While Jim Crouch (see the LA Times article on oak tree preservation, Sept. 19) has dedicated himself to planting oak trees to help the environment, San Luis Obispo County is going in the opposite direction. The county supervisors approved the “Dana Reserve,” a proposed massive development in Nipomo where there are plans to destroy 3,000-plus mature oak trees and accompanying wildlife habitat over 288 acres. Nipomo, a small rural town located on a mesa, has a specific environment providing an incredibly unique habitat that includes highly endangered plants and sensitive habitats. The mitigation plan does not mitigate; you cannot reproduce this habitat elsewhere.
The residents of Nipomo do not want this development for a number of reasons. First and foremost, we cannot afford to lose this forest and the biodiversity it provides. It is obscene that in this day and age; thousands of oak trees and accompanying wildlife habitat were given a death sentence by a vote of a handful of people. Some of us didn’t grow up watching Fern Gully for nothing. We have to fight for the trees, for without them we are nothing. San Luis Obispo County supervisors, are you listening?
Jordan DeVault
Nipomo Grassroots Conservancy
This article appears in Oct 1-8, 2026.
