
- Oak woodlands are one of the most diverse habitat types in California, with over 300 species of wildlife, 370 fungal species and almost 5,000 species found with them at some time during the years. These trees are magnets for life.
- Oak trees also improve air quality by storing carbon dioxide and exhaling oxygen through the process of photosynthesis. The leaves of an oak tree absorb airborne pollutants. It has been observed that one tree can absorb up to 10 lbs. of air pollution in a single year and oaks can live for up to 400 years.
- Oak woodlands are also a repository of genetic variability and biodiversity that can sustain numerous species in times of environmental change. However, it takes 100 years to replace a 100 year-old oak that is removed. In the meantime, the young replacement trees planted as mitigation can only provide a fraction of the benefits lost with the removal of a mature oak, and given the uncertainty of actually recruiting replacement trees into maturity, it takes a very long time, and perhaps never, for any replacement plantings to regain the level of ecosystem services lost with removal of the original woodland trees.