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Should Wildfire Victims Get a Break?","publishDate":1713034843,"format":"standard","headTitle":"California Requires Solar Panels on New Homes. Should Wildfire Victims Get a Break? | KQED","labelTerm":{"term":18481,"site":"news"},"content":"\u003cp>Hundreds of homes in Joe Patterson’s Northern California Assembly district burned to the ground in the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/newsletters/whatmatters/2021/08/california-wildfires-caldor-fire-lake-tahoe/\">Caldor Fire\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the three years since that devastating summer, many of those rebuilding homeowners have ended up on the hook for tens of thousands of dollars, thanks to state laws that require solar panels on new homes — even on those that didn’t have them before they burned down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Trust me when I say this: $25,000 to build solar onto a house where people do not have solar is 100% an impediment to rebuilding,” \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/joe-patterson-133512\">Patterson, a Republican from Rocklin\u003c/a>, told the Assembly Natural Resources Committee earlier this week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Patterson’s \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/bills/ca_202320240ab2787?slug=CA_202320240AB2787\">Assembly Bill 2787\u003c/a>, which passed the committee unanimously, would give some of those poorly-insured, low- and middle-income homeowners rebuilding after a natural disaster a break from the state’s solar-panel building requirement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill would exempt homeowners at or below the median income for their county from the state’s building codes that require new solar on homes if they’re damaged or destroyed in a natural disaster. The legislation, which would expire in 2028, also would limit the benefit to those who don’t have an insurance plan that would cover the costs of the upgrade to new solar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill now moves to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, where it faces an uncertain future. Last year, that committee killed a similar bill by Republican Assemblymember \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/jim-patterson-119\">Jim Patterson\u003c/a> of Fresno.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Joe Patterson, no relation, told CalMatters he expects his bill, which is coauthored by the Fresno Republican, to make it through the committee this time since it doesn’t contain funding for a study like last year’s bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Assemblymember Joe Patterson (R-Rocklin)\"]‘$25,000 to build solar onto a house where people do not have solar is 100% an impediment to rebuilding.’[/pullquote]It’s another matter whether Gov. Gavin Newsom will sign it if the bill is also approved in the Senate and reaches his desk. In 2022, Newsom vetoed a similar bill, citing the need for solar power to reduce greenhouse gases that are a contributing factor for wildfires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/climate-change/2024/01/california-solar-demand-plummets/\">Solar power\u003c/a> is a critical part of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.energy.ca.gov/news/2021-03/california-releases-report-charting-path-100-percent-clean-electricity\">state’s ambitious goal\u003c/a> to achieve 90% carbon-free electricity by 2035 and 100% by 2045. Large-scale and rooftop solar is projected to prove more than half of the grid’s power by 2045.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Extending this exemption would nullify these positive outcomes and instead would increase homeowner energy costs at a time when many homeowners are facing rising electric rates and bills,” \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/AB-1078-VETO.pdf?emrc=bded57\">Newsom wrote in his veto message (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Asked about this latest bill, Newsom’s press office responded that the governor doesn’t typically comment on pending legislation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Joe Patterson said he hopes Newsom would support this bill, given that it’s more narrow than the one he vetoed in 2022, and because some Caldor Fire victims with poor insurance say they never received \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-03-01/wildfire-survivors-decry-lack-of-fema-aid\">federal disaster relief cash to help them rebuild\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11982889\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1568px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11982889\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/102523-Paradise-Rebuild-AP-CM-02-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1568\" height=\"881\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/102523-Paradise-Rebuild-AP-CM-02-copy.jpg 1568w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/102523-Paradise-Rebuild-AP-CM-02-copy-800x449.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/102523-Paradise-Rebuild-AP-CM-02-copy-1020x573.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/102523-Paradise-Rebuild-AP-CM-02-copy-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/102523-Paradise-Rebuild-AP-CM-02-copy-1536x863.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1568px) 100vw, 1568px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The sun sets over Valley Ridge Drive in Paradise, Butte County, on Oct. 26, 2023. Empty lots, homes under construction and residences built after the Camp Fire line the street. \u003ccite>(Noah Berger/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, the insurance crisis in California’s wildfire country has only gotten worse since.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the devastating wildfire seasons of 2017 and 2018, private insurance companies have been dropping policies for hundreds of thousands of Californians, forcing many to join the state’s home insurer of last resort known as FAIR plan or risk going uninsured.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just last month, State Farm announced it wasn’t renewing \u003ca href=\"https://www.ktvu.com/news/state-filing-shows-california-zip-codes-where-state-farm-plans-to-drop-policy-holders\">72,000 California home and apartment policies\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In his \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/hearings/257724?t=1381&f=e9a00eed954ce559cf08ecd40c56158e\">testimony before the Natural Resources Committee\u003c/a>, Patterson said his district has seen skyrocketing numbers of constituents on the FAIR Plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label=\"Related Stories\" postID=\"science_1991404,science_1985611\"]“In 2019, we had roughly 8,100 households covered by the FAIR Plan in my district,” Joe Patterson told the committee. “Now, in 2023, we have 41,000 people covered by the FAIR Plan.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said the FAIR plan, at most, will only pay 10% of the costs to upgrade a destroyed home to the most current building codes including mandatory solar panels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And that 10% coverage really won’t go very far, especially to cover a solar system that costs about $25,000,” Patterson told the committee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"cm-leg-card cm-leg-card-padding\">\n\u003cp>As Patterson testified, sitting beside him was El Dorado County Supervisor George Turnboo. His district includes Grizzly Flats, which was torched in the Caldor Fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The costly burden on the Caldor Fire survivors trying to rebuild their lives is not worth the minimal benefit solar technology provides them in a very high snow and forest region,” Turnboo said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their arguments resonated with the 11 members of the Natural Resources Committee, including eight Democrats, who voted to pass the bill over objections from the solar industry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We understand the very sympathetic plight that some of these folks are in,” said Kim Stone, a lobbyist for \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/people/926\">the California Solar and Storage Association\u003c/a>. “But we don’t exempt them from other building code upgrade requirements.”\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"A California Republican’s bill would exempt low- and middle-income wildfire victims from solar panels requirements on rebuilt homes that didn’t have them when they burned down.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1713036969,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":25,"wordCount":904},"headData":{"title":"California Requires Solar Panels on New Homes. Should Wildfire Victims Get a Break? | KQED","description":"A California Republican’s bill would exempt low- and middle-income wildfire victims from solar panels requirements on rebuilt homes that didn’t have them when they burned down.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"California Requires Solar Panels on New Homes. Should Wildfire Victims Get a Break?","datePublished":"2024-04-13T19:00:43.000Z","dateModified":"2024-04-13T19:36:09.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png","isAccessibleForFree":"Y","publisher":{"@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","@id":"https://www.kqed.org/#organization","name":"KQED","url":"https://www.kqed.org","logo":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}}},"sticky":false,"nprByline":"\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/author/ryan-sabalow/\">Ryan Sabalow\u003c/a>","excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","showOnAuthorArchivePages":"No","articleAge":"0","path":"/news/11982884/california-requires-solar-panels-on-new-homes-should-wildfire-victims-get-a-break","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Hundreds of homes in Joe Patterson’s Northern California Assembly district burned to the ground in the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/newsletters/whatmatters/2021/08/california-wildfires-caldor-fire-lake-tahoe/\">Caldor Fire\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the three years since that devastating summer, many of those rebuilding homeowners have ended up on the hook for tens of thousands of dollars, thanks to state laws that require solar panels on new homes — even on those that didn’t have them before they burned down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Trust me when I say this: $25,000 to build solar onto a house where people do not have solar is 100% an impediment to rebuilding,” \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/joe-patterson-133512\">Patterson, a Republican from Rocklin\u003c/a>, told the Assembly Natural Resources Committee earlier this week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Patterson’s \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/bills/ca_202320240ab2787?slug=CA_202320240AB2787\">Assembly Bill 2787\u003c/a>, which passed the committee unanimously, would give some of those poorly-insured, low- and middle-income homeowners rebuilding after a natural disaster a break from the state’s solar-panel building requirement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill would exempt homeowners at or below the median income for their county from the state’s building codes that require new solar on homes if they’re damaged or destroyed in a natural disaster. The legislation, which would expire in 2028, also would limit the benefit to those who don’t have an insurance plan that would cover the costs of the upgrade to new solar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill now moves to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, where it faces an uncertain future. Last year, that committee killed a similar bill by Republican Assemblymember \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/jim-patterson-119\">Jim Patterson\u003c/a> of Fresno.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Joe Patterson, no relation, told CalMatters he expects his bill, which is coauthored by the Fresno Republican, to make it through the committee this time since it doesn’t contain funding for a study like last year’s bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘$25,000 to build solar onto a house where people do not have solar is 100% an impediment to rebuilding.’","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"align":"right","size":"medium","citation":"Assemblymember Joe Patterson (R-Rocklin)","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>It’s another matter whether Gov. Gavin Newsom will sign it if the bill is also approved in the Senate and reaches his desk. In 2022, Newsom vetoed a similar bill, citing the need for solar power to reduce greenhouse gases that are a contributing factor for wildfires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/climate-change/2024/01/california-solar-demand-plummets/\">Solar power\u003c/a> is a critical part of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.energy.ca.gov/news/2021-03/california-releases-report-charting-path-100-percent-clean-electricity\">state’s ambitious goal\u003c/a> to achieve 90% carbon-free electricity by 2035 and 100% by 2045. Large-scale and rooftop solar is projected to prove more than half of the grid’s power by 2045.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Extending this exemption would nullify these positive outcomes and instead would increase homeowner energy costs at a time when many homeowners are facing rising electric rates and bills,” \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/AB-1078-VETO.pdf?emrc=bded57\">Newsom wrote in his veto message (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Asked about this latest bill, Newsom’s press office responded that the governor doesn’t typically comment on pending legislation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Joe Patterson said he hopes Newsom would support this bill, given that it’s more narrow than the one he vetoed in 2022, and because some Caldor Fire victims with poor insurance say they never received \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-03-01/wildfire-survivors-decry-lack-of-fema-aid\">federal disaster relief cash to help them rebuild\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11982889\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1568px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11982889\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/102523-Paradise-Rebuild-AP-CM-02-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1568\" height=\"881\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/102523-Paradise-Rebuild-AP-CM-02-copy.jpg 1568w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/102523-Paradise-Rebuild-AP-CM-02-copy-800x449.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/102523-Paradise-Rebuild-AP-CM-02-copy-1020x573.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/102523-Paradise-Rebuild-AP-CM-02-copy-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/102523-Paradise-Rebuild-AP-CM-02-copy-1536x863.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1568px) 100vw, 1568px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The sun sets over Valley Ridge Drive in Paradise, Butte County, on Oct. 26, 2023. Empty lots, homes under construction and residences built after the Camp Fire line the street. \u003ccite>(Noah Berger/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, the insurance crisis in California’s wildfire country has only gotten worse since.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the devastating wildfire seasons of 2017 and 2018, private insurance companies have been dropping policies for hundreds of thousands of Californians, forcing many to join the state’s home insurer of last resort known as FAIR plan or risk going uninsured.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just last month, State Farm announced it wasn’t renewing \u003ca href=\"https://www.ktvu.com/news/state-filing-shows-california-zip-codes-where-state-farm-plans-to-drop-policy-holders\">72,000 California home and apartment policies\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In his \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/hearings/257724?t=1381&f=e9a00eed954ce559cf08ecd40c56158e\">testimony before the Natural Resources Committee\u003c/a>, Patterson said his district has seen skyrocketing numbers of constituents on the FAIR Plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"label":"Related Stories ","postid":"science_1991404,science_1985611"},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“In 2019, we had roughly 8,100 households covered by the FAIR Plan in my district,” Joe Patterson told the committee. “Now, in 2023, we have 41,000 people covered by the FAIR Plan.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said the FAIR plan, at most, will only pay 10% of the costs to upgrade a destroyed home to the most current building codes including mandatory solar panels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And that 10% coverage really won’t go very far, especially to cover a solar system that costs about $25,000,” Patterson told the committee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"cm-leg-card cm-leg-card-padding\">\n\u003cp>As Patterson testified, sitting beside him was El Dorado County Supervisor George Turnboo. His district includes Grizzly Flats, which was torched in the Caldor Fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The costly burden on the Caldor Fire survivors trying to rebuild their lives is not worth the minimal benefit solar technology provides them in a very high snow and forest region,” Turnboo said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their arguments resonated with the 11 members of the Natural Resources Committee, including eight Democrats, who voted to pass the bill over objections from the solar industry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We understand the very sympathetic plight that some of these folks are in,” said Kim Stone, a lobbyist for \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/people/926\">the California Solar and Storage Association\u003c/a>. “But we don’t exempt them from other building code upgrade requirements.”\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/news/11982884/california-requires-solar-panels-on-new-homes-should-wildfire-victims-get-a-break","authors":["byline_news_11982884"],"categories":["news_31795","news_1758","news_19906","news_6266","news_8","news_356"],"tags":["news_19204","news_18545","news_1775","news_3187","news_1857","news_4463"],"affiliates":["news_18481"],"featImg":"news_11982891","label":"news_18481"},"news_11644927":{"type":"posts","id":"news_11644927","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"news","id":"11644927","score":null,"sort":[1712829645000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"eucalyptus-how-californias-most-hated-tree-took-root-2","title":"Eucalyptus: How California's Most Hated Tree Took Root","publishDate":1712829645,"format":"audio","headTitle":"Eucalyptus: How California’s Most Hated Tree Took Root | KQED","labelTerm":{},"content":"\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003ci>View the full episode transcript.\u003c/i>\u003c/a> \u003cem>This article was first published in February 1, 2018, and was updated on April 11, 2024. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Depending on whom you ask, eucalyptus trees are either an icon in California or a fire-prone scourge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bay Curious heard from two hikers wanting to know about the past and future of California’s eucalyptus trees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[baycuriouspodcastinfo]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“How did all of this eucalyptus get to the Bay Area?” asked Christian Wagner, a tech worker who lives in Pleasanton.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I know that they’re invasive, so what do we do about that? Are they worth keeping around? Or do we need to get rid of them and replace them with something else?” wondered Julie Bergen, an occupational therapist from Alameda.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reaching heights of more than 100 feet, the main kind of eucalyptus you’re likely to see here is Tasmanian blue gum, eucalyptus globulus. They feature sickle-shaped leaves hanging from high branches, and deciduous bark that is forever peeling from their shaggy trunks. Some people experience the smell of eucalyptus as medicinal; others say the trees just smell like California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11647124\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11647124 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29068_eucalyptusgrove7-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"The trees are deciduous, shedding their bark every year.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29068_eucalyptusgrove7-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29068_eucalyptusgrove7-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29068_eucalyptusgrove7-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29068_eucalyptusgrove7-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29068_eucalyptusgrove7-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29068_eucalyptusgrove7-960x640.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29068_eucalyptusgrove7-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29068_eucalyptusgrove7-375x250.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29068_eucalyptusgrove7-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The trees are deciduous, shedding their bark every year. \u003ccite>(Samantha Shanahan/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>So how did eucalyptus trees get here?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>“They came here as envelopes of seeds on boats coming to California in the 1850s,” explains Jared Farmer, author of \u003ca href=\"https://jaredfarmer.net/books/trees-in-paradise/\">“Trees In Paradise: A California History.”\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the Gold Rush, Australians were among the throngs flocking to a place where wood was in short supply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This was the era of wood power,” Farmer says. “Wood was used for almost everything. For energy, of course, but also for building every city, for moving things around, all the things where today we use concrete and plastic and steel.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Besides the practical need to plant more trees, settlers who were used to dense forests also felt that the lack of trees in California’s grassy, marshy, scrubby landscape made it feel incomplete. So within a few years, nurseries in San Francisco were selling young eucalyptus grown from seed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The trees grew remarkably quickly here, even in poor soil.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In an average rainfall year here in California, these trees probably put on 4 to 6 feet in height and maybe, in their early growth years, a half-inch to an inch in diameter,” says Joe McBride, a UC Berkeley professor emeritus of landscape architecture and environmental planning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beyond the drive to change the landscape and provide firewood, Californians also planted eucalyptus (mainly blue gum) to serve as windbreaks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11647125\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11647125 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29071_eucalyptusgrove10-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Eucalyptus trees grow fast, sometimes putting on four to six feet in height in a single year.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29071_eucalyptusgrove10-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29071_eucalyptusgrove10-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29071_eucalyptusgrove10-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29071_eucalyptusgrove10-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29071_eucalyptusgrove10-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29071_eucalyptusgrove10-960x640.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29071_eucalyptusgrove10-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29071_eucalyptusgrove10-375x250.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29071_eucalyptusgrove10-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Eucalyptus trees grow fast, sometimes putting on 4 to 6 feet in height in a single year. \u003ccite>(Samantha Shanahan/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In fact, that was the original purpose of what’s now the largest, densest stand of blue gum eucalyptus in the world, on campus at Berkeley, says McBride. It was planted around 140 years ago to provide a windbreak for an old cinder running track — to keep its fine ashen gravel from blowing into athletes’ faces.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The trees’ success in California owed to a lack of enemies here. Because they were grown from seed, they hadn’t brought along any of the pests or pathogens they contend with back in Australia.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>An early 20th century boom\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Within a few decades of its arrival, many Californians grew disenchanted with eucalyptus. Blue gum proved terrible for woodworking — the wood often split and cracked, making it a poor choice for railroad ties. The trees also proved thirsty enough to drain nearby wells.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you go back to California farm journals of the 1870s, ’80s, ’90s, there’s just report after report of disappointment, like ‘these trees are no good,’ ” says Farmer, the historian.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But things changed in the early 20th century when U.S. Forest Service officials grew concerned about a looming timber famine. They feared forests in the eastern United States had been overexploited and wouldn’t grow back, and predicted the supply of hardwood would dwindle over the next 15 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11647127\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11647127 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29072_eucalyptusgrove11-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"The bark sheds often, peeling in large strips.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29072_eucalyptusgrove11-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29072_eucalyptusgrove11-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29072_eucalyptusgrove11-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29072_eucalyptusgrove11-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29072_eucalyptusgrove11-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29072_eucalyptusgrove11-960x640.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29072_eucalyptusgrove11-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29072_eucalyptusgrove11-375x250.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29072_eucalyptusgrove11-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The bark sheds often, peeling in large strips. \u003ccite>(Samantha Shanahan/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Investors saw an opportunity: California had a tree capable of growing to full size within that time frame. If hardwood was about to be scarce, they reasoned, such trees could be in high demand and yield sizable returns within a few short years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These people, Farmer says, were not reading blue gum’s lousy reviews in old farm reports. “And even if they did read them, maybe they wouldn’t care because they just wanted to make a buck; they were just flipping land.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This played out as a speculative frenzy — a bubble. Boosters began selling plantations dense with eucalyptus — hundreds of trees per acre. Farmer writes in his book that claims were made like: “Forests Grown While You Wait,” and “Absolute Security and Absolute Certainty.” In just a few years, millions of blue gums were planted from Southern California up to Mendocino.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The anticipated timber famine never came to pass. Forests further east proved more resilient than expected, and the need was offset by concrete, steel and imports, like mahogany. Ultimately, the thousands of acres of eucalyptus planted around California were not even worth cutting down. Much of what you see today is a century-old abandoned crop.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What’s fire got to do with it?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Eucalyptus trees have lovers and haters in California. A big part of the debate over whether the trees should be allowed to persist here traces back to the East Bay firestorm of 1991, which left 25 people dead and thousands homeless. Vast swaths of eucalyptus burned.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People at the time, I don’t think, associated that with a planted plantation; it was just a eucalyptus forest,” says CalPoly botanist Jenn Yost. “And then when the fire came through — I mean that fire came through so fast and so hot and so many people lost their homes that it was a natural reaction to hate blue gums at that point.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many experts say that eucalyptus trees worsen the fire threat for a few reasons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>The bark they shed dries out quickly and creates fuel.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Once a fire starts, that bark easily catches the wind and can be blown miles away, spreading the fire quickly.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Eucalyptus trees are really oily. The oil is actually what gives off that intense fragrance they’re known for. But in a fire, that oil also makes them flammable.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>But Eucalyptus trees have supporters too, who argue other plants in their place would also burn. A few years ago, federal funding to cut down trees in the East Bay hills was \u003ca href=\"http://www.berkeleyside.com/2016/09/19/fema-pulls-funding-for-tree-clearing-in-berkeley-hills/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">rescinded\u003c/a>, after \u003ca href=\"http://www.berkeleyside.com/2015/07/18/in-berkeley-protesters-strip-naked-to-try-to-save-trees/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">protesters\u003c/a> got naked and hugged the eucalyptus trees on campus at Cal. \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But after a nearly decade-long legal battle, a court gave UC Berkeley the go-ahead to cut. Still, it’s a drop in the bucket when you think about how many of these trees we have in California.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11647123\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-11647123\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29066_eucalyptusgrove2-1020x1530.jpg\" alt=\"To some, the scent of eucalyptus trees is simply the scent of California.\" width=\"640\" height=\"960\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29066_eucalyptusgrove2-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29066_eucalyptusgrove2-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29066_eucalyptusgrove2-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29066_eucalyptusgrove2-1920x2880.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29066_eucalyptusgrove2-1180x1770.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29066_eucalyptusgrove2-960x1440.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29066_eucalyptusgrove2-240x360.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29066_eucalyptusgrove2-375x563.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29066_eucalyptusgrove2-520x780.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">To some, the scent of eucalyptus trees is simply the scent of California. \u003ccite>(Samantha Shanahan/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Are they here to stay?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Blue gums can’t reproduce on their own just anywhere in California; Yost says they need year-round moisture. They’re able to regenerate in places like California’s coastal fog belt, but elsewhere “there are some plantations that don’t reproduce at all. When you go there, the trees are all in their rows, there’s few saplings anywhere to be seen, and those trees are just getting older.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not all non-native plants capable of reproducing on their own do it enough to have an ecological impact, Yost says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As soon as it starts outcompeting native species or fundamentally changing the environment so that native species can’t grow there, we would consider that an invasive species,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Blue gum is \u003ca href=\"http://www.cal-ipc.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Cal-IPC_News_Summer2014-6.pdf#page=10\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">classified\u003c/a> as a “moderate” invasive, putting it a \u003ca href=\"http://www.cal-ipc.org/plants/inventory/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">tier\u003c/a> below such uncharismatic weeds as yellow star-thistle and medusahead. McBride, the retired Berkeley professor, says “although there’s been marginal expansion of some eucalyptus stands, it’s really not well adapted for long-distance dispersal. It hasn’t really spread very much on its own.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[baycuriousbug]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With an estimated 40,000 acres of unharvested eucalyptus planted across the state, the trees aren’t easy to get rid of. Slicing down a large blue gum near a building can require a crane, at an expense of thousands of dollars. And keeping them from resprouting can also be its own chore.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Long term, as the climate changes over the coming decades, it’s possible the aging eucalyptus groves that don’t get enough water to reproduce will begin to die.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then again, if the state becomes \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/2015/02/12/new-study-global-warming-will-bring-megadroughts-to-the-west/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">hotter and drier\u003c/a>, it may become the type of place where some Australian species are able to thrive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[baycuriousquestion]\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Do you see any koala bears?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Potter:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> I wish.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>\u003ci>[sound of bark crunching underfoot]\u003c/i>\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Potter:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Should we tell people where we are?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Yeah, so we are at the Mount Sutro Open Space Reserve. Which has gotta be pretty close to the geographic center of San Francisco, would you imagine, right?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Potter: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I think that’s fair. And we are surrounded by a ton of what look to be ancient eucalyptus trees.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> If you’re not familiar with eucalyptus trees, they’re very tall. How tall would you say those are?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Potter: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We’ve seen some today over a hundred feet, for sure.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Definitely. And they have this weird bark, where the underpart of the tree is really smooth but their bark on the outside flakes off.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Potter:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> It’s deciduous, but it leaves this tan, almost naked-looking trunk behind.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> And these would not be good climbing trees.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Potter:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Yeah, most of the branches, like, what’s the lowest branch on that one? It’s like 30 feet up, how are you gonna climb that?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One thing I think a lot of people remark about eucalyptus trees in the smell.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>\u003ci>(inhale, exhale)\u003c/i>\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Potter: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some people hate it. But a couple people I talked to for this story—they say these trees just smell like California.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Which is pretty weird for a tree from Australia! \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>\u003ci>Theme music\u003c/i>\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> I’m Olivia Allen-Price, and this is Bay Curious, where we answer your questions about the Bay Area. On this episode, science writer Daniel Potter and I take a closer look at Eucalyptus Trees.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Potter: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They have lovers—and haters.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And there are giant stands of them throughout our region. This story first ran in 2018, but your questions about eucalyptus trees have kept on coming! So we thought it was time to freshen up this episode with some new information. We’ll get to it right after this.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>\u003ci>Sponsor Message\u003c/i>\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Alright! Let’s get to this week’s question, shall we? Or should I say \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">QUESTIONS\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> because we heard from two different listeners on this one…\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christian Wagner:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> How did all of this eucalyptus get to the Bay Area?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That’s Christian Wagner. He’s noticed lots of eucalyptus trees as he’s out and about because he likes hiking.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cb>Daniel Potter:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> –as does Julie Bergen.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Bergen:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And I know that they’re invasive, so what do we do about that? Are they worth keeping around? Or do we need to get rid of them and replace them with something else?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Christian and Julie both wonder about eucalyptus’ past—and its future here. Some people argue the trees are bad for \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">native\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> plant life—and a fire hazard—and need to go. So. Science writer Daniel Potter!\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Potter:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Howdy.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Where do we begin unraveling this one?\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cb>Daniel Potter:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> In a forest. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>\u003ci>Albany Hill outdoor ambi\u003c/i>\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Potter:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Let’s start with one on Albany Hill in the East Bay. You can see it from I-80, near the racetrack. That’s where I talked to this guy…\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Jared Farmer: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">My name is Jared Farmer, I’m a professor of history at Stony Brook University, and the author of \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Trees In Paradise: A California History\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Potter: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That book includes a solid hundred pages on eucalyptus trees in California, so I asked Farmer how they got here:\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Jared Farmer: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They came here as envelopes of seeds on boats in the 1850s.