F I R S TP R E V887NEXTLAST

The Wrong Trees in the Right Place
Due to number of eucalyptus trees in San Francisco many are surprised to find out that the tree is not native to California. At the end of the 1800s the population explosion in the Bay Area led to a serious lumber shortage. The government learned that eucalyptus was grown for hardwood in Australia and published a booklet promoting the tree and its importation. Soon a hundreds companies sprung up offering to import the trees.

With these importers promising a ten-fold return on investment, many Bay Area investors bought large land tracts started to import the plants. In Santa Clara one million seedlings were planted in one year alone. Even Jack London invested $50,000 in eucalyptus trees on his ranch. A few years later those investors were crushed when they found that they had imported the blue gum eucalyptus (above) not the timber tree version.

The designers of Golden Gate Park snatched up the cheap 'useless' trees and planted them by the thousand. Adolph Sutro also planted them on Mount Sutro, Mount Davidson and other areas in the city. In addition, the trees were used for windbreaks, forest cover, fence posts, and firewood. The unique tree also assisted in increasing the water table during dry summers. In Berkeley and Oakland the moisture caught in the eucalyptus adds up to ten inches of precipitation to the ground every year.

But like everything else there is a downside, the eucalyptus bully and force out many native species of natural plant life. Dead eucalyptus become major fire hazards and the tree hosts a dangerous beetle. Recently there has begun a plan by the National Park Service to eradicate all the eucalyptus from the Golden Gate National Recreational Area, an ignoble end to the once dreamed of money tree.
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