Oak Trees at the Center of Elk Grove Rural Identity

"…The Rural Area is valued in our community for its aesthetic and cultural significance, as well as the economic and educational opportunities that agriculture provides. Our commitment to maintaining the Rural Area is clear and codified in core planning documents…" Elk Grove General Plan, December 2023

OAK TREES AT THE CENTER OF ELK GROVE RURAL IDENTITY

Sheldon Community Association (SCA) was initially organized to protect the large oak trees native to the rural area. Subsequently, SCA did take on other issues such as protecting the Sheldon commercial area against destruction by the wide new connector coming down Grant Line Road. For a number of years SCA and the Greater Sheldon Road Estates Homeowners Assoc. (GSREHA) annually organized the "Folks for Oaks" project, partnering with SMUD and the Sacramento Tree Foundation to enhance the oak tree cover in the rural area. That project planted 1,200 tree seedlings, more oaks than are contained in the Elk Grove city park, saving some of them. In addition, many rural residents have let wild oaks grow from acorns to now impressive trees. In 2015 the Sacramento Tree Foundation awarded our organizations' "Folks for Oaks" its Austin B. Carroll "Tree Heroes" Award. But we can remain "tree heroes" only by continuing to propagate and protect them against encroaching urbanization. Rural area lots of two acres or more are perfect environments for that. A well treed rural area is not only beautiful, but carries the practical advantage of reducing the overall summer temperature in the Elk Grove by as much as several degrees. That is a huge benefit to the whole city, as our climate already is becoming substantially hotter. Today our rural area is increasingly threatened by commercial and legal pressures to urbanize that will be difficult to resist, spoiling much that we have defended. But our history of protecting oaks provides a very practical way out. With the support of its organized rural residents, the city could designate the rural area as an official conservation area in which residents retain their current right of rural living in exchange for tending a forest cover that protects the city from growing heat threats. This should provide sufficient legal and policy strength to resist current pressures that would eventually turn today's rural area into more subdivisions. What do you prefer? I vote for more of our beautiful native trees and continuation of a rural lifestyle that contributes to the entire community. That is who we are at our best.

Bill M.

Rural Area Resident