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Potter: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He says the Gold Rush drew people from all over—including from Australia. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sea shanty music …“In South Australia I was born, heed away all the way”\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cb>Daniel Potter: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And they were coming to a place where wood was in short supply. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Jared Farmer: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What we think of today as like say native California, Indigenous California, or pre-contact California was far more woody than wooded. Actually it was far more land that was chaparral and savanna and wetland and marshland than timberland…\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Potter:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> People settling here wanted to plant trees. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you’re used to trees, the California landscape might feel… incomplete without them. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cb>Daniel Potter:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> And then there were the practical concerns, since Californians were quickly downing what trees \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">were \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">here.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Jared Farmer: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This was course just the era of wood power—wood was used for almost everything. For energy of course but also for building every city, for moving things around, all the things today we use concrete and plastic and steel.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Potter: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So by the 1850s you could buy young eucalyptus in nurseries in San Francisco. It was grown here from seed, which meant it didn’t bring along any of the usual bugs or pathogens it faces back home. The lack of pests made it easy for these trees to grow really tall, really fast.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>\u003ci>(Berkeley outdoor ambi)\u003c/i>\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joe McBride:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> I would say in an average rainfall year here in California, these trees probably put on four to six feet in height.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Potter: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is Joe McBride, professor emeritus of landscape architecture and environmental planning at UC Berkeley. I met him in a towering stand of ancient eucalyptus on campus.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joe McBride: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These trees are now over 200 feet tall, and the largest ones are approaching six feet in diameter.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Potter: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Near the present-day Life Sciences building there used to be a cinder running track—picture fine ashen gravel. A hundred and forty years ago \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">…\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> at a fabled track meet with Stanford … supposedly the wind was so bad it blew cinder in everyone’s faces and the Stanford coach took his team home—track meet \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">over\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joe McBride:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> As a result of that, the campus planted this grove of eucalyptus trees as a windbreak, to prevent the wind from blowing the cinders into other athletes eyes in the future. This is the largest, densest stand of blue gum eucalyptus in the world.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tell us what that is— blue gum eucalyptus…\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Potter:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> So, the genus eucalyptus includes hundreds of species—some more like shrubs than giant trees. A lot were tried out here, but the main one today is Tasmanian blue gum, eucalyptus globulus. Side note: apparently even botanists can’t always tell what species they’re looking at without climbing way up to check out the fruit… \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So for a time these trees were planted on purpose – but many people came to hate them. What changed?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Jared Farmer:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> If you go back to California farm journals of the 1870s, 80s, 90s, there’s report after report of disappointment, like these trees are no good.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Potter: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That’s Jared Farmer, the historian again. It turns out while our blue gum gets tall real fast, it’s not ideal for woodworking—it splits and cracks and doesn’t hold up if you’re making railroad ties. It also sucks up a lot of water, which is handy if you’re trying to drain swampland, but less handy if your well is nearby. People were kinda over it. Until!\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joe McBride: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At the turn of the 20\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">th\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> century, we were faced with a crisis in terms of hardwood forest that had been cut over in the eastern United States.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Potter: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 1907, the U.S. Forest Service predicted a looming hardwood famine. People thought there was only about a 15-year supply before we ran out of usable forest. That gave eucalyptus boosters an idea: plant now, and fast-growing blue gums could be big enough to harvest once the famine hits.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joe McBride: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here in the Bay Area, for $100 you could buy an acre of land… planting those trees on 6 by 6 spacing, about 1,200 trees per acre. So they sold lots of these on a speculative basis.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Potter: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This became a frenzy—a bubble. Companies suckered investors with claims like \u003c/span>\u003cb>\u003ci>“\u003c/i>\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Forests Grown While You Wait” and “Absolute Security and Absolute Certainty.” Within a few years, thousands of acres were bought up and planted with eucalyptus, from Southern California up to Mendocino.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Wait, didn’t we just say blue gum was terrible for woodworking? Why was everyone still planting it?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Potter:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> In his book, Farmer gives a few reasons: blue gum was familiar, seeds were everywhere, it could grow in lousy soil—plus a blend of historical ignorance and artful deception.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Jared Farmer:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> In part because these people were not reading farm reports from the 1870s and 1880s, and even if they did read them maybe they wouldn’t care because they just wanted to make a buck, they were just flipping land.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Potter: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fears of a hardwood famine ultimately proved overblown. Concrete and steel became cheaper, forests further east recovered, and people started making furniture from imported wood like mahogany instead. California’s eucalyptus trees weren’t even worth cutting down—so there they stand. They’re like century-old abandoned crops. Farmer describes their presence here as a beautiful mistake. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That brings us to the second half of this week’s question from Julie and Christian:\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Bergen: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I know that they’re invasive, so what do we do about that?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christian Wagner: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To what extent is it sort of here to stay?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Potter:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> I took this question to Jenn Yost, a botanist at CalPoly. While some people see California’s eucalyptus trees as a heinous invasive species and want them gone, Yost was careful to delineate between \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">non-native\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">—which these trees definitely are—and \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">invasive\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Jenn Yost:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Just because something reproduces a little bit, sometimes it doesn’t do it enough where it has an ecological impact. And as soon as it starts outcompeting native species or fundamentally changing the environment so that native species can’t grow there, we would consider that an invasive species.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Potter: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While many kinds of eucalyptus have been tried out in California, only \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">two\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> are good enough at reproducing here to be considered \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">invasive\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: the red gum and the blue gum. And those don’t seem able to reproduce just \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">anywhere\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. In some drier parts of the state, the old plantations aren’t spreading.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Jenn Yost:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> You see blue gums being weedy and really reproducing on their own in areas that have summer moisture, and that’s usually in the form of fog. Or you see them being weedy in places with year-round water, like irrigation ditches or places with seeps.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Potter:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Blue gum is classified as a “moderate invasive.” Compared to other, faster-moving weeds, it’s not California’s most-wanted ravaging the countryside. Yost attributes a lot of the current resentment to the historic 1991 fire in the East Bay hills, where tons of eucalyptus burned.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Jenn Yost:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> People at the time I don’t think associated that with a planted plantation; it was just a eucalyptus forest. And then when the fire came through—I mean that fire came through so fast and so hot and so many people lost their homes that it was a natural reaction to hate blue gums at that point.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Archival tape: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pushed by 30 mile per hour winds, fire swept down the Oakland Berkeley hills destroying everything in its path.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The East Bay Hills fire was hugely devastating… 25 people died and thousands were left homeless. Many experts say that eucalyptus trees worsen the fire threat for a few reasons… The bark they shed dries out quickly and creates fuel…a lot of fuel. Once a fire starts, that bark easily catches the wind and can be blown miles away, spreading the fire quickly. Also: Eucalyptus trees are really oily. The oil is actually what gives off that intense fragrance they’re known for. But in a fire, that oil also makes them flammable.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Potter:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Other folks argue different plants in their place would also burn. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is an entrenched debate! A few years ago there was federal fire-prevention funding to cut down trees in those same hills, and people protested. Folks got naked and hugged the blue gums on campus at Berkeley. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> But after a nearly decade-long legal battle, a court gave UC Berkeley the go-ahead to cut down dozens of acres of Eucalyptus last year. Still, it’s a drop in the bucket when you think about how many of these trees we have in California.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Potter: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Yost estimates there’s something like 40 thousand acres of unharvested crops in the state. It’s not hard to extrapolate upwards of ten million trees statewide. Cutting each one down takes time and money.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So really the question of whether eucalyptus is going away comes down to who’s backyard it’s in. Can they afford to cut the trees down? Is the political will there to do it? \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Music\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So that’s where things are. What did our question askers think? Christian and Julie.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Bergen:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That was absolutely fascinating. I did not know that the history was even that rich.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cb>Christian Wagner: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I have to say I love the idea that a lot of what we see was a get-rich-quick scheme. Because that is just a theme that happens so often in America and in California.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So often to our detriment. Science Writer Daniel Potter, thanks for stomping around so many forests for us this week. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Potter: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Happy to do it!\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">music\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A note: A few of the sources quoted in his story have changed jobs since they were first interviewed in 2018.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you’ve ever wondered what all goes into making a Bay Curious story sound the way it does … join producer Katrina Schwartz and I TONIGHT, April 11 for our talk: Elevating Audio Stories with Sound for the PRX Podcast Garage. We’ll be talking through how we use music, sound effects, archival material, narration and more to bring the Bay Curious podcast to life. Join us in person at KQED’s Headquarters, or on the livestream. Tickets are free if you use the code “baycurious.” Grab yours at \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://kqed.org/podcast\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">kqed.org/podcastgarage\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bay Curious is made by Katrina Schwartz, Christopher Beale, and me, Olivia-Allen Price. Additional support from Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Cesar Saldana, Maha Sanad, Holly Kernan and the whole KQED Family. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christian Wagner:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Bay Curious is made in San Francisco at KQED. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I’m Olivia Allen-Price. Have a great week!\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"Depending on whom you ask, eucalyptus trees are either an icon in California or a fire-prone scourge.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1712783726,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":true,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":118,"wordCount":4111},"headData":{"title":"Eucalyptus: How California's Most Hated Tree Took Root | KQED","description":"Depending on whom you ask, eucalyptus trees are either an icon in California or a fire-prone scourge.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Eucalyptus: How California's Most Hated Tree Took Root","datePublished":"2024-04-11T10:00:45.000Z","dateModified":"2024-04-10T21:15:26.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png","isAccessibleForFree":"Y","publisher":{"@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","@id":"https://www.kqed.org/#organization","name":"KQED","url":"https://www.kqed.org","logo":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}}},"source":"Bay Curious","audioUrl":"https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/chrt.fm/track/G6C7C3/traffic.megaphone.fm/KQINC6716621061.mp3?updated=1712782612","sticky":false,"nprByline":"\u003cstrong>Daniel Potter\u003c/strong>","excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","showOnAuthorArchivePages":"No","articleAge":"0","path":"/news/11644927/eucalyptus-how-californias-most-hated-tree-took-root-2","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003ci>View the full episode transcript.\u003c/i>\u003c/a> \u003cem>This article was first published in February 1, 2018, and was updated on April 11, 2024. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Depending on whom you ask, eucalyptus trees are either an icon in California or a fire-prone scourge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bay Curious heard from two hikers wanting to know about the past and future of California’s eucalyptus trees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003caside class=\"alignleft utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__bayCuriousPodcastShortcode__bayCurious\">\u003cimg src=https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/bayCuriousLogo.png alt=\"Bay Curious Podcast\" />\n \u003ca href=\"/news/series/baycurious\">Bay Curious\u003c/a> is a podcast that answers your questions about the Bay Area.\n Subscribe on \u003ca href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/bay-curious/id1172473406\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Apple Podcasts\u003c/a>,\n \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/podcasts/500557090/bay-curious\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR One\u003c/a> or your favorite podcast platform.\u003c/aside>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“How did all of this eucalyptus get to the Bay Area?” asked Christian Wagner, a tech worker who lives in Pleasanton.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I know that they’re invasive, so what do we do about that? Are they worth keeping around? Or do we need to get rid of them and replace them with something else?” wondered Julie Bergen, an occupational therapist from Alameda.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reaching heights of more than 100 feet, the main kind of eucalyptus you’re likely to see here is Tasmanian blue gum, eucalyptus globulus. They feature sickle-shaped leaves hanging from high branches, and deciduous bark that is forever peeling from their shaggy trunks. Some people experience the smell of eucalyptus as medicinal; others say the trees just smell like California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11647124\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11647124 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29068_eucalyptusgrove7-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"The trees are deciduous, shedding their bark every year.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29068_eucalyptusgrove7-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29068_eucalyptusgrove7-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29068_eucalyptusgrove7-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29068_eucalyptusgrove7-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29068_eucalyptusgrove7-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29068_eucalyptusgrove7-960x640.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29068_eucalyptusgrove7-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29068_eucalyptusgrove7-375x250.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29068_eucalyptusgrove7-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The trees are deciduous, shedding their bark every year. \u003ccite>(Samantha Shanahan/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>So how did eucalyptus trees get here?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>“They came here as envelopes of seeds on boats coming to California in the 1850s,” explains Jared Farmer, author of \u003ca href=\"https://jaredfarmer.net/books/trees-in-paradise/\">“Trees In Paradise: A California History.”\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the Gold Rush, Australians were among the throngs flocking to a place where wood was in short supply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This was the era of wood power,” Farmer says. “Wood was used for almost everything. For energy, of course, but also for building every city, for moving things around, all the things where today we use concrete and plastic and steel.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Besides the practical need to plant more trees, settlers who were used to dense forests also felt that the lack of trees in California’s grassy, marshy, scrubby landscape made it feel incomplete. So within a few years, nurseries in San Francisco were selling young eucalyptus grown from seed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The trees grew remarkably quickly here, even in poor soil.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In an average rainfall year here in California, these trees probably put on 4 to 6 feet in height and maybe, in their early growth years, a half-inch to an inch in diameter,” says Joe McBride, a UC Berkeley professor emeritus of landscape architecture and environmental planning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beyond the drive to change the landscape and provide firewood, Californians also planted eucalyptus (mainly blue gum) to serve as windbreaks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11647125\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11647125 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29071_eucalyptusgrove10-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Eucalyptus trees grow fast, sometimes putting on four to six feet in height in a single year.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29071_eucalyptusgrove10-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29071_eucalyptusgrove10-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29071_eucalyptusgrove10-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29071_eucalyptusgrove10-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29071_eucalyptusgrove10-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29071_eucalyptusgrove10-960x640.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29071_eucalyptusgrove10-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29071_eucalyptusgrove10-375x250.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29071_eucalyptusgrove10-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Eucalyptus trees grow fast, sometimes putting on 4 to 6 feet in height in a single year. \u003ccite>(Samantha Shanahan/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In fact, that was the original purpose of what’s now the largest, densest stand of blue gum eucalyptus in the world, on campus at Berkeley, says McBride. It was planted around 140 years ago to provide a windbreak for an old cinder running track — to keep its fine ashen gravel from blowing into athletes’ faces.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The trees’ success in California owed to a lack of enemies here. Because they were grown from seed, they hadn’t brought along any of the pests or pathogens they contend with back in Australia.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>An early 20th century boom\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Within a few decades of its arrival, many Californians grew disenchanted with eucalyptus. Blue gum proved terrible for woodworking — the wood often split and cracked, making it a poor choice for railroad ties. The trees also proved thirsty enough to drain nearby wells.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you go back to California farm journals of the 1870s, ’80s, ’90s, there’s just report after report of disappointment, like ‘these trees are no good,’ ” says Farmer, the historian.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But things changed in the early 20th century when U.S. Forest Service officials grew concerned about a looming timber famine. They feared forests in the eastern United States had been overexploited and wouldn’t grow back, and predicted the supply of hardwood would dwindle over the next 15 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11647127\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11647127 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29072_eucalyptusgrove11-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"The bark sheds often, peeling in large strips.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29072_eucalyptusgrove11-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29072_eucalyptusgrove11-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29072_eucalyptusgrove11-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29072_eucalyptusgrove11-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29072_eucalyptusgrove11-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29072_eucalyptusgrove11-960x640.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29072_eucalyptusgrove11-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29072_eucalyptusgrove11-375x250.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29072_eucalyptusgrove11-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The bark sheds often, peeling in large strips. \u003ccite>(Samantha Shanahan/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Investors saw an opportunity: California had a tree capable of growing to full size within that time frame. If hardwood was about to be scarce, they reasoned, such trees could be in high demand and yield sizable returns within a few short years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These people, Farmer says, were not reading blue gum’s lousy reviews in old farm reports. “And even if they did read them, maybe they wouldn’t care because they just wanted to make a buck; they were just flipping land.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This played out as a speculative frenzy — a bubble. Boosters began selling plantations dense with eucalyptus — hundreds of trees per acre. Farmer writes in his book that claims were made like: “Forests Grown While You Wait,” and “Absolute Security and Absolute Certainty.” In just a few years, millions of blue gums were planted from Southern California up to Mendocino.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The anticipated timber famine never came to pass. Forests further east proved more resilient than expected, and the need was offset by concrete, steel and imports, like mahogany. Ultimately, the thousands of acres of eucalyptus planted around California were not even worth cutting down. Much of what you see today is a century-old abandoned crop.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What’s fire got to do with it?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Eucalyptus trees have lovers and haters in California. A big part of the debate over whether the trees should be allowed to persist here traces back to the East Bay firestorm of 1991, which left 25 people dead and thousands homeless. Vast swaths of eucalyptus burned.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People at the time, I don’t think, associated that with a planted plantation; it was just a eucalyptus forest,” says CalPoly botanist Jenn Yost. “And then when the fire came through — I mean that fire came through so fast and so hot and so many people lost their homes that it was a natural reaction to hate blue gums at that point.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many experts say that eucalyptus trees worsen the fire threat for a few reasons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>The bark they shed dries out quickly and creates fuel.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Once a fire starts, that bark easily catches the wind and can be blown miles away, spreading the fire quickly.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Eucalyptus trees are really oily. The oil is actually what gives off that intense fragrance they’re known for. But in a fire, that oil also makes them flammable.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>But Eucalyptus trees have supporters too, who argue other plants in their place would also burn. A few years ago, federal funding to cut down trees in the East Bay hills was \u003ca href=\"http://www.berkeleyside.com/2016/09/19/fema-pulls-funding-for-tree-clearing-in-berkeley-hills/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">rescinded\u003c/a>, after \u003ca href=\"http://www.berkeleyside.com/2015/07/18/in-berkeley-protesters-strip-naked-to-try-to-save-trees/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">protesters\u003c/a> got naked and hugged the eucalyptus trees on campus at Cal. \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But after a nearly decade-long legal battle, a court gave UC Berkeley the go-ahead to cut. Still, it’s a drop in the bucket when you think about how many of these trees we have in California.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11647123\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-11647123\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29066_eucalyptusgrove2-1020x1530.jpg\" alt=\"To some, the scent of eucalyptus trees is simply the scent of California.\" width=\"640\" height=\"960\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29066_eucalyptusgrove2-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29066_eucalyptusgrove2-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29066_eucalyptusgrove2-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29066_eucalyptusgrove2-1920x2880.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29066_eucalyptusgrove2-1180x1770.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29066_eucalyptusgrove2-960x1440.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29066_eucalyptusgrove2-240x360.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29066_eucalyptusgrove2-375x563.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS29066_eucalyptusgrove2-520x780.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">To some, the scent of eucalyptus trees is simply the scent of California. \u003ccite>(Samantha Shanahan/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Are they here to stay?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Blue gums can’t reproduce on their own just anywhere in California; Yost says they need year-round moisture. They’re able to regenerate in places like California’s coastal fog belt, but elsewhere “there are some plantations that don’t reproduce at all. When you go there, the trees are all in their rows, there’s few saplings anywhere to be seen, and those trees are just getting older.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not all non-native plants capable of reproducing on their own do it enough to have an ecological impact, Yost says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As soon as it starts outcompeting native species or fundamentally changing the environment so that native species can’t grow there, we would consider that an invasive species,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Blue gum is \u003ca href=\"http://www.cal-ipc.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Cal-IPC_News_Summer2014-6.pdf#page=10\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">classified\u003c/a> as a “moderate” invasive, putting it a \u003ca href=\"http://www.cal-ipc.org/plants/inventory/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">tier\u003c/a> below such uncharismatic weeds as yellow star-thistle and medusahead. McBride, the retired Berkeley professor, says “although there’s been marginal expansion of some eucalyptus stands, it’s really not well adapted for long-distance dispersal. It hasn’t really spread very much on its own.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003caside class=\"alignleft utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__bayCuriousPodcastShortcode__bayCurious\">\u003cimg src=https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/bayCuriousLogo.png alt=\"Bay Curious Podcast\" />\n What do you wonder about the Bay Area, its culture or people that you want KQED to investigate?\n \u003ca href=\"/news/series/baycurious\">Ask Bay Curious.\u003c/a>\u003c/aside>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With an estimated 40,000 acres of unharvested eucalyptus planted across the state, the trees aren’t easy to get rid of. Slicing down a large blue gum near a building can require a crane, at an expense of thousands of dollars. And keeping them from resprouting can also be its own chore.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Long term, as the climate changes over the coming decades, it’s possible the aging eucalyptus groves that don’t get enough water to reproduce will begin to die.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then again, if the state becomes \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/2015/02/12/new-study-global-warming-will-bring-megadroughts-to-the-west/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">hotter and drier\u003c/a>, it may become the type of place where some Australian species are able to thrive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"baycuriousquestion","attributes":{"named":{"label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Do you see any koala bears?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Potter:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> I wish.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>\u003ci>[sound of bark crunching underfoot]\u003c/i>\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Potter:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Should we tell people where we are?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Yeah, so we are at the Mount Sutro Open Space Reserve. Which has gotta be pretty close to the geographic center of San Francisco, would you imagine, right?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Potter: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I think that’s fair. And we are surrounded by a ton of what look to be ancient eucalyptus trees.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> If you’re not familiar with eucalyptus trees, they’re very tall. How tall would you say those are?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Potter: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We’ve seen some today over a hundred feet, for sure.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Definitely. And they have this weird bark, where the underpart of the tree is really smooth but their bark on the outside flakes off.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Potter:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> It’s deciduous, but it leaves this tan, almost naked-looking trunk behind.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> And these would not be good climbing trees.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Potter:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Yeah, most of the branches, like, what’s the lowest branch on that one? It’s like 30 feet up, how are you gonna climb that?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One thing I think a lot of people remark about eucalyptus trees in the smell.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>\u003ci>(inhale, exhale)\u003c/i>\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Potter: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some people hate it. But a couple people I talked to for this story—they say these trees just smell like California.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Which is pretty weird for a tree from Australia! \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>\u003ci>Theme music\u003c/i>\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> I’m Olivia Allen-Price, and this is Bay Curious, where we answer your questions about the Bay Area. On this episode, science writer Daniel Potter and I take a closer look at Eucalyptus Trees.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Potter: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They have lovers—and haters.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And there are giant stands of them throughout our region. This story first ran in 2018, but your questions about eucalyptus trees have kept on coming! So we thought it was time to freshen up this episode with some new information. We’ll get to it right after this.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>\u003ci>Sponsor Message\u003c/i>\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Alright! Let’s get to this week’s question, shall we? Or should I say \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">QUESTIONS\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> because we heard from two different listeners on this one…\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christian Wagner:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> How did all of this eucalyptus get to the Bay Area?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That’s Christian Wagner. He’s noticed lots of eucalyptus trees as he’s out and about because he likes hiking.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cb>Daniel Potter:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> –as does Julie Bergen.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Bergen:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And I know that they’re invasive, so what do we do about that? Are they worth keeping around? Or do we need to get rid of them and replace them with something else?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Christian and Julie both wonder about eucalyptus’ past—and its future here. Some people argue the trees are bad for \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">native\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> plant life—and a fire hazard—and need to go. So. Science writer Daniel Potter!\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Potter:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Howdy.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Where do we begin unraveling this one?\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cb>Daniel Potter:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> In a forest. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>\u003ci>Albany Hill outdoor ambi\u003c/i>\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Potter:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Let’s start with one on Albany Hill in the East Bay. You can see it from I-80, near the racetrack. That’s where I talked to this guy…\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Jared Farmer: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">My name is Jared Farmer, I’m a professor of history at Stony Brook University, and the author of \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Trees In Paradise: A California History\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Potter: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That book includes a solid hundred pages on eucalyptus trees in California, so I asked Farmer how they got here:\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Jared Farmer: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They came here as envelopes of seeds on boats in the 1850s.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Potter: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He says the Gold Rush drew people from all over—including from Australia. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sea shanty music …“In South Australia I was born, heed away all the way”\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cb>Daniel Potter: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And they were coming to a place where wood was in short supply. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Jared Farmer: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What we think of today as like say native California, Indigenous California, or pre-contact California was far more woody than wooded. Actually it was far more land that was chaparral and savanna and wetland and marshland than timberland…\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Potter:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> People settling here wanted to plant trees. