Unfortunately the decline is also due to the Management plan (which was ordered in 2010) not being completed or enacted. The public has yet to see the "letter" from the insurer, JPIA which is the reason (for liability) the trails are currently closed. By calling these "emergency conditions" the City is violating public trust. This is not a situation that suddenly became an emergency - it's been developing for years - and the City, which was supposed to create a plan to deal with the forest, is clearly trying to ram it through. We don't have the evidence that what the city is proposing will help the Monarchs because the appropriate risk assessments and EIRs have not been done. The "emergency" situation is simply a tool for the City to avoid these timely (and costly) procedures. This video was created to expose the underlying reason such swift action is being proposed. (The demands from the city's insurer.)
Finally, I should mention that I've heard back from a few city council members on this issue - and they applauded the efforts of the short video and they did not refute the insurance angle.
The City of Goleta shares the passion for the Ellwood Mesa and the Monarch butterfly habitat. Unfortunately this video is not accurate. The City's insurance is not in jeopardy and the insurance company has not demanding a certain outcome. The City's science team lead by Althouse & Meade shared the information on the dangerous condition and recommended removal of the 900+ trees (the number at the time they first shared the information). It was based on their input that the City team mobilized to bring this emergency situation to the Council's attention and now to a decision point on what the next steps are. The decline over the last few years, due to the drought, pests and ages of the trees, has been been more rapid than ever before. The situation will not improve with no action as the trees continue to die. Even with water, the trees will continue to age and the pests will continue to eat away at the trees (and damage the healthy ones). The goal of the City is to protect the Monarch habitat. The Council will have a difficult decision as it decides which path forward to take. The Council meeting is at 5:30 p.m. on September 7 at Goleta City Hall at 130 Cremona Drive, Suite B. Read more information on the data, the staff reports and the process to date on the City's website: www.cityofgoleta.org/projects-programs/ellwood-mesa-habitat-project.