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you’re used to trees, the California landscape might feel… incomplete without them. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cb>Daniel Potter:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> And then there were the practical concerns, since Californians were quickly downing what trees \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">were \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">here.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Jared Farmer: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This was course just the era of wood power—wood was used for almost everything. For energy of course but also for building every city, for moving things around, all the things today we use concrete and plastic and steel.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Potter: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So by the 1850s you could buy young eucalyptus in nurseries in San Francisco. It was grown here from seed, which meant it didn’t bring along any of the usual bugs or pathogens it faces back home. The lack of pests made it easy for these trees to grow really tall, really fast.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>\u003ci>(Berkeley outdoor ambi)\u003c/i>\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joe McBride:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> I would say in an average rainfall year here in California, these trees probably put on four to six feet in height.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Potter: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is Joe McBride, professor emeritus of landscape architecture and environmental planning at UC Berkeley. I met him in a towering stand of ancient eucalyptus on campus.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joe McBride: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These trees are now over 200 feet tall, and the largest ones are approaching six feet in diameter.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Potter: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Near the present-day Life Sciences building there used to be a cinder running track—picture fine ashen gravel. A hundred and forty years ago \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">…\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> at a fabled track meet with Stanford … supposedly the wind was so bad it blew cinder in everyone’s faces and the Stanford coach took his team home—track meet \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">over\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joe McBride:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> As a result of that, the campus planted this grove of eucalyptus trees as a windbreak, to prevent the wind from blowing the cinders into other athletes eyes in the future. This is the largest, densest stand of blue gum eucalyptus in the world.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tell us what that is— blue gum eucalyptus…\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Potter:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> So, the genus eucalyptus includes hundreds of species—some more like shrubs than giant trees. A lot were tried out here, but the main one today is Tasmanian blue gum, eucalyptus globulus. Side note: apparently even botanists can’t always tell what species they’re looking at without climbing way up to check out the fruit… \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So for a time these trees were planted on purpose – but many people came to hate them. What changed?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Jared Farmer:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> If you go back to California farm journals of the 1870s, 80s, 90s, there’s report after report of disappointment, like these trees are no good.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Potter: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That’s Jared Farmer, the historian again. It turns out while our blue gum gets tall real fast, it’s not ideal for woodworking—it splits and cracks and doesn’t hold up if you’re making railroad ties. It also sucks up a lot of water, which is handy if you’re trying to drain swampland, but less handy if your well is nearby. People were kinda over it. Until!\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joe McBride: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At the turn of the 20\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">th\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> century, we were faced with a crisis in terms of hardwood forest that had been cut over in the eastern United States.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Potter: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 1907, the U.S. Forest Service predicted a looming hardwood famine. People thought there was only about a 15-year supply before we ran out of usable forest. That gave eucalyptus boosters an idea: plant now, and fast-growing blue gums could be big enough to harvest once the famine hits.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joe McBride: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here in the Bay Area, for $100 you could buy an acre of land… planting those trees on 6 by 6 spacing, about 1,200 trees per acre. So they sold lots of these on a speculative basis.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Potter: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This became a frenzy—a bubble. Companies suckered investors with claims like \u003c/span>\u003cb>\u003ci>“\u003c/i>\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Forests Grown While You Wait” and “Absolute Security and Absolute Certainty.” Within a few years, thousands of acres were bought up and planted with eucalyptus, from Southern California up to Mendocino.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Wait, didn’t we just say blue gum was terrible for woodworking? Why was everyone still planting it?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Potter:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> In his book, Farmer gives a few reasons: blue gum was familiar, seeds were everywhere, it could grow in lousy soil—plus a blend of historical ignorance and artful deception.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Jared Farmer:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> In part because these people were not reading farm reports from the 1870s and 1880s, and even if they did read them maybe they wouldn’t care because they just wanted to make a buck, they were just flipping land.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Potter: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fears of a hardwood famine ultimately proved overblown. Concrete and steel became cheaper, forests further east recovered, and people started making furniture from imported wood like mahogany instead. California’s eucalyptus trees weren’t even worth cutting down—so there they stand. They’re like century-old abandoned crops. Farmer describes their presence here as a beautiful mistake. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That brings us to the second half of this week’s question from Julie and Christian:\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Bergen: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I know that they’re invasive, so what do we do about that?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christian Wagner: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To what extent is it sort of here to stay?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Potter:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> I took this question to Jenn Yost, a botanist at CalPoly. While some people see California’s eucalyptus trees as a heinous invasive species and want them gone, Yost was careful to delineate between \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">non-native\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">—which these trees definitely are—and \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">invasive\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Jenn Yost:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Just because something reproduces a little bit, sometimes it doesn’t do it enough where it has an ecological impact. And as soon as it starts outcompeting native species or fundamentally changing the environment so that native species can’t grow there, we would consider that an invasive species.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Potter: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While many kinds of eucalyptus have been tried out in California, only \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">two\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> are good enough at reproducing here to be considered \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">invasive\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: the red gum and the blue gum. And those don’t seem able to reproduce just \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">anywhere\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. In some drier parts of the state, the old plantations aren’t spreading.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Jenn Yost:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> You see blue gums being weedy and really reproducing on their own in areas that have summer moisture, and that’s usually in the form of fog. Or you see them being weedy in places with year-round water, like irrigation ditches or places with seeps.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Potter:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Blue gum is classified as a “moderate invasive.” Compared to other, faster-moving weeds, it’s not California’s most-wanted ravaging the countryside. Yost attributes a lot of the current resentment to the historic 1991 fire in the East Bay hills, where tons of eucalyptus burned.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Jenn Yost:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> People at the time I don’t think associated that with a planted plantation; it was just a eucalyptus forest. And then when the fire came through—I mean that fire came through so fast and so hot and so many people lost their homes that it was a natural reaction to hate blue gums at that point.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Archival tape: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pushed by 30 mile per hour winds, fire swept down the Oakland Berkeley hills destroying everything in its path.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The East Bay Hills fire was hugely devastating… 25 people died and thousands were left homeless. Many experts say that eucalyptus trees worsen the fire threat for a few reasons… The bark they shed dries out quickly and creates fuel…a lot of fuel. Once a fire starts, that bark easily catches the wind and can be blown miles away, spreading the fire quickly. Also: Eucalyptus trees are really oily. The oil is actually what gives off that intense fragrance they’re known for. But in a fire, that oil also makes them flammable.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Potter:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Other folks argue different plants in their place would also burn. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is an entrenched debate! A few years ago there was federal fire-prevention funding to cut down trees in those same hills, and people protested. Folks got naked and hugged the blue gums on campus at Berkeley. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> But after a nearly decade-long legal battle, a court gave UC Berkeley the go-ahead to cut down dozens of acres of Eucalyptus last year. Still, it’s a drop in the bucket when you think about how many of these trees we have in California.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Potter: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Yost estimates there’s something like 40 thousand acres of unharvested crops in the state. It’s not hard to extrapolate upwards of ten million trees statewide. Cutting each one down takes time and money.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So really the question of whether eucalyptus is going away comes down to who’s backyard it’s in. Can they afford to cut the trees down? Is the political will there to do it? \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Music\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So that’s where things are. What did our question askers think? Christian and Julie.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Bergen:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That was absolutely fascinating. I did not know that the history was even that rich.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cb>Christian Wagner: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I have to say I love the idea that a lot of what we see was a get-rich-quick scheme. Because that is just a theme that happens so often in America and in California.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So often to our detriment. Science Writer Daniel Potter, thanks for stomping around so many forests for us this week. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daniel Potter: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Happy to do it!\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">music\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A note: A few of the sources quoted in his story have changed jobs since they were first interviewed in 2018.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you’ve ever wondered what all goes into making a Bay Curious story sound the way it does … join producer Katrina Schwartz and I TONIGHT, April 11 for our talk: Elevating Audio Stories with Sound for the PRX Podcast Garage. We’ll be talking through how we use music, sound effects, archival material, narration and more to bring the Bay Curious podcast to life. Join us in person at KQED’s Headquarters, or on the livestream. Tickets are free if you use the code “baycurious.” Grab yours at \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://kqed.org/podcast\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">kqed.org/podcastgarage\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bay Curious is made by Katrina Schwartz, Christopher Beale, and me, Olivia-Allen Price. Additional support from Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Cesar Saldana, Maha Sanad, Holly Kernan and the whole KQED Family. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Christian Wagner:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Bay Curious is made in San Francisco at KQED. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I’m Olivia Allen-Price. Have a great week!\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/news/11644927/eucalyptus-how-californias-most-hated-tree-took-root-2","authors":["byline_news_11644927"],"programs":["news_33523","news_6944"],"series":["news_17986"],"categories":["news_19906","news_33520","news_356"],"tags":["news_20023"],"featImg":"news_11647129","label":"source_news_11644927"},"news_11981762":{"type":"posts","id":"news_11981762","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"news","id":"11981762","score":null,"sort":[1712228432000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"major-richmond-refinery-accidents-settled-as-part-of-chevron-deal","title":"Major Richmond Refinery Accidents Settled as Part of Chevron Deal","publishDate":1712228432,"format":"standard","headTitle":"Major Richmond Refinery Accidents Settled as Part of Chevron Deal | KQED","labelTerm":{"site":"news"},"content":"\u003cp>An agreement local air regulators made with Chevron earlier this year includes the settling of dozens of violations tied to some of the largest accidents at the company’s Richmond refinery over the last five years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Bay Area Air Quality Management District \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11975650/bay-air-district-hails-decisive-victory-in-battle-to-cut-refinery-pollution\">announced in February that it had reached deals with Chevron and the Martinez Refining Company\u003c/a>, ending a legal war over a rule intended to reduce a harmful form of pollution emitted by the energy companies’ local refineries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under the agreement, Chevron is also paying $20 million to settle 678 separate violations related to its Richmond refinery. That marks the highest penalty agreement the energy giant has ever made with the air district, according to Philip Fine, the agency’s executive officer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This a new era of enforcement and holding facilities accountable,” Fine told the Richmond City Council on Feb. 27. “They need to feel these penalties in order to incentivize them to stay in compliance.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The deal resolves all of the air district’s open enforcement actions with Chevron that took place between 2019 and June 30, 2023.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_11975650]“We believe this resolution will allow us to turn our full focus on the future safe and reliable operation of our facility,” Chevron said in a statement sent by company spokesperson Caitlin Powell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Air district officials told KQED 105 of the violations Chevron settled are tied to eight major incidents at the refinery over the last five years. They include several cases in which refinery components malfunctioned, leading to flaring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.baaqmd.gov/plans-and-climate/emission-tracking-and-monitoring/flare-minimization-plans\">Flaring operations\u003c/a> take place when refineries send gasses to their flares to reduce pressure inside the facilities during malfunctions as well as start-up and shutdown operations. Oil industry officials have emphasized that the practice is a way to prevent more serious and possibly dangerous accidents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of the flaring operations involved in the settlement released significant amounts of toxic gas into the air above the Richmond area. In several of these incidents, nearby residents could see black smoke and fire bursting into the sky, with some calling the air district to complain. Those cases garnered a significant amount of news coverage and social media posts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Regulators say 71 of the violations are connected to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11894150/chevron-refinery-malfunction-during-storm-shut-down-processing-units-causing-fire-and-toxic-flaring\">several days of pollution releases from the Richmond refinery that began Oct. 24, 2021\u003c/a>, when one of the Bay Area’s strongest storms in recent years brought significant rain to the region. The refinery sustained a series of malfunctions that led to three days of flaring and significant concerns by Richmond area residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two weeks after the releases started, the City Council asked Chevron executives to explain what happened in a public hearing. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11895438/richmond-to-chevron-listen-to-our-residents-concerns-about-your-problems\">Residents who showed up to the virtual meeting left upset\u003c/a>. They complained that company representatives did not have an explanation for what caused the major refinery malfunction. One of them, Randy Joseph, told the council and the company that he learned nothing from the hearing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_11895438]Reached two and a half years later, on the heels of the deal that essentially closes the book on that accident, Joseph said his dissatisfaction with Chevron has not subsided.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Chevron always has the answers,” Joseph said in an interview. “They just refuse to share with us. They know they’re polluting. They also know they can come and say nothing and get away with it,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few months after the October 2021 incident, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11901875/chevron-richmond-refinery-roof-leak-october-2021-flaring-incident\">KQED reported that problems started when an atmospheric river storm poured rain through a leaky roof into a key part of the refinery\u003c/a>, triggering significant power and steam loss. That, in turn, knocked half a dozen petroleum processing units offline, caused a small fire, and resulted in several days in which the refinery flared off toxic gases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They never came back to City Council. They never came back and explained. They never came back to apologize,” said Joseph, who is a community organizer with the group Reimagine Richmond and said he only learned of the cause of that accident from KQED’s reporting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label='Related Coverage' tag='chevron']Chevron says it informs the public and the air district about its releases. The company points out that residents can check real-time air quality data through \u003ca href=\"https://richmondairmonitoring.org/\">the refinery’s fenceline monitoring system\u003c/a>. The causes of many flaring events are posted several months later on \u003ca href=\"https://www.baaqmd.gov/about-air-quality/research-and-data/flare-data/flare-causal-reports\">the air district’s website\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Chevron Richmond also will be implementing various improvements to our flare monitoring and sampling systems and setting up ways to discuss flaring events and other air quality issues directly with our community,” the company said through its representative.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 71 violations for the October 2021 incident involve times in which Chevron broke public nuisance, permit condition, visible emission and flare monitoring regulations, according to Kristine Roselius, an air district spokesperson. But the settlement essentially obscures the fine amount for each penalty.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We accounted for the seriousness of these violations in determining an appropriate overall penalty amount for all the covered violations, but there is no allocation of specific dollar amounts to each individual violation, Roselius said in an email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the last decade, the oil industry \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11960699/oil-industry-sets-back-efforts-to-increase-fines-against-polluting-california-refineries-yet-again\">has successfully killed or delayed legislative attempts to increase penalties on refineries\u003c/a> that violate air quality laws in California. The most recent bill, proposed by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland), would increase the ceiling of many of those penalties to $30,000 per violation. That bill, \u003ca href=\"https://legiscan.com/CA/bill/AB1465/2023\">AB 1465\u003c/a>, is on hold.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Air district officials say 13 of Chevron’s violations settled in the recent deal were tied to an \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11860389/chevron-says-flawed-electrical-diagram-triggered-major-flaring-incident\">incident on Nov. 2, 2020,\u003c/a> when an incorrectly labeled electrical diagram caused a power outage leading to the flaring of more than 100,000 pounds of sulfur dioxide and other chemicals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The agency says 11 other violations were connected to a \u003ca href=\"https://www.cchealth.org/home/showpublisheddocument/28612/638337601986530000\">malfunction at the Richmond refinery on March 9, 2023,\u003c/a> when a hydrogen-producing plant tripped offline thanks to an electrical equipment malfunction. On the same day, a fire broke out thanks to a pump seal leak.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For years, Chevron’s Richmond refinery has flared more than the Bay Area’s other refineries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company argues that its “flaring performance has been steadily improving over the past few years.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“To supplement these efforts, we will be formalizing an operator training program related to flare reduction and conducting a comprehensive assessment of previous flaring events to identify if any additional corrective actions are warranted,” the company said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"An agreement air regulators made with Chevron earlier this year includes settling dozens of violations tied to some of the largest accidents at the company’s Richmond refinery over the last five years.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1712189495,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":27,"wordCount":1101},"headData":{"title":"Major Richmond Refinery Accidents Settled as Part of Chevron Deal | KQED","description":"An agreement air regulators made with Chevron earlier this year includes settling dozens of violations tied to some of the largest accidents at the company’s Richmond refinery over the last five years.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Major Richmond Refinery Accidents Settled as Part of Chevron Deal","datePublished":"2024-04-04T11:00:32.000Z","dateModified":"2024-04-04T00:11:35.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png","isAccessibleForFree":"Y","publisher":{"@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","@id":"https://www.kqed.org/#organization","name":"KQED","url":"https://www.kqed.org","logo":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}}},"sticky":false,"excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","articleAge":"0","path":"/news/11981762/major-richmond-refinery-accidents-settled-as-part-of-chevron-deal","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>An agreement local air regulators made with Chevron earlier this year includes the settling of dozens of violations tied to some of the largest accidents at the company’s Richmond refinery over the last five years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Bay Area Air Quality Management District \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11975650/bay-air-district-hails-decisive-victory-in-battle-to-cut-refinery-pollution\">announced in February that it had reached deals with Chevron and the Martinez Refining Company\u003c/a>, ending a legal war over a rule intended to reduce a harmful form of pollution emitted by the energy companies’ local refineries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under the agreement, Chevron is also paying $20 million to settle 678 separate violations related to its Richmond refinery. That marks the highest penalty agreement the energy giant has ever made with the air district, according to Philip Fine, the agency’s executive officer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This a new era of enforcement and holding facilities accountable,” Fine told the Richmond City Council on Feb. 27. “They need to feel these penalties in order to incentivize them to stay in compliance.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The deal resolves all of the air district’s open enforcement actions with Chevron that took place between 2019 and June 30, 2023.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"news_11975650","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“We believe this resolution will allow us to turn our full focus on the future safe and reliable operation of our facility,” Chevron said in a statement sent by company spokesperson Caitlin Powell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Air district officials told KQED 105 of the violations Chevron settled are tied to eight major incidents at the refinery over the last five years. They include several cases in which refinery components malfunctioned, leading to flaring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.baaqmd.gov/plans-and-climate/emission-tracking-and-monitoring/flare-minimization-plans\">Flaring operations\u003c/a> take place when refineries send gasses to their flares to reduce pressure inside the facilities during malfunctions as well as start-up and shutdown operations. Oil industry officials have emphasized that the practice is a way to prevent more serious and possibly dangerous accidents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of the flaring operations involved in the settlement released significant amounts of toxic gas into the air above the Richmond area. In several of these incidents, nearby residents could see black smoke and fire bursting into the sky, with some calling the air district to complain. Those cases garnered a significant amount of news coverage and social media posts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Regulators say 71 of the violations are connected to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11894150/chevron-refinery-malfunction-during-storm-shut-down-processing-units-causing-fire-and-toxic-flaring\">several days of pollution releases from the Richmond refinery that began Oct. 24, 2021\u003c/a>, when one of the Bay Area’s strongest storms in recent years brought significant rain to the region. The refinery sustained a series of malfunctions that led to three days of flaring and significant concerns by Richmond area residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two weeks after the releases started, the City Council asked Chevron executives to explain what happened in a public hearing. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11895438/richmond-to-chevron-listen-to-our-residents-concerns-about-your-problems\">Residents who showed up to the virtual meeting left upset\u003c/a>. They complained that company representatives did not have an explanation for what caused the major refinery malfunction. One of them, Randy Joseph, told the council and the company that he learned nothing from the hearing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"news_11895438","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Reached two and a half years later, on the heels of the deal that essentially closes the book on that accident, Joseph said his dissatisfaction with Chevron has not subsided.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Chevron always has the answers,” Joseph said in an interview. “They just refuse to share with us. They know they’re polluting. They also know they can come and say nothing and get away with it,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few months after the October 2021 incident, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11901875/chevron-richmond-refinery-roof-leak-october-2021-flaring-incident\">KQED reported that problems started when an atmospheric river storm poured rain through a leaky roof into a key part of the refinery\u003c/a>, triggering significant power and steam loss. That, in turn, knocked half a dozen petroleum processing units offline, caused a small fire, and resulted in several days in which the refinery flared off toxic gases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They never came back to City Council. They never came back and explained. They never came back to apologize,” said Joseph, who is a community organizer with the group Reimagine Richmond and said he only learned of the cause of that accident from KQED’s reporting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"label":"Related Coverage ","tag":"chevron"},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Chevron says it informs the public and the air district about its releases. The company points out that residents can check real-time air quality data through \u003ca href=\"https://richmondairmonitoring.org/\">the refinery’s fenceline monitoring system\u003c/a>. The causes of many flaring events are posted several months later on \u003ca href=\"https://www.baaqmd.gov/about-air-quality/research-and-data/flare-data/flare-causal-reports\">the air district’s website\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Chevron Richmond also will be implementing various improvements to our flare monitoring and sampling systems and setting up ways to discuss flaring events and other air quality issues directly with our community,” the company said through its representative.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 71 violations for the October 2021 incident involve times in which Chevron broke public nuisance, permit condition, visible emission and flare monitoring regulations, according to Kristine Roselius, an air district spokesperson. But the settlement essentially obscures the fine amount for each penalty.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We accounted for the seriousness of these violations in determining an appropriate overall penalty amount for all the covered violations, but there is no allocation of specific dollar amounts to each individual violation, Roselius said in an email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the last decade, the oil industry \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11960699/oil-industry-sets-back-efforts-to-increase-fines-against-polluting-california-refineries-yet-again\">has successfully killed or delayed legislative attempts to increase penalties on refineries\u003c/a> that violate air quality laws in California. The most recent bill, proposed by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland), would increase the ceiling of many of those penalties to $30,000 per violation. That bill, \u003ca href=\"https://legiscan.com/CA/bill/AB1465/2023\">AB 1465\u003c/a>, is on hold.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Air district officials say 13 of Chevron’s violations settled in the recent deal were tied to an \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11860389/chevron-says-flawed-electrical-diagram-triggered-major-flaring-incident\">incident on Nov. 2, 2020,\u003c/a> when an incorrectly labeled electrical diagram caused a power outage leading to the flaring of more than 100,000 pounds of sulfur dioxide and other chemicals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The agency says 11 other violations were connected to a \u003ca href=\"https://www.cchealth.org/home/showpublisheddocument/28612/638337601986530000\">malfunction at the Richmond refinery on March 9, 2023,\u003c/a> when a hydrogen-producing plant tripped offline thanks to an electrical equipment malfunction. On the same day, a fire broke out thanks to a pump seal leak.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For years, Chevron’s Richmond refinery has flared more than the Bay Area’s other refineries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company argues that its “flaring performance has been steadily improving over the past few years.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“To supplement these efforts, we will be formalizing an operator training program related to flare reduction and conducting a comprehensive assessment of previous flaring events to identify if any additional corrective actions are warranted,” the company said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/news/11981762/major-richmond-refinery-accidents-settled-as-part-of-chevron-deal","authors":["258"],"categories":["news_19906","news_457","news_8","news_356"],"tags":["news_20628","news_424","news_20023","news_27626","news_18543","news_3111","news_21107","news_579"],"featImg":"news_11981785","label":"news"},"news_11981665":{"type":"posts","id":"news_11981665","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"news","id":"11981665","score":null,"sort":[1712224818000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"climate-change-induced-heatwaves-are-devastating-californias-kelp-and-abalone","title":"California's Beloved Abalone Sea Snails Are Struggling. Here's Why","publishDate":1712224818,"format":"standard","headTitle":"California’s Beloved Abalone Sea Snails Are Struggling. Here’s Why | KQED","labelTerm":{},"content":"\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">View the full episode transcript.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The beaches of Northern California can be treasure troves for keen-eyed visitors. Surrounded by grass-covered cliffs and dramatic rocky outcrops, walkers can often find seashells, driftwood and other riches on the cool, wet sand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Bay Curious listener Lorraine Page moved to Pescadero about 30 years ago, she spent a lot of time hunting for such treasures at the beach. A family doctor by day, beachcombing was her way to unwind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[baycuriouspodcastinfo]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While she came across all sorts of treasures, she was looking for one thing in particular: abalone shells. For her, finding one of those beautiful, iridescent mollusks signified a day well spent on a Northern California beach. \u003ca href=\"https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animals/animals-a-to-z/abalone\">Abalone are mollusks, essentially sea snails\u003c/a> that can grow up to 10 inches in diameter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If she was especially lucky, Page might even find what are called \u003ci>pearls\u003c/i> attached to the outside of an abalone shell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The abalone makes this pearl to try to protect the shell,” she said. “And it’s beautiful.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the abalone perceives a threat, like a parasite, it surrounds it with nacre, also known as mother-of-pearl, to wall off the intruder. Over eight to 10 years, a beautiful iridescent pearl forms on the abalone shell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Page found \u003ca href=\"https://www.purepearls.com/pages/pearl-types-abalone-pearls\">one of these rare wild beauties\u003c/a>, she brought it to a jeweler in Pescadero, who turned it into one-of-a-kind necklaces or earrings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But over time, Page stopped finding them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It used to be consistent. At certain beaches in Pescadero, you’d find abalone shells,” she said. “And now I just can’t. They’re not around anymore.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She hasn’t found a whole abalone shell in over 10 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>Abalone’s long history\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11976838\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11976838\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-64-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-64-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-64-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-64-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-64-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-64-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-64-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Doug Jung holds a red abalone shell, or a trophy as they are called, at his home in Santa Rosa on Feb. 20, 2024. A friend gave the shell to him after his house burned down and he lost all of his belongings in the Tubbs Fire. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Abalone has lived off of California’s coastline for \u003ca href=\"https://caseagrant.ucsd.edu/news/abalone-the-story-of-a-treasured-mollusk-on-the-california-coast\">at least 70 million years\u003c/a>. The ancient mollusk has always held deep meaning for Northern Californians, going back to the very first humans who lived here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When humans came to California, they started using abalone right away — initially for food, but soon thereafter also for tools,” said Ann Vileisis, an environmental historian and author of the book \u003ca href=\"https://osupress.oregonstate.edu/index.php/book/abalone\">\u003ci>Abalone: The Remarkable History and Uncertain Future of California’s Iconic Shellfish\u003c/i>.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Indigenous people also used abalone shells for decoration and ceremonial purposes. During ceremonial dances, people wore beautifully elaborate regalia with abalone shells prominently displayed. They not only looked beautiful, Vileisis said, but they also added an incredible clacking sound, which helped to bring the dance to life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But when European settlers arrived on the West Coast, they started treating abalone like a commodity to be traded and sold.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the late 18th century, Spanish settlers traded abalone shells for sea otter fur as part of the Pacific fur trade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then, in the mid-to-late-19th century, Chinese and Japanese immigrants — who were familiar with abalone, being from the other side of the Pacific Ocean — began shipping dried abalone and shells back to China and Japan, where they were used in soups and congees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That was actually probably among the first California global trades,” Vileisis said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This was also a time of extreme racism and xenophobia in the U.S. In 1882, Congress passed the \u003ca href=\"https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/chinese-exclusion-act#:~:text=The%20Chinese%20Exclusion%20Act%20was,Arthur.\">Chinese Exclusion Act\u003c/a>, which barred Chinese immigrants from entering the U.S. And in1913, the California legislature passed a ban on exporting abalone, allegedly due to concerns over overfishing, though today it is largely seen as a racist law meant to target the growing prosperity of Chinese and Japanese fishermen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But abalone fishing didn’t stop. And in fact, over time, more and more Americans developed a culinary appreciation for California’s iconic sea snail.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is absolutely the best thing you can ever eat,” said Doug Jung, a Santa Rosa resident and former abalone diver. “There was nothing I’d rather eat than abalone. I mean, it was just so good.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11976836\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11976836\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-61-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Man in checked shirt and sun hat stands in front of a truck with a boat loaded in the back.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-61-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-61-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-61-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-61-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-61-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-61-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Doug Jung stands next to his boat in front of his home in Santa Rosa on Feb. 20, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Jung’s favorite way to cook abalone is to tenderize it with a wooden mallet, cover it with flour, then throw it in a wok and deep fry it for about six minutes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s crunchy on the outside, and you can cut it with a fork easily,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beyond feasting on abalone, diving for it became a way of life for Jung. He learned when he was in high school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s the adventure,” he said. “Every time you go out, when you come back, you say, ‘Cheated death one more time.'”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Abalone diving is one of the most dangerous kinds of sport fishing. It’s illegal to use scuba gear to dive for abalone due to concerns of overfishing. So, while holding their breath, divers have to dive down to the ocean floor or navigate rocky outcrops, scrape off the abalone without harming them, and then swim back up to the surface. And if that weren’t enough, they also must avoid getting tangled in kelp and encounters with other sea creatures. An octopus almost drowned Jung one time, he said. But despite the risks, for Jung, diving for abalone was totally worth it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This was my passion,” he said. “More than anything else, abalone diving was my absolute passion.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11976837\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11976837\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-63-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-63-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-63-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-63-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-63-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-63-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-63-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photos of Doug Jung with friends and family during and after abalone dives hang on the wall of his home in Santa Rosa on Feb. 20, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>Where are all the abalone?\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Just like Lorraine Page, our question-asker, Jung has also noticed the decline in abalone. In fact, he’s not even allowed to dive for them anymore because they are now considered critically endangered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Around 2014, a big climate change-driven marine heatwave hit the coast of Northern California. The increased water temperature impacted sea life in all kinds of ways, most notably killing much of the local kelp forest. And since kelp is a staple food source for many sea animals, other oceanic species, like abalone, also died off in large numbers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the same time, the Northern California sea star population was hit hard by a disease called \u003ca href=\"https://www.nps.gov/im/swan/ssws.htm\">wasting syndrome\u003c/a>. The warmer marine temperatures made the sea stars more susceptible to the disease and also allowed the disease to proliferate more quickly. Sea stars are predators of sea urchins, so when the sea stars started to decline, purple urchins thrived. And purple urchins devour kelp. The booming urchin population ultimately ate through more than 95% of Northern California’s coastal kelp, causing a near-total kelp forest collapse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Without the kelp, millions of red abalone — Northern California’s native species — died of starvation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When I go out there and dive, it makes me cry because the only thing I see is urchin barrens,” Jung said. “This is a horror for us who understood the beauty of what we lost.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>Hope for another abalone species\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Red abalone isn’t the only type of abalone facing potential extinction in California. In fact, all west coast abalone species are \u003ca href=\"https://www.ucdavis.edu/climate/news/all-west-coast-abalone-added-endangered-iucns-red-list\">listed\u003c/a> as critically endangered or endangered \u003ca href=\"https://www.iucnredlist.org/\">on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Enter the UC Davis Bodega Marine Lab white abalone captive breeding program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11976835\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11976835\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-47-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-47-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-47-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-47-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-47-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-47-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-47-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alyssa Frederick, director of the White Abalone Captive Breeding Program, poses for a portrait at the UC Davis-Bodega Marine Laboratory in Bodega Bay on Feb. 20, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The program started over a decade ago when scientists realized that white abalone populations had gotten so low they couldn’t reproduce in the wild anymore. Native to Southern California, the white abalone lives in deep water, but in the 1960s–1970s, as soon as diving technology allowed for deeper water fishing, humans overfished them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists have been working to breed white abalone in captivity under controlled conditions in order to release them into the wild and hopefully jump-start reproduction in the wild again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The spawns — where they induce breeding between male and female abalone — are exciting events that only happen once a year. I visited the lab just days after the most recent one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11976831\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11976831\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-10-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-10-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-10-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-10-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-10-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-10-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-10-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alyssa Frederick, director of the White Abalone Captive Breeding Program, points to a group of white abalone in a lab at the UC Davis-Bodega Marine Laboratory in Bodega Bay on Feb. 20, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We had 6.7 million eggs last week,” said Alyssa Frederick, director of the lab’s white abalone captive breeding program. “It was the largest spawn we’ve had in the program since 2019. I was really excited.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A ton of planning and coordination goes into a spawn, Frederick said. The abalone basically sits in buckets of chemicals, mostly hydrogen peroxide, which causes a cascade of hormones in their bodies that tell them it’s time to spawn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Abalone are broadcast spawners, meaning they release their eggs and sperm into the water column and form larvae from there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was literally pacing my living room like someone waiting in a maternity ward for someone to give birth,” Frederick said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Currently, the program releases about 5,000 abalone into the wild per year. In order to save the species, models show they need to be releasing twice that amount.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We still are an order of magnitude below what’s required to save the species,” Frederick said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11976832\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11976832\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-25-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-25-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-25-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-25-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-25-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-25-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-25-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alyssa Frederick, director of the White Abalone Captive Breeding Program, holds a white abalone at the UC Davis-Bodega Marine Laboratory in Bodega Bay on Feb. 20, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>‘Double whammy’ for red abalone\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The white abalone captive breeding program holds promise for the future of that species. As for red abalone, the situation is more complicated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In white abalone, you have lots of nice habitat,” said Laura Rogers-Bennett, a senior environmental scientist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. “You have kelp, you just don’t have white abalone. But red abalone has the double whammy of [needing] kelp \u003ci>and\u003c/i> red abalone.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s part of the reason there is no captive breeding program for red abalone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11981674\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11981674\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/red-abalone.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/red-abalone.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/red-abalone-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/red-abalone-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/red-abalone-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/red-abalone-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Abalone in a kelp forest near Mendocino, California, surrounded by dark red algae. \u003ccite>(Lt. John Crofts, NOAA Corps., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But there are some programs in place to try to save the kelp and, ultimately, the abalone. For example, since sea urchins are such a scourge on the kelp, state Fish and Wildlife officials have allowed commercial and recreational divers to harvest them in select areas. With fewer sea urchins, Rogers-Bennett said, the kelp might recover.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the program is still too small to have much impact, Rogers-Bennett said. There are just too many sea urchins. As a lifelong diver and ocean creature enthusiast, she said the work can be discouraging.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“To go back to a spot and see a particular rock that I visited at least once a year for 20 years, and to know that that spot is where there used to be tons of red abalone and to see it just covered with urchin and no algae at all, it’s heartbreaking,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While there’s certainly no lack of enthusiasm, she said her program needs more financial support if it has a chance of saving the abalone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Obviously, in red abalone, we have the passion,” she said. “I think there’s a chance that we can create some of these pockets of kelp forest and have them come back in these kelp oases. And that will be the start of restoration areas for the whole coast.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But as human-caused climate change continues to change ecosystems, there’s no telling when the next marine heatwave might hit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[baycuriousquestion]\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Sounds of ocean waves and seagulls]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/b> When Lorraine Page moved to Pescadero in the ’90s, she spent a lot of time at the beach. It was her way to unwind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lorraine Page: \u003c/b>I’m a family doctor on the coast. So I’m busy. But on, on weekends and such, that would be an outlet for me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>She would comb the beach and explore the tide pools for hours, looking for one thing in particular: abalone shells.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Magical beach music begins]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Abalone are mollusks… basically big sea snails, up to 10 inches wide, that live off our northern California coastline. You might recognize their shells, which are iridescent… somehow every color of the rainbow all at once.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lorraine sought them out because sometimes, if she was lucky, on those abalone shells she would find an abalone \u003ci>pearl.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lorraine Page: \u003c/b>They’re these beautiful little pearls that show up in the shell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>When Lorraine found one, she’d bring it to a jeweler in Pescadero who would polish it up and turn it into a one-of-a-kind necklace or earrings. But over time, Lorraine has stopped finding them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lorraine Page: \u003c/b>It used to be consistent that certain beaches in Pescadero, you’d find abalone shells, and I just can’t. They’re not around anymore.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>She says she hasn’t found a whole abalone shell in more than 10 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lorraine Page: \u003c/b>That’s just my simple question is, do we know why there’s not as many abalone?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Bay Curious theme music starts] \u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>I’m Olivia Allen Price and you’re listening to Bay Curious. On today’s episode: what happened to all the abalone? And can we bring them back?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Theme\u003c/i> \u003ci>music ends]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/b> Where did all the abalone go? We sent reporter Dana Cronin to find out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Cronin:\u003c/b> Before I get to answering Lorraine’s question, I think we could all use a little history lesson. Because, oh man, do abalone have a long history here in Northern California?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ann Vileisis: \u003c/b>Abalone have lived on the California coast for actually 70 million years, at the very least.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Cronin: \u003c/b>Ann Vileisis is an environmental historian who’s authored a whole book on abalone. She says the ancient mollusk has always held deep meaning for us Northern Californians… going back to the \u003ci>very first \u003c/i>humans who lived here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ann Vileisis: \u003c/b>When humans came to California, they started using abalone right away, initially for food, but soon thereafter also for tools\u003ci>.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Cronin: \u003c/b>Indigenous people also used abalone shells for decoration and ceremonial purposes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Sounds of a Pomo Indian dance performance featuring clacking abalone shells]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Cronin: \u003c/b>During ceremonial dances, for example… abalone shells were a part of the regalia. They not only looked beautiful — they also added this incredible clacking sound… bringing the dance to life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But when European settlers arrived on the West Coast, they started treating abalone like a commodity… to be traded and sold.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music starts]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the late 18th century, Spanish settlers traded abalone shells for sea otter fur as part of the Pacific fur trade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then, in the mid-to-late-1800s, Chinese and Japanese immigrants — who were very familiar with abalone being from the other side of the Pacific Ocean — began shipping dried abalone and shells back to China and Japan, where they were used in soups and congees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ann Vileisis: \u003c/b>That was actually probably one of the, you know, among the first California global trades was in abalone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Cronin: \u003c/b>This was also a time of extreme racism and xenophobia in the U.S., around when Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, which barred Chinese immigrants from entering the U.S.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1913, the California legislature passed a ban on exporting abalone, which they \u003ci>said\u003c/i> was due to concerns of overfishing. In reality, the ban was part of the larger anti-immigrant sentiment of the time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music fades out]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But abalone fishing didn’t stop. And in fact, over time, more and more Americans realized how delicious these sea snails are.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Doug Jung: \u003c/b>It is absolutely the best thing you can ever eat. There was nothing I’d rather eat than abalone. I mean, it was just so good.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Cronin: \u003c/b>This is Doug Jung. He lives in Santa Rosa and has been abalone diving up and down the Northern California coast since he was in high school — over 50 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He says abalone is naturally buttery and salty… and there’s something about its texture that is totally unique and delicious.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Doug Jung: \u003c/b>We just pound it with a wooden mallet until it’s soft. And then we throw it in a wok for six minutes and deep fry it and it comes out. It doesn’t suck up all the oil. You have it covered with flour and things. So it’s crunchy on the outside. You can cut it with a fork easily.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Cronin: \u003c/b>Like, imagine the most tender, melt-in-your-mouth scallop you’ve ever had.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But beyond just eating it… over the years, abalone diving became a way of life for Doug. It was addicting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Doug Jung: \u003c/b>It’s the adventure. Every time you go out, you know when you come back, you say ‘Cheated death one more time.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music starts]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Cronin: \u003c/b>Cheated death one more time because abalone diving is one of the more dangerous sport fishing activities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s because it was illegal to use scuba gear to dive for abalone due to concerns of overfishing. So divers have to dive down to the ocean floor or navigate rocky outcrops — where abalone suction themselves — scrape them off without harming them… and then swim to the surface \u003ci>all in one breath\u003c/i>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music fades out]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not to mention avoiding getting tangled in kelp… or encountering other sea critters. Doug tells me about a time he had a run-in with an octopus:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Doug Jung: \u003c/b>He only had two tentacles on me … but with those two tentacles — and I was in my prime in my 30s — I barely got off those two tentacles before coming up. And, I’m thinking if you had three on, I’d be dead\u003ci>.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Cronin: \u003c/b>Doug says, despite the risks, diving for abalone was totally worth it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Doug Jung: \u003c/b>I feel very, very fortunate to be able to experience this because this was my passion. More than anything else, more than inventing new technology, more than going fishing, more than hiking. Going up from the into the Sierras. Abalone diving was my absolute passion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Cronin: \u003c/b>But just like Lorraine, Doug has also noticed the decline in abalone. In fact, he’s not even allowed to dive for abalone anymore, because abalone are now considered critically endangered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To understand how we got here, we need to rewind the clock about 10 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music starts]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Cronin: \u003c/b>Around 2014, there was a big marine heatwave, driven no doubt by climate change. That heat wave impacted Northern California’s coastline in all kinds of ways. Most notably, killing much of the kelp forest off our coast here. Kelp is the main food source for many ocean species — including, you guessed it, abalone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The marine heat wave also introduced a disease called wasting syndrome… which wiped out much of the sea star population. Like in any ecosystem, when one species is impacted, other species along the food chain are impacted, too. Sea stars prey on sea urchins. So when the sea stars started to decline, purple urchins were without a predator… and they \u003ci>thrived. \u003c/i>So much so that they ate through more than 95 percent of our coastal kelp… causing a near-total kelp forest collapse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music out]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And that’s the root issue here. Because without the kelp, millions of red abalone — the kind that’s native to Northern California — have died due to starvation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Doug Jung: \u003c/b>It’s dead. When I go out there and dive up. It makes me cry because the only thing I see is urchin barrens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Cronin: \u003c/b>While Doug used to dive down and see this lush kelp forest, teeming with fish and snails and sea stars… now, with the kelp mostly gone, it’s almost like a desert landscape, with urchins covering the ocean floor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Doug Jung: \u003c/b>This is a horror for us. For us who understood the beauty of what we lost.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Cronin: \u003c/b>So that’s the sad answer to Lorraine’s question.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But now, you might be wondering: is there hope for the future of abalone?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Rushing mechanical background sound fade in]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Cronin: \u003c/b>To answer that question, we’re going to take a tour of the UC Davis Bodega Marine Lab, a facility in Bodega Bay that \u003ci>breeds \u003c/i>abalone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Alyssa Frederick: \u003c/b>When we’re doing spawning, what we do is we’ll take an animal out and we’ll check its gonads.\u003ci> \u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Cronin: \u003c/b>This is Alyssa Frederick. She directs the white abalone \u003ci>captive breeding program\u003c/i> here at the lab.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She holds up a five-year-old female abalone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Alyssa Frederick: \u003c/b>So they have two eyes on stocks and then they also have their like antenna. That’s curled up underneath. One’s curled up underneath, and one’s right here. Yeah. Pretty cute.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Cronin: \u003c/b>We’re in a lab holding room full of tanks housing abalone of all ages and sizes. This little lady, in particular, looks like a giant, oval-shaped snail with a big shell that sits flat across her back. Her two eyes are like tentacles, feeling their way around.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The spawns — where they induce breeding between the male and female abalone — are a really big deal. They only happen once a year, and I’m visiting just days after the most recent one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Alyssa Frederick: \u003c/b>We had 6.7 million eggs last week. It was the largest spawn we’ve had in the program since 2019. I was really excited.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music starts]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Cronin: \u003c/b>A lot of planning and coordination goes into a spawn. The abalone basically sit in buckets of chemicals, namely hydrogen peroxide, which causes a cascade of hormones in their bodies that tell them it’s time to spawn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alyssa says they set the mood — so to speak — in other ways too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Alyssa Frederick: \u003c/b>We had the lights off for most of it. We did it in the evening, which, like abalone, are more active in the evening. So my line of thinking is that why not stack the odds in our favor and do it then?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Cronin: \u003c/b>Abalone are broadcast spawners, meaning they release their eggs and sperm into the water column and form larvae from there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alyssa says it’s an intense process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Alyssa Frederick:\u003c/b> I mean, the joke, like, I was literally pacing my living room like someone waiting in a maternity ward for someone to give birth\u003ci>.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music fade out]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Cronin: \u003c/b>On the day I’m visiting, the little baby abalone are starting to settle, which means they have to flip themselves over and find a place to settle on the bottom of the tank.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We watch them through a microscope:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Alyssa Frederick: \u003c/b>Wee! Aww. So cute. Dancing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Cronin: \u003c/b>Now it’s important to note that these are \u003ci>white \u003c/i>abalone. Remember the ones we’ve mostly been talking about so far are red abalone… which are native to \u003ci>Northern\u003c/i> California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>White abalone were more common down in southern California. However, in the ‘60s and ‘70s, as soon as diving technology allowed us to fish deeper water species, we overfished them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Alyssa Frederick: \u003c/b>So we overfished, over 99% of what was out in the wild. It was pretty significant. Like, pretty much all of them.\u003ci> \u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Cronin: \u003c/b>White abalone was the first marine invertebrate species to be listed on the Endangered Species Act. There were so few left they weren’t able to reproduce in the wild anymore.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So scientists decided to bring some into captivity, have them reproduce in safe, controlled conditions, and then release them into the wild. They release them when they’re about a year old by placing them in these small cages on the ocean floor and opening up the door.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The goal is to create enough of them out in the wild that they start reproducing on their own.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Right now, they’re releasing about five thousand abalone into the wild per year. In order to save the species, models show they need to be releasing twice that amount.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Alyssa Frederick: \u003c/b>Right now we still are an order of magnitude below what’s required to save the species.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Cronin: \u003c/b>But, she says, they’re also an order of magnitude \u003ci>above\u003c/i> where they started.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music starts]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So there’s some hope for white abalone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for our red abalone here in Northern California… the situation is more complicated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Laura Rogers-Bennett: \u003c/b>I think the red abalone problem is more difficult.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Cronin: \u003c/b>This is Laura Rogers-Bennett, a senior environmental scientist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. She also works at the Bodega Marine Lab and specializes in \u003ci>red\u003c/i> abalone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She says while white abalone struggle in numbers, they at least have a healthy kelp forest to return to down south.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Laura Rogers-Bennett:\u003c/b> Red abalone has the double whammy of you need kelp. And you need red abalone\u003ci>.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Cronin: \u003c/b>Without kelp, red abalone don’t have a home to return to. And that makes captive breeding — and reintroduction — a lot harder. That’s part of the reason there is no captive breeding program for red abalone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They are doing some things, though, to try to bring back the kelp and, ultimately, the abalone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, they’ve identified a few areas off the coast where they allow divers to go out and harvest sea urchins to try to get the kelp to grow back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Laura Rogers-Bennett: \u003c/b>So far they haven’t been that successful in terms of bringing back the kelp.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Cronin: \u003c/b>There are also captive breeding programs for sea stars, which aim to reintroduce them back into the ecosystem to keep the urchin at bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s definitely an uphill battle. As someone who has done this work for a long time, Laura says it’s emotionally draining.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Laura Rogers-Bennett: \u003c/b>To go back to a spot and see a particular rock, that I visited, at least once a year for 20 years. And to know that that spot is where there’s tons used to be tons of red abalone and to see it just covered with urchin and no algae at all. It’s heartbreaking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Cronin: \u003c/b>But she’s committed to trying. Trying to get the kelp forest to grow back, trying to recoup the abalone we’ve lost over the last decade. And she hopes the findings from the captive breeding program will help along the way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Laura Rogers-Bennett: \u003c/b>Obviously, in red abalone, we have the passion. I think there’s a chance that we can create some of these pockets of kelp forest. Have them come back in these kelp oases. And, that will be the start of restoration areas for the whole coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Cronin: \u003c/b>If that happens, we could look forward to a future where Lorraine Page, our question-asker, can beach comb again for abalone pearls. And Doug can revive his long lost hobby; diving down, wrestling octopi along the way, in search of his favorite sea snail.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music fades out along with the sound of crashing waves]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/b> That story was reported by KQED’s Dana Cronin. Big thanks to Lorraine Page for asking the question.\u003cb>\u003ci>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/i>\u003c/b>\u003cb>\u003ci>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/i>\u003c/b>The North Coast Journal provided the sound of abalone clacking during ceremonial dances for our use in this episode.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’ve ever wondered what all goes into making a Bay Curious story sound the way it does … join producer Katrina Schwartz and I on April 11 for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/podcasts/1000/apr-11-600pm-elevating-audio-stories-with-sound-ft-bay-curious\">our talk at the PRX Podcast Garage\u003c/a>. We’re calling it \u003cb>Elevating Audio Stories with Sound\u003c/b> and it’s all about how we make this show with a small but mighty team. We’ll be talking through how we use music, sound effects, archival material, narration and more to bring the Bay Curious podcast to life. Join us in person at KQED’s Headquarters or on the livestream. Tickets are free if you use the code “baycurious” that’s all one word. Grab yours at \u003ca href=\"http://kqed.org/podcastgarage\">kqed.org/podcastgarage\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bay Curious is made in San Francisco at member-supported KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bay Curious is made by Katrina Schwartz, Christopher Beale and me, Olivia Allen-Price. Additional support from Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Cesar Saldana, Maha Sanad, Holly Kernan and the whole KQED Family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m Olivia Allen-Price. Have a great week!\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"Northern California beachcombers in places like Pescadero and Mendocino find abalone shells much less often than they used to. Climate change is threatening the red abalone population.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1712184048,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":true,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":167,"wordCount":5012},"headData":{"title":"California's Beloved Abalone Sea Snails Are Struggling. Here's Why | KQED","description":"Northern California beachcombers in places like Pescadero and Mendocino find abalone shells much less often than they used to. Climate change is threatening the red abalone population.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"California's Beloved Abalone Sea Snails Are Struggling. Here's Why","datePublished":"2024-04-04T10:00:18.000Z","dateModified":"2024-04-03T22:40:48.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png","isAccessibleForFree":"Y","publisher":{"@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","@id":"https://www.kqed.org/#organization","name":"KQED","url":"https://www.kqed.org","logo":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}}},"source":"Bay Curious","sourceUrl":"https://www.kqed.org/podcasts/baycurious/","audioUrl":"https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/chrt.fm/track/G6C7C3/traffic.megaphone.fm/KQINC4462577464.mp3?updated=1712176893","sticky":false,"excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","articleAge":"0","path":"/news/11981665/climate-change-induced-heatwaves-are-devastating-californias-kelp-and-abalone","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">View the full episode transcript.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The beaches of Northern California can be treasure troves for keen-eyed visitors. Surrounded by grass-covered cliffs and dramatic rocky outcrops, walkers can often find seashells, driftwood and other riches on the cool, wet sand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Bay Curious listener Lorraine Page moved to Pescadero about 30 years ago, she spent a lot of time hunting for such treasures at the beach. A family doctor by day, beachcombing was her way to unwind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003caside class=\"alignleft utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__bayCuriousPodcastShortcode__bayCurious\">\u003cimg src=https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/bayCuriousLogo.png alt=\"Bay Curious Podcast\" />\n \u003ca href=\"/news/series/baycurious\">Bay Curious\u003c/a> is a podcast that answers your questions about the Bay Area.\n Subscribe on \u003ca href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/bay-curious/id1172473406\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Apple Podcasts\u003c/a>,\n \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/podcasts/500557090/bay-curious\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR One\u003c/a> or your favorite podcast platform.\u003c/aside>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While she came across all sorts of treasures, she was looking for one thing in particular: abalone shells. For her, finding one of those beautiful, iridescent mollusks signified a day well spent on a Northern California beach. \u003ca href=\"https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animals/animals-a-to-z/abalone\">Abalone are mollusks, essentially sea snails\u003c/a> that can grow up to 10 inches in diameter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If she was especially lucky, Page might even find what are called \u003ci>pearls\u003c/i> attached to the outside of an abalone shell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The abalone makes this pearl to try to protect the shell,” she said. “And it’s beautiful.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the abalone perceives a threat, like a parasite, it surrounds it with nacre, also known as mother-of-pearl, to wall off the intruder. Over eight to 10 years, a beautiful iridescent pearl forms on the abalone shell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Page found \u003ca href=\"https://www.purepearls.com/pages/pearl-types-abalone-pearls\">one of these rare wild beauties\u003c/a>, she brought it to a jeweler in Pescadero, who turned it into one-of-a-kind necklaces or earrings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But over time, Page stopped finding them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It used to be consistent. At certain beaches in Pescadero, you’d find abalone shells,” she said. “And now I just can’t. They’re not around anymore.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She hasn’t found a whole abalone shell in over 10 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>Abalone’s long history\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11976838\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11976838\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-64-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-64-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-64-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-64-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-64-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-64-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-64-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Doug Jung holds a red abalone shell, or a trophy as they are called, at his home in Santa Rosa on Feb. 20, 2024. A friend gave the shell to him after his house burned down and he lost all of his belongings in the Tubbs Fire. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Abalone has lived off of California’s coastline for \u003ca href=\"https://caseagrant.ucsd.edu/news/abalone-the-story-of-a-treasured-mollusk-on-the-california-coast\">at least 70 million years\u003c/a>. The ancient mollusk has always held deep meaning for Northern Californians, going back to the very first humans who lived here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When humans came to California, they started using abalone right away — initially for food, but soon thereafter also for tools,” said Ann Vileisis, an environmental historian and author of the book \u003ca href=\"https://osupress.oregonstate.edu/index.php/book/abalone\">\u003ci>Abalone: The Remarkable History and Uncertain Future of California’s Iconic Shellfish\u003c/i>.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Indigenous people also used abalone shells for decoration and ceremonial purposes. During ceremonial dances, people wore beautifully elaborate regalia with abalone shells prominently displayed. They not only looked beautiful, Vileisis said, but they also added an incredible clacking sound, which helped to bring the dance to life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But when European settlers arrived on the West Coast, they started treating abalone like a commodity to be traded and sold.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the late 18th century, Spanish settlers traded abalone shells for sea otter fur as part of the Pacific fur trade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then, in the mid-to-late-19th century, Chinese and Japanese immigrants — who were familiar with abalone, being from the other side of the Pacific Ocean — began shipping dried abalone and shells back to China and Japan, where they were used in soups and congees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That was actually probably among the first California global trades,” Vileisis said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This was also a time of extreme racism and xenophobia in the U.S. In 1882, Congress passed the \u003ca href=\"https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/chinese-exclusion-act#:~:text=The%20Chinese%20Exclusion%20Act%20was,Arthur.\">Chinese Exclusion Act\u003c/a>, which barred Chinese immigrants from entering the U.S. And in1913, the California legislature passed a ban on exporting abalone, allegedly due to concerns over overfishing, though today it is largely seen as a racist law meant to target the growing prosperity of Chinese and Japanese fishermen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But abalone fishing didn’t stop. And in fact, over time, more and more Americans developed a culinary appreciation for California’s iconic sea snail.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is absolutely the best thing you can ever eat,” said Doug Jung, a Santa Rosa resident and former abalone diver. “There was nothing I’d rather eat than abalone. I mean, it was just so good.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11976836\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11976836\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-61-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Man in checked shirt and sun hat stands in front of a truck with a boat loaded in the back.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-61-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-61-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-61-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-61-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-61-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-61-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Doug Jung stands next to his boat in front of his home in Santa Rosa on Feb. 20, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Jung’s favorite way to cook abalone is to tenderize it with a wooden mallet, cover it with flour, then throw it in a wok and deep fry it for about six minutes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s crunchy on the outside, and you can cut it with a fork easily,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beyond feasting on abalone, diving for it became a way of life for Jung. He learned when he was in high school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s the adventure,” he said. “Every time you go out, when you come back, you say, ‘Cheated death one more time.'”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Abalone diving is one of the most dangerous kinds of sport fishing. It’s illegal to use scuba gear to dive for abalone due to concerns of overfishing. So, while holding their breath, divers have to dive down to the ocean floor or navigate rocky outcrops, scrape off the abalone without harming them, and then swim back up to the surface. And if that weren’t enough, they also must avoid getting tangled in kelp and encounters with other sea creatures. An octopus almost drowned Jung one time, he said. But despite the risks, for Jung, diving for abalone was totally worth it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This was my passion,” he said. “More than anything else, abalone diving was my absolute passion.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11976837\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11976837\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-63-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-63-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-63-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-63-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-63-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-63-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-63-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photos of Doug Jung with friends and family during and after abalone dives hang on the wall of his home in Santa Rosa on Feb. 20, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>Where are all the abalone?\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Just like Lorraine Page, our question-asker, Jung has also noticed the decline in abalone. In fact, he’s not even allowed to dive for them anymore because they are now considered critically endangered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Around 2014, a big climate change-driven marine heatwave hit the coast of Northern California. The increased water temperature impacted sea life in all kinds of ways, most notably killing much of the local kelp forest. And since kelp is a staple food source for many sea animals, other oceanic species, like abalone, also died off in large numbers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the same time, the Northern California sea star population was hit hard by a disease called \u003ca href=\"https://www.nps.gov/im/swan/ssws.htm\">wasting syndrome\u003c/a>. The warmer marine temperatures made the sea stars more susceptible to the disease and also allowed the disease to proliferate more quickly. Sea stars are predators of sea urchins, so when the sea stars started to decline, purple urchins thrived. And purple urchins devour kelp. The booming urchin population ultimately ate through more than 95% of Northern California’s coastal kelp, causing a near-total kelp forest collapse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Without the kelp, millions of red abalone — Northern California’s native species — died of starvation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When I go out there and dive, it makes me cry because the only thing I see is urchin barrens,” Jung said. “This is a horror for us who understood the beauty of what we lost.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>Hope for another abalone species\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Red abalone isn’t the only type of abalone facing potential extinction in California. In fact, all west coast abalone species are \u003ca href=\"https://www.ucdavis.edu/climate/news/all-west-coast-abalone-added-endangered-iucns-red-list\">listed\u003c/a> as critically endangered or endangered \u003ca href=\"https://www.iucnredlist.org/\">on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Enter the UC Davis Bodega Marine Lab white abalone captive breeding program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11976835\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11976835\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-47-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-47-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-47-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-47-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-47-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-47-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-47-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alyssa Frederick, director of the White Abalone Captive Breeding Program, poses for a portrait at the UC Davis-Bodega Marine Laboratory in Bodega Bay on Feb. 20, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The program started over a decade ago when scientists realized that white abalone populations had gotten so low they couldn’t reproduce in the wild anymore. Native to Southern California, the white abalone lives in deep water, but in the 1960s–1970s, as soon as diving technology allowed for deeper water fishing, humans overfished them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists have been working to breed white abalone in captivity under controlled conditions in order to release them into the wild and hopefully jump-start reproduction in the wild again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The spawns — where they induce breeding between male and female abalone — are exciting events that only happen once a year. I visited the lab just days after the most recent one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11976831\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11976831\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-10-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-10-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-10-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-10-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-10-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-10-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-10-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alyssa Frederick, director of the White Abalone Captive Breeding Program, points to a group of white abalone in a lab at the UC Davis-Bodega Marine Laboratory in Bodega Bay on Feb. 20, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We had 6.7 million eggs last week,” said Alyssa Frederick, director of the lab’s white abalone captive breeding program. “It was the largest spawn we’ve had in the program since 2019. I was really excited.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A ton of planning and coordination goes into a spawn, Frederick said. The abalone basically sits in buckets of chemicals, mostly hydrogen peroxide, which causes a cascade of hormones in their bodies that tell them it’s time to spawn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Abalone are broadcast spawners, meaning they release their eggs and sperm into the water column and form larvae from there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was literally pacing my living room like someone waiting in a maternity ward for someone to give birth,” Frederick said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Currently, the program releases about 5,000 abalone into the wild per year. In order to save the species, models show they need to be releasing twice that amount.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We still are an order of magnitude below what’s required to save the species,” Frederick said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11976832\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11976832\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-25-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-25-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-25-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-25-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-25-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-25-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/240220-ABALONE-25-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alyssa Frederick, director of the White Abalone Captive Breeding Program, holds a white abalone at the UC Davis-Bodega Marine Laboratory in Bodega Bay on Feb. 20, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>‘Double whammy’ for red abalone\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The white abalone captive breeding program holds promise for the future of that species. As for red abalone, the situation is more complicated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In white abalone, you have lots of nice habitat,” said Laura Rogers-Bennett, a senior environmental scientist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. “You have kelp, you just don’t have white abalone. But red abalone has the double whammy of [needing] kelp \u003ci>and\u003c/i> red abalone.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s part of the reason there is no captive breeding program for red abalone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11981674\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11981674\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/red-abalone.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/red-abalone.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/red-abalone-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/red-abalone-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/red-abalone-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/red-abalone-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Abalone in a kelp forest near Mendocino, California, surrounded by dark red algae. \u003ccite>(Lt. John Crofts, NOAA Corps., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But there are some programs in place to try to save the kelp and, ultimately, the abalone. For example, since sea urchins are such a scourge on the kelp, state Fish and Wildlife officials have allowed commercial and recreational divers to harvest them in select areas. With fewer sea urchins, Rogers-Bennett said, the kelp might recover.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the program is still too small to have much impact, Rogers-Bennett said. There are just too many sea urchins. As a lifelong diver and ocean creature enthusiast, she said the work can be discouraging.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“To go back to a spot and see a particular rock that I visited at least once a year for 20 years, and to know that that spot is where there used to be tons of red abalone and to see it just covered with urchin and no algae at all, it’s heartbreaking,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While there’s certainly no lack of enthusiasm, she said her program needs more financial support if it has a chance of saving the abalone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Obviously, in red abalone, we have the passion,” she said. “I think there’s a chance that we can create some of these pockets of kelp forest and have them come back in these kelp oases. And that will be the start of restoration areas for the whole coast.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But as human-caused climate change continues to change ecosystems, there’s no telling when the next marine heatwave might hit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"baycuriousquestion","attributes":{"named":{"label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Sounds of ocean waves and seagulls]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/b> When Lorraine Page moved to Pescadero in the ’90s, she spent a lot of time at the beach. It was her way to unwind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lorraine Page: \u003c/b>I’m a family doctor on the coast. So I’m busy. But on, on weekends and such, that would be an outlet for me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>She would comb the beach and explore the tide pools for hours, looking for one thing in particular: abalone shells.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Magical beach music begins]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Abalone are mollusks… basically big sea snails, up to 10 inches wide, that live off our northern California coastline. You might recognize their shells, which are iridescent… somehow every color of the rainbow all at once.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lorraine sought them out because sometimes, if she was lucky, on those abalone shells she would find an abalone \u003ci>pearl.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lorraine Page: \u003c/b>They’re these beautiful little pearls that show up in the shell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>When Lorraine found one, she’d bring it to a jeweler in Pescadero who would polish it up and turn it into a one-of-a-kind necklace or earrings. But over time, Lorraine has stopped finding them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lorraine Page: \u003c/b>It used to be consistent that certain beaches in Pescadero, you’d find abalone shells, and I just can’t. They’re not around anymore.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>She says she hasn’t found a whole abalone shell in more than 10 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lorraine Page: \u003c/b>That’s just my simple question is, do we know why there’s not as many abalone?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Bay Curious theme music starts] \u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>I’m Olivia Allen Price and you’re listening to Bay Curious. On today’s episode: what happened to all the abalone? And can we bring them back?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Theme\u003c/i> \u003ci>music ends]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/b> Where did all the abalone go? We sent reporter Dana Cronin to find out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Cronin:\u003c/b> Before I get to answering Lorraine’s question, I think we could all use a little history lesson. Because, oh man, do abalone have a long history here in Northern California?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ann Vileisis: \u003c/b>Abalone have lived on the California coast for actually 70 million years, at the very least.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Cronin: \u003c/b>Ann Vileisis is an environmental historian who’s authored a whole book on abalone. She says the ancient mollusk has always held deep meaning for us Northern Californians… going back to the \u003ci>very first \u003c/i>humans who lived here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ann Vileisis: \u003c/b>When humans came to California, they started using abalone right away, initially for food, but soon thereafter also for tools\u003ci>.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Cronin: \u003c/b>Indigenous people also used abalone shells for decoration and ceremonial purposes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Sounds of a Pomo Indian dance performance featuring clacking abalone shells]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Cronin: \u003c/b>During ceremonial dances, for example… abalone shells were a part of the regalia. They not only looked beautiful — they also added this incredible clacking sound… bringing the dance to life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But when European settlers arrived on the West Coast, they started treating abalone like a commodity… to be traded and sold.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music starts]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the late 18th century, Spanish settlers traded abalone shells for sea otter fur as part of the Pacific fur trade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then, in the mid-to-late-1800s, Chinese and Japanese immigrants — who were very familiar with abalone being from the other side of the Pacific Ocean — began shipping dried abalone and shells back to China and Japan, where they were used in soups and congees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ann Vileisis: \u003c/b>That was actually probably one of the, you know, among the first California global trades was in abalone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Cronin: \u003c/b>This was also a time of extreme racism and xenophobia in the U.S., around when Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, which barred Chinese immigrants from entering the U.S.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1913, the California legislature passed a ban on exporting abalone, which they \u003ci>said\u003c/i> was due to concerns of overfishing. In reality, the ban was part of the larger anti-immigrant sentiment of the time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music fades out]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But abalone fishing didn’t stop. And in fact, over time, more and more Americans realized how delicious these sea snails are.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Doug Jung: \u003c/b>It is absolutely the best thing you can ever eat. There was nothing I’d rather eat than abalone. I mean, it was just so good.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Cronin: \u003c/b>This is Doug Jung. He lives in Santa Rosa and has been abalone diving up and down the Northern California coast since he was in high school — over 50 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He says abalone is naturally buttery and salty… and there’s something about its texture that is totally unique and delicious.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Doug Jung: \u003c/b>We just pound it with a wooden mallet until it’s soft. And then we throw it in a wok for six minutes and deep fry it and it comes out. It doesn’t suck up all the oil. You have it covered with flour and things. So it’s crunchy on the outside. You can cut it with a fork easily.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Cronin: \u003c/b>Like, imagine the most tender, melt-in-your-mouth scallop you’ve ever had.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But beyond just eating it… over the years, abalone diving became a way of life for Doug. It was addicting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Doug Jung: \u003c/b>It’s the adventure. Every time you go out, you know when you come back, you say ‘Cheated death one more time.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music starts]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Cronin: \u003c/b>Cheated death one more time because abalone diving is one of the more dangerous sport fishing activities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s because it was illegal to use scuba gear to dive for abalone due to concerns of overfishing. So divers have to dive down to the ocean floor or navigate rocky outcrops — where abalone suction themselves — scrape them off without harming them… and then swim to the surface \u003ci>all in one breath\u003c/i>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music fades out]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not to mention avoiding getting tangled in kelp… or encountering other sea critters. Doug tells me about a time he had a run-in with an octopus:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Doug Jung: \u003c/b>He only had two tentacles on me … but with those two tentacles — and I was in my prime in my 30s — I barely got off those two tentacles before coming up. And, I’m thinking if you had three on, I’d be dead\u003ci>.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Cronin: \u003c/b>Doug says, despite the risks, diving for abalone was totally worth it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Doug Jung: \u003c/b>I feel very, very fortunate to be able to experience this because this was my passion. More than anything else, more than inventing new technology, more than going fishing, more than hiking. Going up from the into the Sierras. Abalone diving was my absolute passion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Cronin: \u003c/b>But just like Lorraine, Doug has also noticed the decline in abalone. In fact, he’s not even allowed to dive for abalone anymore, because abalone are now considered critically endangered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To understand how we got here, we need to rewind the clock about 10 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music starts]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Cronin: \u003c/b>Around 2014, there was a big marine heatwave, driven no doubt by climate change. That heat wave impacted Northern California’s coastline in all kinds of ways. Most notably, killing much of the kelp forest off our coast here. Kelp is the main food source for many ocean species — including, you guessed it, abalone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The marine heat wave also introduced a disease called wasting syndrome… which wiped out much of the sea star population. Like in any ecosystem, when one species is impacted, other species along the food chain are impacted, too. Sea stars prey on sea urchins. So when the sea stars started to decline, purple urchins were without a predator… and they \u003ci>thrived. \u003c/i>So much so that they ate through more than 95 percent of our coastal kelp… causing a near-total kelp forest collapse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music out]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And that’s the root issue here. Because without the kelp, millions of red abalone — the kind that’s native to Northern California — have died due to starvation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Doug Jung: \u003c/b>It’s dead. When I go out there and dive up. It makes me cry because the only thing I see is urchin barrens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Cronin: \u003c/b>While Doug used to dive down and see this lush kelp forest, teeming with fish and snails and sea stars… now, with the kelp mostly gone, it’s almost like a desert landscape, with urchins covering the ocean floor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Doug Jung: \u003c/b>This is a horror for us. For us who understood the beauty of what we lost.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Cronin: \u003c/b>So that’s the sad answer to Lorraine’s question.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But now, you might be wondering: is there hope for the future of abalone?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Rushing mechanical background sound fade in]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Cronin: \u003c/b>To answer that question, we’re going to take a tour of the UC Davis Bodega Marine Lab, a facility in Bodega Bay that \u003ci>breeds \u003c/i>abalone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Alyssa Frederick: \u003c/b>When we’re doing spawning, what we do is we’ll take an animal out and we’ll check its gonads.\u003ci> \u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Cronin: \u003c/b>This is Alyssa Frederick. She directs the white abalone \u003ci>captive breeding program\u003c/i> here at the lab.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She holds up a five-year-old female abalone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Alyssa Frederick: \u003c/b>So they have two eyes on stocks and then they also have their like antenna. That’s curled up underneath. One’s curled up underneath, and one’s right here. Yeah. Pretty cute.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Cronin: \u003c/b>We’re in a lab holding room full of tanks housing abalone of all ages and sizes. This little lady, in particular, looks like a giant, oval-shaped snail with a big shell that sits flat across her back. Her two eyes are like tentacles, feeling their way around.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The spawns — where they induce breeding between the male and female abalone — are a really big deal. They only happen once a year, and I’m visiting just days after the most recent one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Alyssa Frederick: \u003c/b>We had 6.7 million eggs last week. It was the largest spawn we’ve had in the program since 2019. I was really excited.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music starts]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Cronin: \u003c/b>A lot of planning and coordination goes into a spawn. The abalone basically sit in buckets of chemicals, namely hydrogen peroxide, which causes a cascade of hormones in their bodies that tell them it’s time to spawn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alyssa says they set the mood — so to speak — in other ways too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Alyssa Frederick: \u003c/b>We had the lights off for most of it. We did it in the evening, which, like abalone, are more active in the evening. So my line of thinking is that why not stack the odds in our favor and do it then?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Cronin: \u003c/b>Abalone are broadcast spawners, meaning they release their eggs and sperm into the water column and form larvae from there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alyssa says it’s an intense process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Alyssa Frederick:\u003c/b> I mean, the joke, like, I was literally pacing my living room like someone waiting in a maternity ward for someone to give birth\u003ci>.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music fade out]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Cronin: \u003c/b>On the day I’m visiting, the little baby abalone are starting to settle, which means they have to flip themselves over and find a place to settle on the bottom of the tank.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We watch them through a microscope:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Alyssa Frederick: \u003c/b>Wee! Aww. So cute. Dancing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Cronin: \u003c/b>Now it’s important to note that these are \u003ci>white \u003c/i>abalone. Remember the ones we’ve mostly been talking about so far are red abalone… which are native to \u003ci>Northern\u003c/i> California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>White abalone were more common down in southern California. However, in the ‘60s and ‘70s, as soon as diving technology allowed us to fish deeper water species, we overfished them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Alyssa Frederick: \u003c/b>So we overfished, over 99% of what was out in the wild. It was pretty significant. Like, pretty much all of them.\u003ci> \u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Cronin: \u003c/b>White abalone was the first marine invertebrate species to be listed on the Endangered Species Act. There were so few left they weren’t able to reproduce in the wild anymore.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So scientists decided to bring some into captivity, have them reproduce in safe, controlled conditions, and then release them into the wild. They release them when they’re about a year old by placing them in these small cages on the ocean floor and opening up the door.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The goal is to create enough of them out in the wild that they start reproducing on their own.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Right now, they’re releasing about five thousand abalone into the wild per year. In order to save the species, models show they need to be releasing twice that amount.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Alyssa Frederick: \u003c/b>Right now we still are an order of magnitude below what’s required to save the species.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Cronin: \u003c/b>But, she says, they’re also an order of magnitude \u003ci>above\u003c/i> where they started.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music starts]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So there’s some hope for white abalone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for our red abalone here in Northern California… the situation is more complicated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Laura Rogers-Bennett: \u003c/b>I think the red abalone problem is more difficult.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Cronin: \u003c/b>This is Laura Rogers-Bennett, a senior environmental scientist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. She also works at the Bodega Marine Lab and specializes in \u003ci>red\u003c/i> abalone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She says while white abalone struggle in numbers, they at least have a healthy kelp forest to return to down south.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Laura Rogers-Bennett:\u003c/b> Red abalone has the double whammy of you need kelp. And you need red abalone\u003ci>.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Cronin: \u003c/b>Without kelp, red abalone don’t have a home to return to. And that makes captive breeding — and reintroduction — a lot harder. That’s part of the reason there is no captive breeding program for red abalone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They are doing some things, though, to try to bring back the kelp and, ultimately, the abalone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, they’ve identified a few areas off the coast where they allow divers to go out and harvest sea urchins to try to get the kelp to grow back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Laura Rogers-Bennett: \u003c/b>So far they haven’t been that successful in terms of bringing back the kelp.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Cronin: \u003c/b>There are also captive breeding programs for sea stars, which aim to reintroduce them back into the ecosystem to keep the urchin at bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s definitely an uphill battle. As someone who has done this work for a long time, Laura says it’s emotionally draining.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Laura Rogers-Bennett: \u003c/b>To go back to a spot and see a particular rock, that I visited, at least once a year for 20 years. And to know that that spot is where there’s tons used to be tons of red abalone and to see it just covered with urchin and no algae at all. It’s heartbreaking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Cronin: \u003c/b>But she’s committed to trying. Trying to get the kelp forest to grow back, trying to recoup the abalone we’ve lost over the last decade. And she hopes the findings from the captive breeding program will help along the way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Laura Rogers-Bennett: \u003c/b>Obviously, in red abalone, we have the passion. I think there’s a chance that we can create some of these pockets of kelp forest. Have them come back in these kelp oases. And, that will be the start of restoration areas for the whole coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Dana Cronin: \u003c/b>If that happens, we could look forward to a future where Lorraine Page, our question-asker, can beach comb again for abalone pearls. And Doug can revive his long lost hobby; diving down, wrestling octopi along the way, in search of his favorite sea snail.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music fades out along with the sound of crashing waves]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/b> That story was reported by KQED’s Dana Cronin. Big thanks to Lorraine Page for asking the question.\u003cb>\u003ci>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/i>\u003c/b>\u003cb>\u003ci>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/i>\u003c/b>The North Coast Journal provided the sound of abalone clacking during ceremonial dances for our use in this episode.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’ve ever wondered what all goes into making a Bay Curious story sound the way it does … join producer Katrina Schwartz and I on April 11 for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/podcasts/1000/apr-11-600pm-elevating-audio-stories-with-sound-ft-bay-curious\">our talk at the PRX Podcast Garage\u003c/a>. We’re calling it \u003cb>Elevating Audio Stories with Sound\u003c/b> and it’s all about how we make this show with a small but mighty team. We’ll be talking through how we use music, sound effects, archival material, narration and more to bring the Bay Curious podcast to life. Join us in person at KQED’s Headquarters or on the livestream. Tickets are free if you use the code “baycurious” that’s all one word. Grab yours at \u003ca href=\"http://kqed.org/podcastgarage\">kqed.org/podcastgarage\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bay Curious is made in San Francisco at member-supported KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bay Curious is made by Katrina Schwartz, Christopher Beale and me, Olivia Allen-Price. Additional support from Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Cesar Saldana, Maha Sanad, Holly Kernan and the whole KQED Family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m Olivia Allen-Price. Have a great week!\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/news/11981665/climate-change-induced-heatwaves-are-devastating-californias-kelp-and-abalone","authors":["11362"],"programs":["news_33523"],"series":["news_17986"],"categories":["news_31795","news_19906","news_8","news_356"],"tags":["news_33947","news_18008","news_33948"],"featImg":"news_11980414","label":"source_news_11981665"},"news_11981370":{"type":"posts","id":"news_11981370","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"news","id":"11981370","score":null,"sort":[1711839608000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"why-are-bay-area-health-officials-warning-about-measles","title":"Why Are Bay Area Health Officials Warning About Measles?","publishDate":1711839608,"format":"standard","headTitle":"Why Are Bay Area Health Officials Warning About Measles? | KQED","labelTerm":{"site":"news"},"content":"\u003cp>Officials from public health departments across the Bay Area have urged residents to be vigilant for the symptoms of measles, especially after travel — and to be up-to-date on their measles vaccination.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The announcement comes a little more than a week after Alameda County’s public health department warned Bay Area residents of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11980260/alameda-county-measles-exposure-sons-of-liberty-san-leandro\">a potential exposure to measles in an East Bay restaurant.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Health officers from the nine Bay Area counties — plus Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Benito — issued the call for vigilance in the light of this recent possible exposure and also a national rise in measles cases. \u003ca href=\"https://emergency.cdc.gov/han/2024/pdf/CDC_HAN_504.pdf\">Over 90% of those cases have been linked to international travel (PDF)\u003c/a>, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The health officials said the risk of infection for residents in the Bay Area remains low, but still want people to be cautious.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Symptoms include fever, cough, runny nose, and pink eye, followed a few days later by a rash. \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/measles/symptoms/signs-symptoms.html\">These symptoms can emerge between seven and 21 days after exposure\u003c/a>. About 1 in 5 unvaccinated people who become infected with measles — a highly contagious virus that spreads through direct contact with infectious droplets — will \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/measles/symptoms/complications.html\">require hospitalization\u003c/a>, according to the CDC. In some people the disease can be fatal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Keep reading for what you need to know about the rise in measles cases, the recent possible exposure in the Bay Area, the risks of international travel and how to make sure you’re vaccinated against measles.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What should I know about the rise in measles cases?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As of March 28, 97 measles cases were reported across the United States, according to the CDC — 56% of which have resulted in hospitalization. This already represents a sharp rise from the entirety of 2023, \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/measles/cases-outbreaks.html\">in which there were a total of 58 measles cases reported nationally.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/measles/cases-outbreaks.html\">In 2024 so far, there have been seven outbreaks of measles around the U.S.\u003c/a> — defined as three or more related cases. The CDC notes that for comparison, four outbreaks were reported during the whole of 2023.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_11980260 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/GettyImages-1203093159_qut-1020x680.jpg']“Most cases in the U.S. have been among children aged 12 months and older who had not received the MMR vaccine,” said the Bay Area health officers in their joint statement on March 29.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the state’s most recent data from March 20, \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/Pages/Immunization/measles.aspx\">five confirmed measles cases have been reported in California\u003c/a> so far in 2024 — a rise of one case in the last week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The statement from local health officials noted that “With three major airports, the Bay Area is a hub for international travel, increasing the potential for exposure to this highly contagious virus.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The CDC notes that\u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/globalhealth/measles/data/global-measles-outbreaks.html\"> the COVID-19 pandemic has generally impacted vaccination rates globally\u003c/a> because “over 61 million doses of measles-containing vaccine were postponed or missed from 2020 to 2022” due to pandemic-related delays.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What should I know about the possible exposure in the East Bay this month?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>According to Alameda County officials, a person infected with measles was present at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.google.com/maps/place/SONS+OF+LIBERTY+ALEHOUSE/@37.7237984,-122.1552742,15z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x63e565bb445aae39?sa=X&ved=1t:2428&ictx=111\">Sons of Liberty Alehouse in San Leandro\u003c/a> back on Saturday, March 9 — and urged anyone who was also at the restaurant between 4:45 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. that day to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11980260/alameda-county-measles-exposure-sons-of-liberty-san-leandro#measlesexposurealameda\">reach out to their health care provider and the Alameda County Public Health Department \u003c/a>if they or anyone else present is unvaccinated or in a high-risk group.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a press conference on March 20, Alameda County Public Health Department’s director of clinical guidance and communicable disease controller Dr. Kavita Trivedi stressed that this was not being treated as a measles outbreak, but urged anyone who may have been exposed to monitor themselves for symptoms of measles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A spokesperson for the Alameda County Public Health Department confirmed that as of March 29, “no additional cases of measles have been reported to us at this time” — although the county was continuing “to monitor persons exposed for 21 days.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>I’m planning on traveling internationally soon. What should I know?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Bay Area health officials’ statement noted that anyone planning to travel outside the U.S. “who is not vaccinated against measles is at increased risk of getting infected.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They urged travelers to plan early and to “check your destination and \u003ca href=\"https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices/level1/measles-globe\">the CDC’s Global Measles Travel Health Notice\u003c/a> for more travel health advice, including where measles outbreaks have been reported.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Association of Bay Area Health Officials\"]‘Most cases in the US have been among children aged 12 months and older who had not received the MMR vaccine.’[/pullquote]Parents, they said, should reach out to their child’s health care provider before any international travel. \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/measles/symptoms/complications.html\">Babies and young children are especially at risk from measles\u003c/a>, but the measles vaccine is routinely recommended only for children 12 months and older — so if you intend to travel internationally with a child aged between 6 and 12 months, \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/measles/plan-for-travel.html\">you may be able to secure them an early MMR vaccination\u003c/a> due to the measles risk they may face abroad being unvaccinated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Returning travelers should watch for any symptoms of measles for a total of three weeks after arriving back home, the Bay Area health officials said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Trivedi from Alameda County’s public health department said that the infectious person who was at Sons of Liberty Alehouse on March 9 was unaware they had measles at the time of their visit, and that “we believe the person contracted measles while traveling internationally a few weeks prior to illness.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The county would not disclose the exact location of this person’s travel for confidentiality reasons, said Trivedi, who instead pointed people to \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/globalhealth/measles/data/global-measles-outbreaks.html\">the CDC’s list of international countries with current measles outbreaks\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>I’m vaccinated against measles. Could I still get infected with measles from an exposure like this?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Four years of the COVID-19 pandemic have taught us that being vaccinated against a virus doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t get infected with that virus. The COVID-19 vaccine, for example, does somewhat reduce your chances of being infected — although \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/ncird/whats-new/5-things-you-should-know.html\">the CDC said that “protection against infection tends to be modest and sometimes short-lived”\u003c/a> — but it also means you’re much less likely to get severely ill if you do get infected.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/measles/about/faqs.html#:~:text=Could%20I%20still%20get%20measles,should%20have%20to%20the%20vaccine.\">the measles vaccine \u003cem>is \u003c/em>incredibly effective at protecting against infections, the CDC said\u003c/a>, and two doses of measles vaccine are “about 97% effective” at preventing measles if you’re exposed. (One dose, the CDC said, is “about 93% effective.”)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for why “about three out of 100” people vaccinated against measles will still get measles after exposure, the CDC said that experts “aren’t sure why” and that this could be due to the responsiveness of an individual’s immune system to the vaccine. “But the good news is, fully vaccinated people who get measles seem more likely to have a milder illness,” the CDC said — and fully vaccinated people “seem also less likely to spread the disease to other people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>I don’t know if I’m vaccinated against measles. How can I check?\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Measles is preventable with the combined Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR) vaccine, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/measles/about/history.html\">vaccination against measles has been part of routine childhood immunization for decades\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd/mmr/public/index.html\">The CDC recommends that children get two doses of the MMR vaccine\u003c/a>, starting with the first dose at 12–15 months old with the second dose at 4–6 years of age. This vaccine provides lifetime protection against measles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Everyone over 12 months of age is recommended to get vaccinated against measles, although the combined Measles, Mumps, Rubella and Varicella (MMRV) vaccine is \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd/mmr/public/index.html\">only licensed for use in children under 12 years of age\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’re uncertain whether you’re vaccinated against measles, you can \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/parents/records/keeping-track.html\">check your immunization records\u003c/a> by using \u003ca href=\"https://myvaccinerecord.cdph.ca.gov/\">the California Department of Public Health’s Digital Vaccine Record portal\u003c/a>, or contact your provider (or your child’s pediatrician) for further information about your current levels of protection against measles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another reason to check your vaccination status if you’re unsure: According to Bay Area health officials, possessing documentation of your vaccination status “can help you avoid being quarantined if you are exposed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And if you can’t find any sign you or your family have received a measles vaccine? “Teenagers and adults with no evidence of immunity should be vaccinated right away,” said the local health officials.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story contains reporting from KQED’s Samantha Lim.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"Amid a national rise in measles cases, local officials are urging the Bay Area to be vigilant for symptoms, especially after travel.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1711843546,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":32,"wordCount":1507},"headData":{"title":"Why Are Bay Area Health Officials Warning About Measles? | KQED","description":"Amid a national rise in measles cases, local officials are urging the Bay Area to be vigilant for symptoms, especially after travel.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Why Are Bay Area Health Officials Warning About Measles?","datePublished":"2024-03-30T23:00:08.000Z","dateModified":"2024-03-31T00:05:46.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png","isAccessibleForFree":"Y","publisher":{"@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","@id":"https://www.kqed.org/#organization","name":"KQED","url":"https://www.kqed.org","logo":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}}},"sticky":false,"excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","articleAge":"0","path":"/news/11981370/why-are-bay-area-health-officials-warning-about-measles","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Officials from public health departments across the Bay Area have urged residents to be vigilant for the symptoms of measles, especially after travel — and to be up-to-date on their measles vaccination.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The announcement comes a little more than a week after Alameda County’s public health department warned Bay Area residents of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11980260/alameda-county-measles-exposure-sons-of-liberty-san-leandro\">a potential exposure to measles in an East Bay restaurant.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Health officers from the nine Bay Area counties — plus Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Benito — issued the call for vigilance in the light of this recent possible exposure and also a national rise in measles cases. \u003ca href=\"https://emergency.cdc.gov/han/2024/pdf/CDC_HAN_504.pdf\">Over 90% of those cases have been linked to international travel (PDF)\u003c/a>, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The health officials said the risk of infection for residents in the Bay Area remains low, but still want people to be cautious.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Symptoms include fever, cough, runny nose, and pink eye, followed a few days later by a rash. \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/measles/symptoms/signs-symptoms.html\">These symptoms can emerge between seven and 21 days after exposure\u003c/a>. About 1 in 5 unvaccinated people who become infected with measles — a highly contagious virus that spreads through direct contact with infectious droplets — will \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/measles/symptoms/complications.html\">require hospitalization\u003c/a>, according to the CDC. In some people the disease can be fatal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Keep reading for what you need to know about the rise in measles cases, the recent possible exposure in the Bay Area, the risks of international travel and how to make sure you’re vaccinated against measles.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What should I know about the rise in measles cases?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As of March 28, 97 measles cases were reported across the United States, according to the CDC — 56% of which have resulted in hospitalization. This already represents a sharp rise from the entirety of 2023, \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/measles/cases-outbreaks.html\">in which there were a total of 58 measles cases reported nationally.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/measles/cases-outbreaks.html\">In 2024 so far, there have been seven outbreaks of measles around the U.S.\u003c/a> — defined as three or more related cases. The CDC notes that for comparison, four outbreaks were reported during the whole of 2023.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"news_11980260","hero":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/GettyImages-1203093159_qut-1020x680.jpg","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“Most cases in the U.S. have been among children aged 12 months and older who had not received the MMR vaccine,” said the Bay Area health officers in their joint statement on March 29.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the state’s most recent data from March 20, \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/Pages/Immunization/measles.aspx\">five confirmed measles cases have been reported in California\u003c/a> so far in 2024 — a rise of one case in the last week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The statement from local health officials noted that “With three major airports, the Bay Area is a hub for international travel, increasing the potential for exposure to this highly contagious virus.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The CDC notes that\u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/globalhealth/measles/data/global-measles-outbreaks.html\"> the COVID-19 pandemic has generally impacted vaccination rates globally\u003c/a> because “over 61 million doses of measles-containing vaccine were postponed or missed from 2020 to 2022” due to pandemic-related delays.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What should I know about the possible exposure in the East Bay this month?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>According to Alameda County officials, a person infected with measles was present at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.google.com/maps/place/SONS+OF+LIBERTY+ALEHOUSE/@37.7237984,-122.1552742,15z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x63e565bb445aae39?sa=X&ved=1t:2428&ictx=111\">Sons of Liberty Alehouse in San Leandro\u003c/a> back on Saturday, March 9 — and urged anyone who was also at the restaurant between 4:45 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. that day to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11980260/alameda-county-measles-exposure-sons-of-liberty-san-leandro#measlesexposurealameda\">reach out to their health care provider and the Alameda County Public Health Department \u003c/a>if they or anyone else present is unvaccinated or in a high-risk group.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a press conference on March 20, Alameda County Public Health Department’s director of clinical guidance and communicable disease controller Dr. Kavita Trivedi stressed that this was not being treated as a measles outbreak, but urged anyone who may have been exposed to monitor themselves for symptoms of measles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A spokesperson for the Alameda County Public Health Department confirmed that as of March 29, “no additional cases of measles have been reported to us at this time” — although the county was continuing “to monitor persons exposed for 21 days.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>I’m planning on traveling internationally soon. What should I know?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Bay Area health officials’ statement noted that anyone planning to travel outside the U.S. “who is not vaccinated against measles is at increased risk of getting infected.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They urged travelers to plan early and to “check your destination and \u003ca href=\"https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices/level1/measles-globe\">the CDC’s Global Measles Travel Health Notice\u003c/a> for more travel health advice, including where measles outbreaks have been reported.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘Most cases in the US have been among children aged 12 months and older who had not received the MMR vaccine.’","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"align":"right","size":"medium","citation":"Association of Bay Area Health Officials","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Parents, they said, should reach out to their child’s health care provider before any international travel. \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/measles/symptoms/complications.html\">Babies and young children are especially at risk from measles\u003c/a>, but the measles vaccine is routinely recommended only for children 12 months and older — so if you intend to travel internationally with a child aged between 6 and 12 months, \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/measles/plan-for-travel.html\">you may be able to secure them an early MMR vaccination\u003c/a> due to the measles risk they may face abroad being unvaccinated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Returning travelers should watch for any symptoms of measles for a total of three weeks after arriving back home, the Bay Area health officials said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Trivedi from Alameda County’s public health department said that the infectious person who was at Sons of Liberty Alehouse on March 9 was unaware they had measles at the time of their visit, and that “we believe the person contracted measles while traveling internationally a few weeks prior to illness.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The county would not disclose the exact location of this person’s travel for confidentiality reasons, said Trivedi, who instead pointed people to \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/globalhealth/measles/data/global-measles-outbreaks.html\">the CDC’s list of international countries with current measles outbreaks\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>I’m vaccinated against measles. Could I still get infected with measles from an exposure like this?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Four years of the COVID-19 pandemic have taught us that being vaccinated against a virus doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t get infected with that virus. The COVID-19 vaccine, for example, does somewhat reduce your chances of being infected — although \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/ncird/whats-new/5-things-you-should-know.html\">the CDC said that “protection against infection tends to be modest and sometimes short-lived”\u003c/a> — but it also means you’re much less likely to get severely ill if you do get infected.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/measles/about/faqs.html#:~:text=Could%20I%20still%20get%20measles,should%20have%20to%20the%20vaccine.\">the measles vaccine \u003cem>is \u003c/em>incredibly effective at protecting against infections, the CDC said\u003c/a>, and two doses of measles vaccine are “about 97% effective” at preventing measles if you’re exposed. (One dose, the CDC said, is “about 93% effective.”)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for why “about three out of 100” people vaccinated against measles will still get measles after exposure, the CDC said that experts “aren’t sure why” and that this could be due to the responsiveness of an individual’s immune system to the vaccine. “But the good news is, fully vaccinated people who get measles seem more likely to have a milder illness,” the CDC said — and fully vaccinated people “seem also less likely to spread the disease to other people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>I don’t know if I’m vaccinated against measles. How can I check?\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Measles is preventable with the combined Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR) vaccine, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/measles/about/history.html\">vaccination against measles has been part of routine childhood immunization for decades\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd/mmr/public/index.html\">The CDC recommends that children get two doses of the MMR vaccine\u003c/a>, starting with the first dose at 12–15 months old with the second dose at 4–6 years of age. This vaccine provides lifetime protection against measles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Everyone over 12 months of age is recommended to get vaccinated against measles, although the combined Measles, Mumps, Rubella and Varicella (MMRV) vaccine is \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd/mmr/public/index.html\">only licensed for use in children under 12 years of age\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’re uncertain whether you’re vaccinated against measles, you can \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/parents/records/keeping-track.html\">check your immunization records\u003c/a> by using \u003ca href=\"https://myvaccinerecord.cdph.ca.gov/\">the California Department of Public Health’s Digital Vaccine Record portal\u003c/a>, or contact your provider (or your child’s pediatrician) for further information about your current levels of protection against measles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another reason to check your vaccination status if you’re unsure: According to Bay Area health officials, possessing documentation of your vaccination status “can help you avoid being quarantined if you are exposed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And if you can’t find any sign you or your family have received a measles vaccine? “Teenagers and adults with no evidence of immunity should be vaccinated right away,” said the local health officials.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story contains reporting from KQED’s Samantha Lim.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/news/11981370/why-are-bay-area-health-officials-warning-about-measles","authors":["3243"],"categories":["news_31795","news_457","news_8","news_356"],"tags":["news_32707","news_27626","news_17604","news_3187","news_28861"],"featImg":"news_11981385","label":"news"},"news_11980119":{"type":"posts","id":"news_11980119","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"news","id":"11980119","score":null,"sort":[1710970567000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"san-francisco-gets-new-glimpse-into-illicit-drug-use-with-wastewater-testing","title":"San Francisco Gets New Glimpse Into Illicit Drug Use With Wastewater Testing","publishDate":1710970567,"format":"standard","headTitle":"San Francisco Gets New Glimpse Into Illicit Drug Use With Wastewater Testing | KQED","labelTerm":{"site":"news"},"content":"\u003cp>A new program to test wastewater for substances like fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine is giving San Francisco’s health officials a new window into the city’s pressing overdose crisis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The effort comes as San Francisco recently experienced the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11972898/2023-was-san-franciscos-deadliest-year-for-drug-overdoses-new-data-confirms\">worst year for overdose deaths\u003c/a> on record in 2023, when 806 people died of accidental overdose.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Jeffrey Hom, director of population behavioral health, San Francisco Department of Public Health\"]‘For the first time, we have data that can shed light on the amounts of drugs that are being used in the city here. This is something that we haven’t had before.’[/pullquote]“For the first time, we have data that can shed light on the amounts of drugs that are being used in the city here,” said Jeffrey Hom, director of population behavioral health for the San Francisco Department of Public Health. “This is something that we haven’t had before. So much of the data that we look at within the health department is based on individuals who are receiving a certain service or who have experienced a certain outcome, like a nonfatal overdose.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco health officials started tracking drug use and supply trends in November 2023 to monitor the presence of different drugs and to also check for changes in the illicit drug supply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wastewater samples are collected every two weeks from two different locations, one on the city’s west side and another on the east side. Currently, the city is checking for fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine, as well as all three substances in their metabolized form. The samples are then sent to a lab where they are analyzed, and the results are shared back with the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Early results from the first four months of testing show there were often higher concentrations of drugs, including fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine on the east side of the city compared with the west. That largely tracks with geographic data from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, which releases monthly reports on overdoses in the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fentanyl, a potent opioid about 50 times stronger than heroin, has contributed to the majority of recent overdose deaths in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, the wastewater data showed much higher concentrations of stimulants across the city. For example, there were 1552 milligrams of methamphetamine per 1000 people per day found in samples collected on the east side of the city on March 7, 2024, compared to 34 milligrams of fentanyl.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label=\"Related Stories\" postID=\"news_11969903,news_11975973,news_11979144\"]That doesn’t necessarily mean there are more people using stimulants, however. The body metabolizes each substance differently, making it hard to compare the prevalence of individual substances. Instead, Hom said, the city is using the findings to monitor changes in the drug supply and use trends over time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re not able to directly compare those and make an assumption that many more people or that much more stimulants are being used because of the way these drugs are metabolized in the body. So trying to make the comparison between drugs is difficult,” Hom said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Public health officials say they hope to use the data to advise the public on overdose risk and drug supply trends.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The effort is part of a study funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, which ends in August, that San Francisco and other local municipalities are participating in. But the city’s health officials say they hope to expand and continue the program after the study wraps up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Jeffrey Hom, director of population behavioral health, San Francisco Department of Public Health\"]‘Much of the potential for this kind of surveillance revolves around the opportunity to identify new drugs or something that’s just starting to make its way into the drug supply here.’[/pullquote]San Francisco previously used wastewater testing during the COVID-19 pandemic to track the rise and fall of the virus on a population level. However, the city is not alone in its endeavor to use the technology for the overdose crisis as well. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1982720/marin-health-officials-track-illicit-drug-use-by-testing-wastewater\">Marin County\u003c/a> started using the approach in July 2023. Public health officials there issued a health advisory about an increase in fentanyl overdoses that aligned with the wastewater testing, which showed higher rates and amounts of fentanyl in the same period.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Much of the potential for this kind of surveillance revolves around the opportunity to identify new drugs or something that’s just starting to make its way into the drug supply here,” Hom said. “I am hopeful as we look to the next iteration of this that we not only increase the frequency of testing, but increase the number of drugs and especially novel drugs so our response can be timely and focused.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"The city joins Marin County in testing for fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine in wastewater to understand drug supply better and use trends.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1710972305,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":16,"wordCount":822},"headData":{"title":"San Francisco Gets New Glimpse Into Illicit Drug Use With Wastewater Testing | KQED","description":"The city joins Marin County in testing for fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine in wastewater to understand drug supply better and use trends.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"San Francisco Gets New Glimpse Into Illicit Drug Use With Wastewater Testing","datePublished":"2024-03-20T21:36:07.000Z","dateModified":"2024-03-20T22:05:05.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png","isAccessibleForFree":"Y","publisher":{"@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","@id":"https://www.kqed.org/#organization","name":"KQED","url":"https://www.kqed.org","logo":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}}},"sticky":false,"excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","articleAge":"0","path":"/news/11980119/san-francisco-gets-new-glimpse-into-illicit-drug-use-with-wastewater-testing","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A new program to test wastewater for substances like fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine is giving San Francisco’s health officials a new window into the city’s pressing overdose crisis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The effort comes as San Francisco recently experienced the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11972898/2023-was-san-franciscos-deadliest-year-for-drug-overdoses-new-data-confirms\">worst year for overdose deaths\u003c/a> on record in 2023, when 806 people died of accidental overdose.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘For the first time, we have data that can shed light on the amounts of drugs that are being used in the city here. This is something that we haven’t had before.’","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"align":"right","size":"medium","citation":"Jeffrey Hom, director of population behavioral health, San Francisco Department of Public Health","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“For the first time, we have data that can shed light on the amounts of drugs that are being used in the city here,” said Jeffrey Hom, director of population behavioral health for the San Francisco Department of Public Health. “This is something that we haven’t had before. So much of the data that we look at within the health department is based on individuals who are receiving a certain service or who have experienced a certain outcome, like a nonfatal overdose.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco health officials started tracking drug use and supply trends in November 2023 to monitor the presence of different drugs and to also check for changes in the illicit drug supply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wastewater samples are collected every two weeks from two different locations, one on the city’s west side and another on the east side. Currently, the city is checking for fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine, as well as all three substances in their metabolized form. The samples are then sent to a lab where they are analyzed, and the results are shared back with the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Early results from the first four months of testing show there were often higher concentrations of drugs, including fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine on the east side of the city compared with the west. That largely tracks with geographic data from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, which releases monthly reports on overdoses in the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fentanyl, a potent opioid about 50 times stronger than heroin, has contributed to the majority of recent overdose deaths in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, the wastewater data showed much higher concentrations of stimulants across the city. For example, there were 1552 milligrams of methamphetamine per 1000 people per day found in samples collected on the east side of the city on March 7, 2024, compared to 34 milligrams of fentanyl.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"label":"Related Stories ","postid":"news_11969903,news_11975973,news_11979144"},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>That doesn’t necessarily mean there are more people using stimulants, however. The body metabolizes each substance differently, making it hard to compare the prevalence of individual substances. Instead, Hom said, the city is using the findings to monitor changes in the drug supply and use trends over time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re not able to directly compare those and make an assumption that many more people or that much more stimulants are being used because of the way these drugs are metabolized in the body. So trying to make the comparison between drugs is difficult,” Hom said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Public health officials say they hope to use the data to advise the public on overdose risk and drug supply trends.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The effort is part of a study funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, which ends in August, that San Francisco and other local municipalities are participating in. But the city’s health officials say they hope to expand and continue the program after the study wraps up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘Much of the potential for this kind of surveillance revolves around the opportunity to identify new drugs or something that’s just starting to make its way into the drug supply here.’","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"align":"right","size":"medium","citation":"Jeffrey Hom, director of population behavioral health, San Francisco Department of Public Health","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>San Francisco previously used wastewater testing during the COVID-19 pandemic to track the rise and fall of the virus on a population level. However, the city is not alone in its endeavor to use the technology for the overdose crisis as well. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1982720/marin-health-officials-track-illicit-drug-use-by-testing-wastewater\">Marin County\u003c/a> started using the approach in July 2023. Public health officials there issued a health advisory about an increase in fentanyl overdoses that aligned with the wastewater testing, which showed higher rates and amounts of fentanyl in the same period.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Much of the potential for this kind of surveillance revolves around the opportunity to identify new drugs or something that’s just starting to make its way into the drug supply here,” Hom said. “I am hopeful as we look to the next iteration of this that we not only increase the frequency of testing, but increase the number of drugs and especially novel drugs so our response can be timely and focused.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/news/11980119/san-francisco-gets-new-glimpse-into-illicit-drug-use-with-wastewater-testing","authors":["11840"],"categories":["news_457","news_8","news_356"],"tags":["news_31834","news_2587","news_27626","news_23051","news_24982","news_22661","news_38","news_3187","news_30006","news_20287"],"featImg":"news_11980150","label":"news"},"news_11980088":{"type":"posts","id":"news_11980088","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"news","id":"11980088","score":null,"sort":[1710963036000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"in-boost-for-electric-vehicles-epa-sets-strict-limits-on-tailpipe-emissions","title":"EPA Finalizes Strict New Rules Limiting Tailpipe Emissions in Boost for Electric Vehicles","publishDate":1710963036,"format":"standard","headTitle":"EPA Finalizes Strict New Rules Limiting Tailpipe Emissions in Boost for Electric Vehicles | KQED","labelTerm":{"term":253,"site":"news"},"content":"\u003cp>After nearly a year of frantic lobbying and debate, the EPA has finalized strict new rules on vehicle emissions that will push the auto industry to accelerate its transition to electric vehicles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The EPA expects that under the new rules, EVs could account for up to 56% of new passenger vehicles sold for model years 2030 through 2032, meeting a goal that \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/08/05/fact-sheet-president-biden-announces-steps-to-drive-american-leadership-forward-on-clean-cars-and-trucks/\">President Biden set in 2021\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The regulations are a cornerstone of the Biden administration’s efforts to fight climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Combined with investments the U.S. is making in battery and electric vehicle manufacturing, the auto regulations will help shift the U.S. away from relying on fossil fuels for transportation, a senior administration official said during a call with reporters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv>\n\u003cp>“Three years ago, I set an ambitious target: that half of all new cars and trucks sold in 2030 would be zero-emission,” Biden said in a statement, adding that the country will meet that goal “and race forward in the years ahead.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Biden added that U.S. workers “will lead the world on autos making clean cars and trucks, each stamped ‘Made in America.'”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new rules require auto manufacturers to slash emissions of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide that are heating the planet, as well as air pollutants that contribute to soot and smog. The administration said the new standards will avoid more than 7 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions and deliver almost $100 billion in annual benefits, including $13 billion in health benefits as a result of less pollution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s going to have immediate benefits in improving air quality, but also improving people’s health,” Cara Cook, director of programs at the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments, told reporters ahead of the EPA’s announcement. “So they’re not breathing in dirty air, especially for those who are living near major roadways and highways, heavy traffic [areas]. Those are the ones that are going to really experience a significant amount of benefits from these rules.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Entire fleets, not individual cars, must meet strict rules\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The rules cover light- and medium-duty vehicles — cars, SUVs, vans and pickup trucks, but not 18-wheelers — from model years 2027 to 2032.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For light-duty vehicles, the EPA expects the rules will result in an industry-wide average emissions target of 85 grams of carbon dioxide per mile, representing an almost 50% reduction compared to existing standards for model year 2026 vehicles. The agency expects the average CO2 emissions target for medium-duty vehicles to fall by 44%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Cara Cook, director of programs, Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments\"]‘That’s going to have immediate benefits in improving air quality, but also improving people’s health. … especially for those who are living near major roadways and highways.’[/pullquote]The EPA rules are not written as an EV mandate or a ban on the sale of gas cars, like some states and other countries have adopted. Instead, the EPA sets standards that apply across an entire fleet — meaning an automaker still can make vehicles with higher emissions, as long as they also make enough very low or zero-emission vehicles that it averages out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That means over the next decade, automakers can continue offering a range of vehicle types, but the “menu” available to consumers will shift to be cleaner overall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The rules will likely drive a shift not just among automakers but among their suppliers and in infrastructure, said Thomas Boylan, regulatory director at the Zero Emission Transportation Association, which advocates for electric vehicles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think it creates a substantial tailwind in the EV market itself, but I think it’s even more pronounced throughout the supply chain” for things like parts manufacturing and charging infrastructure, Boylan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s really that full supply chain that has an additional level of certainty with these types of rules.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The EPA said consumers can also opt for gas-powered vehicles with particulate filters and gas-electric hybrids.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Electric vehicles have higher price tags, on average, than gas-powered vehicles, although the gap has been narrowing and federal tax credits sometimes exceed the difference. Consumer groups have expressed\u003ca href=\"https://advocacy.consumerreports.org/research/clean-vehicle-standards-deliver-benefits-for-consumers/\"> support\u003c/a> for the EPA’s rules, noting that EVs save drivers money over the life of the vehicle because it’s almost always cheaper to charge than to fuel up. Researchers last year found the proposed rule would\u003ca href=\"https://www.resources.org/common-resources/new-proposed-emissions-standards-for-passenger-vehicles-who-benefits-the-most/\"> save all drivers money\u003c/a>, with the biggest savings for lower-income Americans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Chris Harto, senior policy analyst for transportation and energy, Consumer Reports\"]‘This is one of the biggest pieces of climate regulation in history.’[/pullquote]The EPA said it expects the new rules will deliver fuel savings to consumers of up to $46 billion annually, plus savings on maintenance and repairs that the agency values at $16 billion annually.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is one of the biggest pieces of climate regulation in history,” Chris Harto, senior policy analyst for transportation and energy at Consumer Reports, said on a call with reporters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s going to have opponents,” Harto added because the money consumers will save is “coming out of the pockets of the oil industry.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the rules also call for reducing other types of tailpipe pollution. A senior Biden administration official said those pollution regulations will reduce hospitalizations and prevent 2,500 premature deaths in 2055.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Auto industry asked for a slower start\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The auto industry is in the midst of a dramatic transformation, with virtually all major companies pivoting toward making electric vehicles — albeit at different speeds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the U.S., EV sales increased by 50% last year to just under 10% of new car sales. Automakers are also looking to Europe and China, which have embraced the idea of an electric future and are shifting their global plans accordingly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label=\"Related Stories\" postID=\"news_11980045,news_11974466,science_1991185\"]But U.S. charging infrastructure is not increasing fast enough to keep pace with EV growth. Most EVs for sale right now are luxury vehicles, with relatively fewer options on the cheaper end of the scale. And, significantly, legacy automakers are making far more money on their gas-powered vehicles than their EVs, some of which are not yet profitable at all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a trade group representing auto manufacturers, asked the EPA to adjust the timeline for the new rules, dialing down the ambition for the next few years and then cranking up the pace toward the end of the time frame. The United Auto Workers union made a similar appeal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The approach reflected what the Alliance calls a “Goldilocks problem”: Automakers see huge risks if they move too slowly \u003cem>or \u003c/em>too quickly toward EVs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, the auto industry is not a monolith. All-electric automakers like Tesla and Rivian encouraged the EPA to set even more stringent rules. Dealers, who have generally been more skeptical of EVs than manufacturers, sharply criticized the EPA’s original proposed rules.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The final rules the EPA settled on reflect the input from automakers, labor unions and car dealers, a senior administration official said. Manufacturers will be able to make more gradual cuts to emissions in the early years, the official said, but the rules will ultimately deliver the same reductions as the agency’s initial proposal.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The oil industry is fundamentally opposed\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The oil industry, meanwhile, has been an even more vocal critic of these rules and other policies promoting EVs. Rising adoption of electric vehicles is expected to reduce oil demand over time, although it will take decades for the global fleet of vehicles to turn over.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oil trade groups call the new EPA rule a ban on gas-powered cars, although the regulations allow the continued sale of gas vehicles. The American Petroleum Institute has\u003ca href=\"https://www.api.org/news-policy-and-issues/blog/2023/07/11/epas-tailpipe-emissions-rule-threatens-freedom-reliability-security\"> said\u003c/a> the rule “threatens consumer freedom, energy reliability and national security.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers, which has spent millions on ads against the EPA rules and other policies, also criticized the EPA for not considering the environmental impact of manufacturing a giant battery or charging an EV. A\u003ca href=\"https://theicct.org/publication/a-global-comparison-of-the-life-cycle-greenhouse-gas-emissions-of-combustion-engine-and-electric-passenger-cars/\"> large body of research\u003c/a> has found that even\u003ca href=\"https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1875764/\"> with those impacts factored in\u003c/a>, EVs are still\u003ca href=\"https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/driving-cleaner\"> vastly better for the planet\u003c/a> than comparable fossil fuel vehicles. It’s true, however, that larger, less efficient EVs have a bigger environmental footprint than smaller ones.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the oil industry’s opposition goes even further. The attorney general of Texas has previously\u003ca href=\"https://climatecasechart.com/case/texas-v-epa-2/\"> filed a lawsuit\u003c/a> challenging the EPA’s authority to set rules designed to promote electric vehicles. Multiple oil trade groups backed Texas in the case. The auto industry sided with the EPA, noting that carmakers are investing billions in going electric and that reducing greenhouse gas emissions is a “national priority.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In fact, cutting greenhouse gas emissions is a global priority. The world \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/12/13/1218125835/climate-talks-end-on-a-first-ever-call-for-the-world-to-move-away-from-fossil-fu\">has now agreed\u003c/a> that transitioning away from fossil fuels is key to reducing the devastating impacts of climate change that, even in the best-case scenario, will disrupt ecosystems and human lives around the world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And as the EPA sets rules designed to accelerate the shift away from fossil fuels, carmakers and oil producers are responding very differently.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The auto industry sees a profitable zero-emissions future — if it can figure out how (and when) to get there. The oil industry is fighting to defend its core product.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On a call with reporters earlier this month, Chet Thompson, the CEO of the AFPM, lambasted media reports that the EPA was considering a “compromise” that would give the auto industry a few more years of more lenient standards, buying companies time to prepare for the EV transition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thompson emphasized that the EPA rules would still fundamentally aim to make most cars sold in the U.S. run on batteries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At 2032, it’s the same outcome,” Thompson said, frustrated. “This administration should not be calling that a compromise when, in fact, they want to take us to the same place.”\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"The EPA expects that under the new rules, EVs could account for up to 56% of new passenger vehicles sold for model years 2030 through 2032, meeting a goal that President Biden set in 2021.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1710965993,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":40,"wordCount":1748},"headData":{"title":"EPA Finalizes Strict New Rules Limiting Tailpipe Emissions in Boost for Electric Vehicles | KQED","description":"The EPA expects that under the new rules, EVs could account for up to 56% of new passenger vehicles sold for model years 2030 through 2032, meeting a goal that President Biden set in 2021.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"EPA Finalizes Strict New Rules Limiting Tailpipe Emissions in Boost for Electric Vehicles","datePublished":"2024-03-20T19:30:36.000Z","dateModified":"2024-03-20T20:19:53.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png","isAccessibleForFree":"Y","publisher":{"@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","@id":"https://www.kqed.org/#organization","name":"KQED","url":"https://www.kqed.org","logo":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}}},"sticky":false,"nprByline":"\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/348744968/camila-domonoske\">Camila Domonoske\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/1134404086/michael-copley\">Michael Copley\u003c/a>","excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","showOnAuthorArchivePages":"No","articleAge":"0","path":"/news/11980088/in-boost-for-electric-vehicles-epa-sets-strict-limits-on-tailpipe-emissions","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>After nearly a year of frantic lobbying and debate, the EPA has finalized strict new rules on vehicle emissions that will push the auto industry to accelerate its transition to electric vehicles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The EPA expects that under the new rules, EVs could account for up to 56% of new passenger vehicles sold for model years 2030 through 2032, meeting a goal that \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/08/05/fact-sheet-president-biden-announces-steps-to-drive-american-leadership-forward-on-clean-cars-and-trucks/\">President Biden set in 2021\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The regulations are a cornerstone of the Biden administration’s efforts to fight climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Combined with investments the U.S. is making in battery and electric vehicle manufacturing, the auto regulations will help shift the U.S. away from relying on fossil fuels for transportation, a senior administration official said during a call with reporters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv>\n\u003cp>“Three years ago, I set an ambitious target: that half of all new cars and trucks sold in 2030 would be zero-emission,” Biden said in a statement, adding that the country will meet that goal “and race forward in the years ahead.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Biden added that U.S. workers “will lead the world on autos making clean cars and trucks, each stamped ‘Made in America.'”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new rules require auto manufacturers to slash emissions of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide that are heating the planet, as well as air pollutants that contribute to soot and smog. The administration said the new standards will avoid more than 7 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions and deliver almost $100 billion in annual benefits, including $13 billion in health benefits as a result of less pollution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s going to have immediate benefits in improving air quality, but also improving people’s health,” Cara Cook, director of programs at the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments, told reporters ahead of the EPA’s announcement. “So they’re not breathing in dirty air, especially for those who are living near major roadways and highways, heavy traffic [areas]. Those are the ones that are going to really experience a significant amount of benefits from these rules.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Entire fleets, not individual cars, must meet strict rules\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The rules cover light- and medium-duty vehicles — cars, SUVs, vans and pickup trucks, but not 18-wheelers — from model years 2027 to 2032.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For light-duty vehicles, the EPA expects the rules will result in an industry-wide average emissions target of 85 grams of carbon dioxide per mile, representing an almost 50% reduction compared to existing standards for model year 2026 vehicles. The agency expects the average CO2 emissions target for medium-duty vehicles to fall by 44%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘That’s going to have immediate benefits in improving air quality, but also improving people’s health. … especially for those who are living near major roadways and highways.’","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"align":"right","size":"medium","citation":"Cara Cook, director of programs, Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The EPA rules are not written as an EV mandate or a ban on the sale of gas cars, like some states and other countries have adopted. Instead, the EPA sets standards that apply across an entire fleet — meaning an automaker still can make vehicles with higher emissions, as long as they also make enough very low or zero-emission vehicles that it averages out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That means over the next decade, automakers can continue offering a range of vehicle types, but the “menu” available to consumers will shift to be cleaner overall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The rules will likely drive a shift not just among automakers but among their suppliers and in infrastructure, said Thomas Boylan, regulatory director at the Zero Emission Transportation Association, which advocates for electric vehicles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think it creates a substantial tailwind in the EV market itself, but I think it’s even more pronounced throughout the supply chain” for things like parts manufacturing and charging infrastructure, Boylan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s really that full supply chain that has an additional level of certainty with these types of rules.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The EPA said consumers can also opt for gas-powered vehicles with particulate filters and gas-electric hybrids.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Electric vehicles have higher price tags, on average, than gas-powered vehicles, although the gap has been narrowing and federal tax credits sometimes exceed the difference. Consumer groups have expressed\u003ca href=\"https://advocacy.consumerreports.org/research/clean-vehicle-standards-deliver-benefits-for-consumers/\"> support\u003c/a> for the EPA’s rules, noting that EVs save drivers money over the life of the vehicle because it’s almost always cheaper to charge than to fuel up. Researchers last year found the proposed rule would\u003ca href=\"https://www.resources.org/common-resources/new-proposed-emissions-standards-for-passenger-vehicles-who-benefits-the-most/\"> save all drivers money\u003c/a>, with the biggest savings for lower-income Americans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘This is one of the biggest pieces of climate regulation in history.’","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"align":"right","size":"medium","citation":"Chris Harto, senior policy analyst for transportation and energy, Consumer Reports","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The EPA said it expects the new rules will deliver fuel savings to consumers of up to $46 billion annually, plus savings on maintenance and repairs that the agency values at $16 billion annually.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is one of the biggest pieces of climate regulation in history,” Chris Harto, senior policy analyst for transportation and energy at Consumer Reports, said on a call with reporters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s going to have opponents,” Harto added because the money consumers will save is “coming out of the pockets of the oil industry.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the rules also call for reducing other types of tailpipe pollution. A senior Biden administration official said those pollution regulations will reduce hospitalizations and prevent 2,500 premature deaths in 2055.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Auto industry asked for a slower start\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The auto industry is in the midst of a dramatic transformation, with virtually all major companies pivoting toward making electric vehicles — albeit at different speeds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the U.S., EV sales increased by 50% last year to just under 10% of new car sales. Automakers are also looking to Europe and China, which have embraced the idea of an electric future and are shifting their global plans accordingly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"label":"Related Stories ","postid":"news_11980045,news_11974466,science_1991185"},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>But U.S. charging infrastructure is not increasing fast enough to keep pace with EV growth. Most EVs for sale right now are luxury vehicles, with relatively fewer options on the cheaper end of the scale. And, significantly, legacy automakers are making far more money on their gas-powered vehicles than their EVs, some of which are not yet profitable at all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a trade group representing auto manufacturers, asked the EPA to adjust the timeline for the new rules, dialing down the ambition for the next few years and then cranking up the pace toward the end of the time frame. The United Auto Workers union made a similar appeal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The approach reflected what the Alliance calls a “Goldilocks problem”: Automakers see huge risks if they move too slowly \u003cem>or \u003c/em>too quickly toward EVs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, the auto industry is not a monolith. All-electric automakers like Tesla and Rivian encouraged the EPA to set even more stringent rules. Dealers, who have generally been more skeptical of EVs than manufacturers, sharply criticized the EPA’s original proposed rules.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The final rules the EPA settled on reflect the input from automakers, labor unions and car dealers, a senior administration official said. Manufacturers will be able to make more gradual cuts to emissions in the early years, the official said, but the rules will ultimately deliver the same reductions as the agency’s initial proposal.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The oil industry is fundamentally opposed\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The oil industry, meanwhile, has been an even more vocal critic of these rules and other policies promoting EVs. Rising adoption of electric vehicles is expected to reduce oil demand over time, although it will take decades for the global fleet of vehicles to turn over.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oil trade groups call the new EPA rule a ban on gas-powered cars, although the regulations allow the continued sale of gas vehicles. The American Petroleum Institute has\u003ca href=\"https://www.api.org/news-policy-and-issues/blog/2023/07/11/epas-tailpipe-emissions-rule-threatens-freedom-reliability-security\"> said\u003c/a> the rule “threatens consumer freedom, energy reliability and national security.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers, which has spent millions on ads against the EPA rules and other policies, also criticized the EPA for not considering the environmental impact of manufacturing a giant battery or charging an EV. A\u003ca href=\"https://theicct.org/publication/a-global-comparison-of-the-life-cycle-greenhouse-gas-emissions-of-combustion-engine-and-electric-passenger-cars/\"> large body of research\u003c/a> has found that even\u003ca href=\"https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1875764/\"> with those impacts factored in\u003c/a>, EVs are still\u003ca href=\"https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/driving-cleaner\"> vastly better for the planet\u003c/a> than comparable fossil fuel vehicles. It’s true, however, that larger, less efficient EVs have a bigger environmental footprint than smaller ones.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the oil industry’s opposition goes even further. The attorney general of Texas has previously\u003ca href=\"https://climatecasechart.com/case/texas-v-epa-2/\"> filed a lawsuit\u003c/a> challenging the EPA’s authority to set rules designed to promote electric vehicles. Multiple oil trade groups backed Texas in the case. The auto industry sided with the EPA, noting that carmakers are investing billions in going electric and that reducing greenhouse gas emissions is a “national priority.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In fact, cutting greenhouse gas emissions is a global priority. The world \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/12/13/1218125835/climate-talks-end-on-a-first-ever-call-for-the-world-to-move-away-from-fossil-fu\">has now agreed\u003c/a> that transitioning away from fossil fuels is key to reducing the devastating impacts of climate change that, even in the best-case scenario, will disrupt ecosystems and human lives around the world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And as the EPA sets rules designed to accelerate the shift away from fossil fuels, carmakers and oil producers are responding very differently.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The auto industry sees a profitable zero-emissions future — if it can figure out how (and when) to get there. The oil industry is fighting to defend its core product.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On a call with reporters earlier this month, Chet Thompson, the CEO of the AFPM, lambasted media reports that the EPA was considering a “compromise” that would give the auto industry a few more years of more lenient standards, buying companies time to prepare for the EV transition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thompson emphasized that the EPA rules would still fundamentally aim to make most cars sold in the U.S. run on batteries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At 2032, it’s the same outcome,” Thompson said, frustrated. “This administration should not be calling that a compromise when, in fact, they want to take us to the same place.”\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/news/11980088/in-boost-for-electric-vehicles-epa-sets-strict-limits-on-tailpipe-emissions","authors":["byline_news_11980088"],"categories":["news_8","news_356","news_248","news_1397"],"tags":["news_23716","news_19204","news_22457","news_21506","news_31508","news_3187","news_30923"],"affiliates":["news_253"],"featImg":"news_11980096","label":"news_253"},"news_11980045":{"type":"posts","id":"news_11980045","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"news","id":"11980045","score":null,"sort":[1710893303000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"automotive-giant-stellantis-agrees-to-follow-strict-california-emissions-standards","title":"Automotive Giant Stellantis Agrees to Follow Strict California Emissions Standards","publishDate":1710893303,"format":"standard","headTitle":"Automotive Giant Stellantis Agrees to Follow Strict California Emissions Standards | KQED","labelTerm":{"site":"news"},"content":"\u003cp>Stellantis, one of the largest automakers in the world, agreed Tuesday to comply with California’s vehicle emissions standards that are the toughest in the nation and require zero-emission and plug-in hybrid vehicles to make up 68% of new light-duty vehicle sales by 2030.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The move by the company that makes vehicles for Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep was seen as a boost to Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s ambitious policies to curtail global warming. The Biden administration restored the state’s authority to set its own tailpipe pollution standards for cars in 2022 after former President Donald Trump’s decision to \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/cf37ab14d4194ba199b4b98e3b31848a\">revoke California’s authority to set its own limits on auto emissions\u003c/a>. It was one of Trump’s most high-profile actions to roll back environmental rules he considered overly burdensome on businesses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Liane Randolph, chair, California Air Resources Board\"]‘This really allows for industry to have certainty in how they are going to work with government to achieve that zero-emission future.’[/pullquote]Stellantis now joins four big automakers — Ford, Honda, Volkswagen and BMW — that agreed to follow California’s rules in 2019. The Trump administration then launched an antitrust investigation of those companies, but eventually closed it after \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/administration-ends-antitrust-probe-of-4-automakers-calif-d5ea7c6f9ba89262b72378198d91e983\">failing to find any wrongdoing\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares called Tuesday’s agreement “a win-win solution that is good for the customer and good for the planet” in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom’s office said Stellantis will avoid adding up to 12 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions through 2026, which is equivalent to emissions from more than 2.3 million vehicles annually.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company also agreed to spend $4 million on installing electric vehicle chargers in parks and rural areas in California, Newsom’s office said, while Stellantis will spend another $6 million on charging infrastructure in other states that choose to adopt California’s rules.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are all in — enthusiastically committed to this transition,” Newsom said. “This is about jobs. This is about economic growth. This is about dominating one of the next great economic sectors.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since the 1970s, the federal government has allowed California to set its own rules for how much pollution can come from cars and trucks. These rules are tougher than the federal standards because California has the most cars on the road and struggles to meet air quality standards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label=\"Related Stories\" postID=\"news_11972271,news_11979516,science_1991185\"]California has been aggressive in trying to eliminate pollution from gas-powered cars and trucks, though the Biden administration has not yet granted it authority to enforce its ban on the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State regulators approved rules to phase out the sale of new fossil fuel-powered \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/technology-california-air-resources-board-climate-and-environment-dc75c11280f85a8ab134cf392497be68\">cars\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-truck-drayage-emissions-climate-change-ab703c7f6274e35d408e020c7a1a823e\">trucks\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-rail-train-emissions-climate-change-1b3e39ea4731422bc630a07c08c6a826\">trains\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/business-gavin-newsom-california-pollution-environment-and-nature-a0110d773785d920558134c0009ba694\">lawn equipment\u003c/a>. The railroad industry has \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-railroad-trains-lawsuit-emissions-locomotives-139ef09e80173b25b1abfb800bf98205\">sued to block new rules\u003c/a> they say would force the premature retirement of about 25,000 diesel-powered locomotives. But some auto makers have pledged to \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-trucks-zero-emission-gas-powered-6457fb67bf50af7e354dcfe511adc197\">voluntarily follow California’s new rules\u003c/a>, avoiding lawsuits that could potentially delay their implementation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California Air Resources Board Chair Liane Randolph said the deals between the state and automakers to cut emissions will help the auto industry prepare for a transition away from gas-powered vehicles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This really allows for industry to have certainty in how they are going to work with government to achieve that zero-emission future,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Associated Press writer Adam Beam contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Austin is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. \u003ca href=\"https://www.reportforamerica.org/\">Report for America\u003c/a> is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Austin on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter: @sophieadanna\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"The maker of Dodge, Jeep and Ram made a deal with California to cut greenhouse gas emission from cars as the state transitions away from gas-powered vehicles.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1710893303,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":16,"wordCount":658},"headData":{"title":"Automotive Giant Stellantis Agrees to Follow Strict California Emissions Standards | KQED","description":"The maker of Dodge, Jeep and Ram made a deal with California to cut greenhouse gas emission from cars as the state transitions away from gas-powered vehicles.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Automotive Giant Stellantis Agrees to Follow Strict California Emissions Standards","datePublished":"2024-03-20T00:08:23.000Z","dateModified":"2024-03-20T00:08:23.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png","isAccessibleForFree":"Y","publisher":{"@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","@id":"https://www.kqed.org/#organization","name":"KQED","url":"https://www.kqed.org","logo":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}}},"sticky":false,"nprByline":"Sophie Austin\u003cbr>Associated Press","excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","showOnAuthorArchivePages":"No","articleAge":"0","path":"/news/11980045/automotive-giant-stellantis-agrees-to-follow-strict-california-emissions-standards","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Stellantis, one of the largest automakers in the world, agreed Tuesday to comply with California’s vehicle emissions standards that are the toughest in the nation and require zero-emission and plug-in hybrid vehicles to make up 68% of new light-duty vehicle sales by 2030.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The move by the company that makes vehicles for Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep was seen as a boost to Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s ambitious policies to curtail global warming. The Biden administration restored the state’s authority to set its own tailpipe pollution standards for cars in 2022 after former President Donald Trump’s decision to \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/cf37ab14d4194ba199b4b98e3b31848a\">revoke California’s authority to set its own limits on auto emissions\u003c/a>. It was one of Trump’s most high-profile actions to roll back environmental rules he considered overly burdensome on businesses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘This really allows for industry to have certainty in how they are going to work with government to achieve that zero-emission future.’","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"align":"right","size":"medium","citation":"Liane Randolph, chair, California Air Resources Board","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Stellantis now joins four big automakers — Ford, Honda, Volkswagen and BMW — that agreed to follow California’s rules in 2019. The Trump administration then launched an antitrust investigation of those companies, but eventually closed it after \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/administration-ends-antitrust-probe-of-4-automakers-calif-d5ea7c6f9ba89262b72378198d91e983\">failing to find any wrongdoing\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares called Tuesday’s agreement “a win-win solution that is good for the customer and good for the planet” in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom’s office said Stellantis will avoid adding up to 12 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions through 2026, which is equivalent to emissions from more than 2.3 million vehicles annually.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company also agreed to spend $4 million on installing electric vehicle chargers in parks and rural areas in California, Newsom’s office said, while Stellantis will spend another $6 million on charging infrastructure in other states that choose to adopt California’s rules.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are all in — enthusiastically committed to this transition,” Newsom said. “This is about jobs. This is about economic growth. This is about dominating one of the next great economic sectors.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since the 1970s, the federal government has allowed California to set its own rules for how much pollution can come from cars and trucks. These rules are tougher than the federal standards because California has the most cars on the road and struggles to meet air quality standards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"label":"Related Stories ","postid":"news_11972271,news_11979516,science_1991185"},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>California has been aggressive in trying to eliminate pollution from gas-powered cars and trucks, though the Biden administration has not yet granted it authority to enforce its ban on the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State regulators approved rules to phase out the sale of new fossil fuel-powered \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/technology-california-air-resources-board-climate-and-environment-dc75c11280f85a8ab134cf392497be68\">cars\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-truck-drayage-emissions-climate-change-ab703c7f6274e35d408e020c7a1a823e\">trucks\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-rail-train-emissions-climate-change-1b3e39ea4731422bc630a07c08c6a826\">trains\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/business-gavin-newsom-california-pollution-environment-and-nature-a0110d773785d920558134c0009ba694\">lawn equipment\u003c/a>. The railroad industry has \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-railroad-trains-lawsuit-emissions-locomotives-139ef09e80173b25b1abfb800bf98205\">sued to block new rules\u003c/a> they say would force the premature retirement of about 25,000 diesel-powered locomotives. But some auto makers have pledged to \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-trucks-zero-emission-gas-powered-6457fb67bf50af7e354dcfe511adc197\">voluntarily follow California’s new rules\u003c/a>, avoiding lawsuits that could potentially delay their implementation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California Air Resources Board Chair Liane Randolph said the deals between the state and automakers to cut emissions will help the auto industry prepare for a transition away from gas-powered vehicles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This really allows for industry to have certainty in how they are going to work with government to achieve that zero-emission future,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Associated Press writer Adam Beam contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Austin is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. \u003ca href=\"https://www.reportforamerica.org/\">Report for America\u003c/a> is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Austin on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter: @sophieadanna\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/news/11980045/automotive-giant-stellantis-agrees-to-follow-strict-california-emissions-standards","authors":["byline_news_11980045"],"categories":["news_31795","news_8","news_356","news_1397"],"tags":["news_1202","news_33917"],"featImg":"news_11980049","label":"news"},"news_11979610":{"type":"posts","id":"news_11979610","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"news","id":"11979610","score":null,"sort":[1710594054000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"after-the-fires-a-maui-community-creates-a-land-trust-to-keep-homes-in-local-hands","title":"After the Fires, a Maui Community Creates a Land Trust to Keep Homes in Local Hands","publishDate":1710594054,"format":"standard","headTitle":"After the Fires, a Maui Community Creates a Land Trust to Keep Homes in Local Hands | KQED","labelTerm":{"term":253,"site":"news"},"content":"\u003cp>Several months after Mikey Burke’s house burned down in Lahaina, her husband got a text message out of the blue. It was an offer to buy their property with no inspections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He’s gotten a couple of those,” Burke says. “Fighting against speculators and large developers coming in is nothing new for us, but we’ve never had it where it’s been this important to our very being as this community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Burke and her family are among hundreds in Lahaina who are navigating the long and arduous process of rebuilding. More than seven months after the wildfire that took 101 lives, hundreds of properties are still covered in piles of debris.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some fire survivors have \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2024/02/19/1231191740/maui-fire-survivors-struggle-to-find-long-term-housing-half-a-year-after-the-bla\">moved into rental properties outside Lahaina\u003c/a>. Others are finding new jobs or schools elsewhere on Maui or in the continental U.S. \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/08/23/1195387894/lahaina-residents-worry-developers-will-scoop-up-land-after-the-recent-wildfires#:~:text=Transcript-,NPR's%20Leila%20Fadel%20talks%20to%20Tiare%20Lawrence%2C%20who%20belongs%20to,land%20after%20the%20recent%20wildfires.\">Many Lahaina residents worry\u003c/a> that developers will buy up properties as they become available, changing the makeup of a community that was once the historic capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we have enough of that happening, the village we grew up in is not going to be the village that we want to raise our kids in,” Burke says. “This community is so important to who we are.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11979614\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11979614\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/d9a0823-edit-copy_custom-1c8f8b1c2444cf6cb8a2caa95c83485ec1758b99-s2600-c85-copy-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1704\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/d9a0823-edit-copy_custom-1c8f8b1c2444cf6cb8a2caa95c83485ec1758b99-s2600-c85-copy-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/d9a0823-edit-copy_custom-1c8f8b1c2444cf6cb8a2caa95c83485ec1758b99-s2600-c85-copy-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/d9a0823-edit-copy_custom-1c8f8b1c2444cf6cb8a2caa95c83485ec1758b99-s2600-c85-copy-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/d9a0823-edit-copy_custom-1c8f8b1c2444cf6cb8a2caa95c83485ec1758b99-s2600-c85-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/d9a0823-edit-copy_custom-1c8f8b1c2444cf6cb8a2caa95c83485ec1758b99-s2600-c85-copy-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/d9a0823-edit-copy_custom-1c8f8b1c2444cf6cb8a2caa95c83485ec1758b99-s2600-c85-copy-2048x1363.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/d9a0823-edit-copy_custom-1c8f8b1c2444cf6cb8a2caa95c83485ec1758b99-s2600-c85-copy-1920x1278.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">West Maui is a center of the tourism industry, raising concerns in the community that developers will buy properties destroyed in the fire as they come up for sale. \u003ccite>(Ryan Kellman/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Now, some community members are \u003ca href=\"https://lahainacommunitylandtrust.org/\">working on a way to buy properties\u003c/a> so they can remain affordable and available to local residents. It’s a nonprofit community land trust modeled after ones \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/04/09/1168839399/community-land-trusts-are-providing-a-solution-to-gentrification\">used around the country for affordable housing.\u003c/a> Land trusts purchase properties and then sell or rent the houses. When the homes are for purchase, the trust keeps ownership of the land they’re built on, so the overall sale price is less than comparable homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Community land trusts have emerged in a handful of other places recovering from disasters, like \u003ca href=\"https://nextcity.org/urbanist-news/community-land-trusts-are-building-disaster-resilient-neighborhoods\">Houston\u003c/a> and the \u003ca href=\"https://www.wlrn.org/news/2018-08-16/in-post-irma-keys-one-tiny-new-home-is-cause-for-major-celebration\">Florida Keys\u003c/a> after both places were hit by hurricanes. The challenge is mobilizing financial resources in time to purchase properties in the crucial years post-disaster when properties go up for sale.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The number of units destroyed that are housing people affordably always outnumbers the amount that you rebuild,” says Steve Kirk, president of Rural Communities, an affordable housing nonprofit affiliated with the \u003ca href=\"https://www.affordablekeys.org/\">Florida Keys Community Land Trust\u003c/a>. “There are individuals and corporations with strike capital that can step into that void and acquire that land.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11979616\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11979616\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/hawaiidip-copy_custom-ccd780a6287ce9de1f7f1dea4eabc316971db35a-s2600-c85-copy-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"845\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/hawaiidip-copy_custom-ccd780a6287ce9de1f7f1dea4eabc316971db35a-s2600-c85-copy-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/hawaiidip-copy_custom-ccd780a6287ce9de1f7f1dea4eabc316971db35a-s2600-c85-copy-800x264.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/hawaiidip-copy_custom-ccd780a6287ce9de1f7f1dea4eabc316971db35a-s2600-c85-copy-1020x337.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/hawaiidip-copy_custom-ccd780a6287ce9de1f7f1dea4eabc316971db35a-s2600-c85-copy-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/hawaiidip-copy_custom-ccd780a6287ce9de1f7f1dea4eabc316971db35a-s2600-c85-copy-1536x507.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/hawaiidip-copy_custom-ccd780a6287ce9de1f7f1dea4eabc316971db35a-s2600-c85-copy-2048x676.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/hawaiidip-copy_custom-ccd780a6287ce9de1f7f1dea4eabc316971db35a-s2600-c85-copy-1920x634.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Maui’s striking volcano and scenic beaches are a major draw for tourists. Half of all condo sales on the island are to out-of-state buyers. \u003ccite>(Ryan Kellman/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Challenges to rebuilding\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Life is still in upheaval for Burke and her family. For months after the fire, her family of four kids and four dogs lived in two hotel rooms. Recently, they moved into a longer-term rental north of Lahaina. Her kids go to a Hawaiian language immersion school right next to the burn zone, so all four are doing distance learning by computer from home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’re still grappling with memories from the day of the fire. As the smoke approached their house, Burke loaded the kids into the car. But the traffic was at a standstill in the rush to evacuate Lahaina. They watched as the flames kept getting closer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was telling the kids: if mommy opens the door, you run straight and you run to the ocean,” she says. “I will never forget that feeling because I didn’t know if it was OK.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their house was destroyed. The burned debris is still awaiting removal, like hundreds of other properties in Lahaina. But Burke’s family is already navigating the rebuilding process. Burke says they received a dollar estimate for what their insurance company will pay them, but they’re not sure if it will be enough to cover the cost of rebuilding with contractors in such high demand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Of course in August, everyone was like: yeah, we’re going to rebuild,” Burke says. “But now, we’re looking at the actual money we have to rebuild and have to make a decision. Do we rebuild? What can we even rebuild? Or do we sell?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She’s heard from others from Lahaina going through the same struggle. Some who are older may not be up for the long rebuilding process. Some are underinsured and won’t have enough to rebuild what they had. Burke says she’s determined to stay, but concern is high that the community she grew up in will be forever altered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11979617\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11979617\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/d9a0816-edit_custom-f6b47bba705382ff21e8ba6a7918ca13555eff0c-s2600-c85-copy-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1704\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/d9a0816-edit_custom-f6b47bba705382ff21e8ba6a7918ca13555eff0c-s2600-c85-copy-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/d9a0816-edit_custom-f6b47bba705382ff21e8ba6a7918ca13555eff0c-s2600-c85-copy-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/d9a0816-edit_custom-f6b47bba705382ff21e8ba6a7918ca13555eff0c-s2600-c85-copy-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/d9a0816-edit_custom-f6b47bba705382ff21e8ba6a7918ca13555eff0c-s2600-c85-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/d9a0816-edit_custom-f6b47bba705382ff21e8ba6a7918ca13555eff0c-s2600-c85-copy-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/d9a0816-edit_custom-f6b47bba705382ff21e8ba6a7918ca13555eff0c-s2600-c85-copy-2048x1363.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/d9a0816-edit_custom-f6b47bba705382ff21e8ba6a7918ca13555eff0c-s2600-c85-copy-1920x1278.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Over 7 months after the fire, most properties that were burned in Lahaina are still covered with debris. \u003ccite>(Ryan Kellman/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>‘Selling in, instead of selling out’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Keeping the community together was on Burke’s mind when she ran into two people working on a potential way to help: Carolyn Auweloa and Autumn Ness. Having worked on housing policy, Ness and Auweloa were aware of the community land trust model and decided to start one for Lahaina. The goal of land trusts is to keep housing affordable in the long term since the buyer agrees to sell the home at a restricted price whenever they choose to sell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11979618\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 1000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11979618\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/0b6a1287-copy_custom-7c5e76759d3a2dbfed0a6152c4ae0608e71982f0-s1000-c85-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"1501\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/0b6a1287-copy_custom-7c5e76759d3a2dbfed0a6152c4ae0608e71982f0-s1000-c85-copy.jpg 1000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/0b6a1287-copy_custom-7c5e76759d3a2dbfed0a6152c4ae0608e71982f0-s1000-c85-copy-800x1201.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/0b6a1287-copy_custom-7c5e76759d3a2dbfed0a6152c4ae0608e71982f0-s1000-c85-copy-160x240.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Autumn Ness, who has worked on housing and local food policy on Maui, says the land trust would be led by the Lahaina community as it re-envisions its future. \u003ccite>(Ryan Kellman/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://cltweb.org/clt-directory/\">Dozens of community land trusts\u003c/a> have been established around the country to boost the affordable housing supply. As climate-driven disasters have taken a bigger and bigger toll, land trusts are getting new attention.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ness says the wildfires only increased the already-existing pressure on Maui’s housing market. With its stunning ocean views and rich history, Lahaina was a tourism hotspot. Short-term rentals, driven by Airbnb and VRBO, \u003ca href=\"https://uhero.hawaii.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/TheHawaiiHousingFactbook.pdf\">made up 40% of the total housing supply (PDF)\u003c/a> in Lahaina’s zip code. And in Maui County more broadly, half of all condominium sales \u003ca href=\"https://uhero.hawaii.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/TheHawaiiHousingFactbook.pdf\">are to out-of-state buyers (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve seen Lahaina be sold to investors parcel by parcel over the last couple of generations, so it was just like: oh my god, we’re super vulnerable,” Ness says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://lahainacommunitylandtrust.org/\">Lahaina Community Land Trust\u003c/a>, as they’ve named it, is still in the early stages and is starting to raise money through donations. Ness says it could do more than just build housing. They could buy some properties that are of cultural value to Native Hawaiians and preserve them for the community. They could buy other properties at risk of being flooded by sea level rise and not build on them at all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Autumn Ness\"]‘We’ve seen Lahaina be sold to investors parcel by parcel over the last couple of generations, so it was just like: oh my god, we’re super vulnerable.’[/pullquote]“People talk about the land trust as a way to sell in, instead of selling out,” Ness says. “If you have to sell — not your fault, no judgment. How can we make sure you have what you need and the land stays in the highest and best interest of the community?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Burke decided to join the effort to develop the land trust, which she says will hopefully lessen the pain for neighbors who choose to leave Lahaina.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We know we can’t save every parcel that’s gonna come up to be sold,” Burke says. “But if we’re an option on somebody’s table so if they have to walk away, they can do it in good conscience, that’s all we’re there for.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Land trusts are growing after disasters\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When hurricanes, floods and wildfires destroy housing, the ensuing upheaval can permanently shift the makeup of a community. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, which hit New Orleans in 2005, \u003ca href=\"https://www.riskproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Graif_Popul_Environ_2016.pdf\">a third of displaced residents (PDF)\u003c/a> still had not returned after three years, and lower-income residents were the most vulnerable to being displaced. Neighborhoods damaged by flooding \u003ca href=\"https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0042098018800445?journalCode=usja\">were also more likely to experience gentrification\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After Hurricane Irma hit the Florida Keys in 2017, the Florida Keys Community Land Trust was established. Like in Lahaina, land values are high there, driven by tourism and restrictions on development.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Vacation rentals command so much money that even in the absence of any storm, we are losing service worker housing on a month-to-month basis,” says Kirk, who works on the land trust as well as affordable housing around Florida.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11979619\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11979619\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/hawaiidip2jpg_custom-d162482bb9927c489db86931714d28f8ea208ad5-s2600-c85-copy-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"845\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/hawaiidip2jpg_custom-d162482bb9927c489db86931714d28f8ea208ad5-s2600-c85-copy-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/hawaiidip2jpg_custom-d162482bb9927c489db86931714d28f8ea208ad5-s2600-c85-copy-800x264.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/hawaiidip2jpg_custom-d162482bb9927c489db86931714d28f8ea208ad5-s2600-c85-copy-1020x337.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/hawaiidip2jpg_custom-d162482bb9927c489db86931714d28f8ea208ad5-s2600-c85-copy-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/hawaiidip2jpg_custom-d162482bb9927c489db86931714d28f8ea208ad5-s2600-c85-copy-1536x507.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/hawaiidip2jpg_custom-d162482bb9927c489db86931714d28f8ea208ad5-s2600-c85-copy-2048x676.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/hawaiidip2jpg_custom-d162482bb9927c489db86931714d28f8ea208ad5-s2600-c85-copy-1920x634.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Community land trusts are used widely around the US, but have only recently started in communities hit by disasters like wildfires and hurricanes. \u003ccite>(Ryan Kellman/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The trust built 31 affordable units on property that went up for sale after the hurricane. It began with a private donation, but the trust eventually secured a \u003ca href=\"https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/comm_planning/cdbg-dr\">federal grant earmarked for disaster recovery\u003c/a>. Kirk says securing funding quickly is key since many properties are put up for sale within just a few years of a disaster.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Public funding is really a necessity in order to preserve land in the aftermath of a disaster, particularly in an affluent location,” Kirk says. “Because in the absence of that, market conditions will cause speculators and others to step into that land and end up serving a completely different income level.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Lahaina, Burke says organizers aren’t sure how many properties the land trust might be able to buy, but they hope to start within the next six months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t think we’re at a place where we can’t come back and still make this a beautiful, vibrant community,” Burke says. “We’re gonna need help and we’re going to continue to need help for years.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"To ward off speculators and developers, the people of Lahaina have created a nonprofit land trust to keep their community together and rebuild after the devastating fires last year.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1710550853,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":31,"wordCount":1737},"headData":{"title":"After the Fires, a Maui Community Creates a Land Trust to Keep Homes in Local Hands | KQED","description":"To ward off speculators and developers, the people of Lahaina have created a nonprofit land trust to keep their community together and rebuild after the devastating fires last year.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"After the Fires, a Maui Community Creates a Land Trust to Keep Homes in Local Hands","datePublished":"2024-03-16T13:00:54.000Z","dateModified":"2024-03-16T01:00:53.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png","isAccessibleForFree":"Y","publisher":{"@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","@id":"https://www.kqed.org/#organization","name":"KQED","url":"https://www.kqed.org","logo":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}}},"sticky":false,"nprByline":"\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/803934365/lauren-sommer\">Lauren Sommer\u003c/a>","excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","showOnAuthorArchivePages":"No","articleAge":"0","path":"/news/11979610/after-the-fires-a-maui-community-creates-a-land-trust-to-keep-homes-in-local-hands","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Several months after Mikey Burke’s house burned down in Lahaina, her husband got a text message out of the blue. It was an offer to buy their property with no inspections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He’s gotten a couple of those,” Burke says. “Fighting against speculators and large developers coming in is nothing new for us, but we’ve never had it where it’s been this important to our very being as this community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Burke and her family are among hundreds in Lahaina who are navigating the long and arduous process of rebuilding. More than seven months after the wildfire that took 101 lives, hundreds of properties are still covered in piles of debris.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some fire survivors have \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2024/02/19/1231191740/maui-fire-survivors-struggle-to-find-long-term-housing-half-a-year-after-the-bla\">moved into rental properties outside Lahaina\u003c/a>. Others are finding new jobs or schools elsewhere on Maui or in the continental U.S. \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/08/23/1195387894/lahaina-residents-worry-developers-will-scoop-up-land-after-the-recent-wildfires#:~:text=Transcript-,NPR's%20Leila%20Fadel%20talks%20to%20Tiare%20Lawrence%2C%20who%20belongs%20to,land%20after%20the%20recent%20wildfires.\">Many Lahaina residents worry\u003c/a> that developers will buy up properties as they become available, changing the makeup of a community that was once the historic capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we have enough of that happening, the village we grew up in is not going to be the village that we want to raise our kids in,” Burke says. “This community is so important to who we are.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11979614\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11979614\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/d9a0823-edit-copy_custom-1c8f8b1c2444cf6cb8a2caa95c83485ec1758b99-s2600-c85-copy-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1704\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/d9a0823-edit-copy_custom-1c8f8b1c2444cf6cb8a2caa95c83485ec1758b99-s2600-c85-copy-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/d9a0823-edit-copy_custom-1c8f8b1c2444cf6cb8a2caa95c83485ec1758b99-s2600-c85-copy-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/d9a0823-edit-copy_custom-1c8f8b1c2444cf6cb8a2caa95c83485ec1758b99-s2600-c85-copy-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/d9a0823-edit-copy_custom-1c8f8b1c2444cf6cb8a2caa95c83485ec1758b99-s2600-c85-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/d9a0823-edit-copy_custom-1c8f8b1c2444cf6cb8a2caa95c83485ec1758b99-s2600-c85-copy-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/d9a0823-edit-copy_custom-1c8f8b1c2444cf6cb8a2caa95c83485ec1758b99-s2600-c85-copy-2048x1363.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/d9a0823-edit-copy_custom-1c8f8b1c2444cf6cb8a2caa95c83485ec1758b99-s2600-c85-copy-1920x1278.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">West Maui is a center of the tourism industry, raising concerns in the community that developers will buy properties destroyed in the fire as they come up for sale. \u003ccite>(Ryan Kellman/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Now, some community members are \u003ca href=\"https://lahainacommunitylandtrust.org/\">working on a way to buy properties\u003c/a> so they can remain affordable and available to local residents. It’s a nonprofit community land trust modeled after ones \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/04/09/1168839399/community-land-trusts-are-providing-a-solution-to-gentrification\">used around the country for affordable housing.\u003c/a> Land trusts purchase properties and then sell or rent the houses. When the homes are for purchase, the trust keeps ownership of the land they’re built on, so the overall sale price is less than comparable homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Community land trusts have emerged in a handful of other places recovering from disasters, like \u003ca href=\"https://nextcity.org/urbanist-news/community-land-trusts-are-building-disaster-resilient-neighborhoods\">Houston\u003c/a> and the \u003ca href=\"https://www.wlrn.org/news/2018-08-16/in-post-irma-keys-one-tiny-new-home-is-cause-for-major-celebration\">Florida Keys\u003c/a> after both places were hit by hurricanes. The challenge is mobilizing financial resources in time to purchase properties in the crucial years post-disaster when properties go up for sale.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The number of units destroyed that are housing people affordably always outnumbers the amount that you rebuild,” says Steve Kirk, president of Rural Communities, an affordable housing nonprofit affiliated with the \u003ca href=\"https://www.affordablekeys.org/\">Florida Keys Community Land Trust\u003c/a>. “There are individuals and corporations with strike capital that can step into that void and acquire that land.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11979616\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11979616\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/hawaiidip-copy_custom-ccd780a6287ce9de1f7f1dea4eabc316971db35a-s2600-c85-copy-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"845\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/hawaiidip-copy_custom-ccd780a6287ce9de1f7f1dea4eabc316971db35a-s2600-c85-copy-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/hawaiidip-copy_custom-ccd780a6287ce9de1f7f1dea4eabc316971db35a-s2600-c85-copy-800x264.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/hawaiidip-copy_custom-ccd780a6287ce9de1f7f1dea4eabc316971db35a-s2600-c85-copy-1020x337.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/hawaiidip-copy_custom-ccd780a6287ce9de1f7f1dea4eabc316971db35a-s2600-c85-copy-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/hawaiidip-copy_custom-ccd780a6287ce9de1f7f1dea4eabc316971db35a-s2600-c85-copy-1536x507.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/hawaiidip-copy_custom-ccd780a6287ce9de1f7f1dea4eabc316971db35a-s2600-c85-copy-2048x676.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/hawaiidip-copy_custom-ccd780a6287ce9de1f7f1dea4eabc316971db35a-s2600-c85-copy-1920x634.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Maui’s striking volcano and scenic beaches are a major draw for tourists. Half of all condo sales on the island are to out-of-state buyers. \u003ccite>(Ryan Kellman/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Challenges to rebuilding\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Life is still in upheaval for Burke and her family. For months after the fire, her family of four kids and four dogs lived in two hotel rooms. Recently, they moved into a longer-term rental north of Lahaina. Her kids go to a Hawaiian language immersion school right next to the burn zone, so all four are doing distance learning by computer from home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’re still grappling with memories from the day of the fire. As the smoke approached their house, Burke loaded the kids into the car. But the traffic was at a standstill in the rush to evacuate Lahaina. They watched as the flames kept getting closer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was telling the kids: if mommy opens the door, you run straight and you run to the ocean,” she says. “I will never forget that feeling because I didn’t know if it was OK.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their house was destroyed. The burned debris is still awaiting removal, like hundreds of other properties in Lahaina. But Burke’s family is already navigating the rebuilding process. Burke says they received a dollar estimate for what their insurance company will pay them, but they’re not sure if it will be enough to cover the cost of rebuilding with contractors in such high demand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Of course in August, everyone was like: yeah, we’re going to rebuild,” Burke says. “But now, we’re looking at the actual money we have to rebuild and have to make a decision. Do we rebuild? What can we even rebuild? Or do we sell?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She’s heard from others from Lahaina going through the same struggle. Some who are older may not be up for the long rebuilding process. Some are underinsured and won’t have enough to rebuild what they had. Burke says she’s determined to stay, but concern is high that the community she grew up in will be forever altered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11979617\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11979617\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/d9a0816-edit_custom-f6b47bba705382ff21e8ba6a7918ca13555eff0c-s2600-c85-copy-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1704\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/d9a0816-edit_custom-f6b47bba705382ff21e8ba6a7918ca13555eff0c-s2600-c85-copy-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/d9a0816-edit_custom-f6b47bba705382ff21e8ba6a7918ca13555eff0c-s2600-c85-copy-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/d9a0816-edit_custom-f6b47bba705382ff21e8ba6a7918ca13555eff0c-s2600-c85-copy-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/d9a0816-edit_custom-f6b47bba705382ff21e8ba6a7918ca13555eff0c-s2600-c85-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/d9a0816-edit_custom-f6b47bba705382ff21e8ba6a7918ca13555eff0c-s2600-c85-copy-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/d9a0816-edit_custom-f6b47bba705382ff21e8ba6a7918ca13555eff0c-s2600-c85-copy-2048x1363.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/d9a0816-edit_custom-f6b47bba705382ff21e8ba6a7918ca13555eff0c-s2600-c85-copy-1920x1278.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Over 7 months after the fire, most properties that were burned in Lahaina are still covered with debris. \u003ccite>(Ryan Kellman/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>‘Selling in, instead of selling out’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Keeping the community together was on Burke’s mind when she ran into two people working on a potential way to help: Carolyn Auweloa and Autumn Ness. Having worked on housing policy, Ness and Auweloa were aware of the community land trust model and decided to start one for Lahaina. The goal of land trusts is to keep housing affordable in the long term since the buyer agrees to sell the home at a restricted price whenever they choose to sell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11979618\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 1000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11979618\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/0b6a1287-copy_custom-7c5e76759d3a2dbfed0a6152c4ae0608e71982f0-s1000-c85-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"1501\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/0b6a1287-copy_custom-7c5e76759d3a2dbfed0a6152c4ae0608e71982f0-s1000-c85-copy.jpg 1000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/0b6a1287-copy_custom-7c5e76759d3a2dbfed0a6152c4ae0608e71982f0-s1000-c85-copy-800x1201.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/0b6a1287-copy_custom-7c5e76759d3a2dbfed0a6152c4ae0608e71982f0-s1000-c85-copy-160x240.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Autumn Ness, who has worked on housing and local food policy on Maui, says the land trust would be led by the Lahaina community as it re-envisions its future. \u003ccite>(Ryan Kellman/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://cltweb.org/clt-directory/\">Dozens of community land trusts\u003c/a> have been established around the country to boost the affordable housing supply. As climate-driven disasters have taken a bigger and bigger toll, land trusts are getting new attention.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ness says the wildfires only increased the already-existing pressure on Maui’s housing market. With its stunning ocean views and rich history, Lahaina was a tourism hotspot. Short-term rentals, driven by Airbnb and VRBO, \u003ca href=\"https://uhero.hawaii.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/TheHawaiiHousingFactbook.pdf\">made up 40% of the total housing supply (PDF)\u003c/a> in Lahaina’s zip code. And in Maui County more broadly, half of all condominium sales \u003ca href=\"https://uhero.hawaii.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/TheHawaiiHousingFactbook.pdf\">are to out-of-state buyers (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve seen Lahaina be sold to investors parcel by parcel over the last couple of generations, so it was just like: oh my god, we’re super vulnerable,” Ness says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://lahainacommunitylandtrust.org/\">Lahaina Community Land Trust\u003c/a>, as they’ve named it, is still in the early stages and is starting to raise money through donations. Ness says it could do more than just build housing. They could buy some properties that are of cultural value to Native Hawaiians and preserve them for the community. They could buy other properties at risk of being flooded by sea level rise and not build on them at all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘We’ve seen Lahaina be sold to investors parcel by parcel over the last couple of generations, so it was just like: oh my god, we’re super vulnerable.’","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"align":"right","size":"medium","citation":"Autumn Ness","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“People talk about the land trust as a way to sell in, instead of selling out,” Ness says. “If you have to sell — not your fault, no judgment. How can we make sure you have what you need and the land stays in the highest and best interest of the community?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Burke decided to join the effort to develop the land trust, which she says will hopefully lessen the pain for neighbors who choose to leave Lahaina.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We know we can’t save every parcel that’s gonna come up to be sold,” Burke says. “But if we’re an option on somebody’s table so if they have to walk away, they can do it in good conscience, that’s all we’re there for.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Land trusts are growing after disasters\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When hurricanes, floods and wildfires destroy housing, the ensuing upheaval can permanently shift the makeup of a community. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, which hit New Orleans in 2005, \u003ca href=\"https://www.riskproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Graif_Popul_Environ_2016.pdf\">a third of displaced residents (PDF)\u003c/a> still had not returned after three years, and lower-income residents were the most vulnerable to being displaced. Neighborhoods damaged by flooding \u003ca href=\"https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0042098018800445?journalCode=usja\">were also more likely to experience gentrification\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After Hurricane Irma hit the Florida Keys in 2017, the Florida Keys Community Land Trust was established. Like in Lahaina, land values are high there, driven by tourism and restrictions on development.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Vacation rentals command so much money that even in the absence of any storm, we are losing service worker housing on a month-to-month basis,” says Kirk, who works on the land trust as well as affordable housing around Florida.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11979619\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11979619\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/hawaiidip2jpg_custom-d162482bb9927c489db86931714d28f8ea208ad5-s2600-c85-copy-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"845\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/hawaiidip2jpg_custom-d162482bb9927c489db86931714d28f8ea208ad5-s2600-c85-copy-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/hawaiidip2jpg_custom-d162482bb9927c489db86931714d28f8ea208ad5-s2600-c85-copy-800x264.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/hawaiidip2jpg_custom-d162482bb9927c489db86931714d28f8ea208ad5-s2600-c85-copy-1020x337.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/hawaiidip2jpg_custom-d162482bb9927c489db86931714d28f8ea208ad5-s2600-c85-copy-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/hawaiidip2jpg_custom-d162482bb9927c489db86931714d28f8ea208ad5-s2600-c85-copy-1536x507.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/hawaiidip2jpg_custom-d162482bb9927c489db86931714d28f8ea208ad5-s2600-c85-copy-2048x676.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/hawaiidip2jpg_custom-d162482bb9927c489db86931714d28f8ea208ad5-s2600-c85-copy-1920x634.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Community land trusts are used widely around the US, but have only recently started in communities hit by disasters like wildfires and hurricanes. \u003ccite>(Ryan Kellman/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The trust built 31 affordable units on property that went up for sale after the hurricane. It began with a private donation, but the trust eventually secured a \u003ca href=\"https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/comm_planning/cdbg-dr\">federal grant earmarked for disaster recovery\u003c/a>. Kirk says securing funding quickly is key since many properties are put up for sale within just a few years of a disaster.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Public funding is really a necessity in order to preserve land in the aftermath of a disaster, particularly in an affluent location,” Kirk says. “Because in the absence of that, market conditions will cause speculators and others to step into that land and end up serving a completely different income level.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Lahaina, Burke says organizers aren’t sure how many properties the land trust might be able to buy, but they hope to start within the next six months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t think we’re at a place where we can’t come back and still make this a beautiful, vibrant community,” Burke says. “We’re gonna need help and we’re going to continue to need help for years.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/news/11979610/after-the-fires-a-maui-community-creates-a-land-trust-to-keep-homes-in-local-hands","authors":["byline_news_11979610"],"categories":["news_8","news_356"],"tags":["news_255","news_27626","news_1775","news_17996","news_137","news_3187"],"affiliates":["news_253"],"featImg":"news_11979613","label":"news_253"}},"programsReducer":{"possible":{"id":"possible","title":"Possible","info":"Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.","airtime":"SUN 2pm","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Possible-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.possible.fm/","meta":{"site":"news","source":"Possible"},"link":"/radio/program/possible","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/possible/id1677184070","spotify":"https://open.spotify.com/show/730YpdUSNlMyPQwNnyjp4k"}},"1a":{"id":"1a","title":"1A","info":"1A is home to the national conversation. 1A brings on great guests and frames the best debate in ways that make you think, share and engage.","airtime":"MON-THU 11pm-12am","imageSrc":"https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/1a.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://the1a.org/","meta":{"site":"news","source":"npr"},"link":"/radio/program/1a","subscribe":{"npr":"https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/RBrW","apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=1188724250&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/1A-p947376/","rss":"https://feeds.npr.org/510316/podcast.xml"}},"all-things-considered":{"id":"all-things-considered","title":"All Things Considered","info":"Every weekday, \u003cem>All Things Considered\u003c/em> hosts Robert Siegel, Audie Cornish, Ari Shapiro, and Kelly McEvers present the program's trademark mix of news, interviews, commentaries, reviews, and offbeat features. Michel Martin hosts on the weekends.","airtime":"MON-FRI 1pm-2pm, 4:30pm-6:30pm\u003cbr />SAT-SUN 5pm-6pm","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/All-Things-Considered-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.npr.org/programs/all-things-considered/","meta":{"site":"news","source":"npr"},"link":"/radio/program/all-things-considered"},"american-suburb-podcast":{"id":"american-suburb-podcast","title":"American Suburb: The Podcast","tagline":"The flip side of gentrification, told through one town","info":"Gentrification is changing cities across America, forcing people from neighborhoods they have long called home. Call them the displaced. Now those priced out of the Bay Area are looking for a better life in an unlikely place. American Suburb follows this migration to one California town along the Delta, 45 miles from San Francisco. But is this once sleepy suburb ready for them?","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/American-Suburb-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"/news/series/american-suburb-podcast","meta":{"site":"news","source":"kqed","order":"13"},"link":"/news/series/american-suburb-podcast/","subscribe":{"npr":"https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/RBrW","apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?mt=2&id=1287748328","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/American-Suburb-p1086805/","rss":"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/series/american-suburb-podcast/feed/podcast","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkMzMDExODgxNjA5"}},"baycurious":{"id":"baycurious","title":"Bay Curious","tagline":"Exploring the Bay Area, one question at a time","info":"KQED’s new podcast, Bay Curious, gets to the bottom of the mysteries — both profound and peculiar — that give the Bay Area its unique identity. And we’ll do it with your help! You ask the questions. You decide what Bay Curious investigates. 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You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg","imageAlt":"KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn","officialWebsiteLink":"/mindshift/","meta":{"site":"news","source":"kqed","order":"2"},"link":"/podcasts/mindshift","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mindshift-podcast/id1078765985","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5","npr":"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/464615685/mind-shift-podcast","stitcher":"https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/stories-teachers-share","spotify":"https://open.spotify.com/show/0MxSpNYZKNprFLCl7eEtyx"}},"morning-edition":{"id":"morning-edition","title":"Morning Edition","info":"\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. 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On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. 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