For the past 20 years, the Sacramento Area Bicycle Advocates (SABA) has helped to promote May is Bike Month, a month-long event challenge hosted by Love to Ride. Love to Ride is a global program that encourages people to bike more through their interactive platform and advocates for accessible bike infrastructure everywhere. To celebrate May is Bike Month, Wild Rye Consulting spent the month out on the American River Parkway trail, working, recreating, and interacting with community members.

To kick off the month, Wild Rye Consulting premiered the Tree Treasure Hunt & Educational Odyssey (TTH&EO), an interactive map meant to help riders learn to recognize the tree species along the American River Parkway trail. In total, we cycled 194 miles to collect data for the TTH&EO, which included 75 trees of 17 species of native and nonnative trees. Trees were included at every mile of the trail ––from Discovery Park to the Nimbus Fish Hatchery near Hazel Avenue–– to ensure all communities that border the Parkway were able to participate and learn about the natural world. This map will continue to be accessible via our website.

On May 17, 2024, Wild Rye hosted a Ride with an Arborist event, and over a dozen people came out to bike and learn about the various tree species along the American River Parkway trail! Together, we rode 6 miles, starting at William B. Pond and looping back at Hagan Community Park. Participants learned about the history of tree species in the area, the difference between native and nonnative species, and some tips on how to take care of their own trees at home. It was awesome to see so many community members interested in learning about the natural world and exploring the urban forest with us! We want to give a huge thanks to everyone who came out and participated in our Ride with an Arborist event, and a special thanks to our new friends at SABA and the Bicycling Advocates for Rancho Cordova (BARC).

Wild Rye Consulting logged 801 miles in May 2024, preventing the combustion of 177 pounds of carbon dioxide.

We are excited to say that Wild Rye Consulting came in 1st place for miles logged of workplaces with 1-6 staff members! Most of all, we are excited to have engaged with community members, and we hope that you learned something new about the trees around you while out on your bike this May!  

May is Bike Month/Love to Ride is a fun community challenge I enjoy participating in every year. Thank you to Sacramento Area Bicycle Advocates and partner agencies that promote this event!

This year, Wild Rye Consulting collectively logged 454 miles and 68 rides preventing the combustion of 98 pounds of carbon dioxide! As a small business, I appreciate that the challenge is set up by number of employees, so I am ecstatic to report that Wild Rye Consulting placed 6th among employers with 1-6 staff members! Small business can have a big impact!

I often use a bicycle to explore and study the urban forest. My bicycle is set up with pannier bags that help me to transport my arborist equipment while I am studying the urban forest.  

Bicycling offers numerous benefits for individuals and the environment. This is true every day of the year and I want to share with you a few advantages of using a bicycle as transportation:

1. Health and Fitness: Bicycling is an excellent form of exercise that can improve cardiovascular health, strengthen muscles, promote weight loss, and increase overall fitness levels. Exercise is good for mental health! Regular cycling can also help reduce the risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease, obesity, and diabetes. Cycling is also fun and is a great way to connect socially!

2. Environmental Sustainability: Bicycles produce zero emissions, making cycling an environmentally friendly mode of transportation. By choosing to ride a bicycle instead of driving a car, you can significantly reduce your carbon footprint. This mitigates climate change. Personal choice matters! Bicycling also helps to reduce air and noise pollution, making urban areas more pleasant and healthier places to live. Look around as you cycle–and enjoy the sounds of birds. Do you notice how you observe the natural world differently?

3. Cost Savings: It cost money to fill your gas tank. Bicycling is a cost-effective mode of transportation, especially for short trips. Riding a bicycle does not require insurance and you will not incur parking fees. There are often bicycle valets at events sponsored by cities and counties.

4. Traffic Reduction: Bicycles take up less space on the road compared to cars, helping to alleviate traffic congestion in urban areas. There are often alterative routes so you can get exercise, build lung capacity, and arrive in a better mood having benefited from well oxygenated blood!

Ride safe. Always wear a helmet. A local bicycle shop can help you get fit properly and there are local advocacy groups that will help you become comfortable riding on the road.

Cork is a renewable resource and the harvest of cork predates wine bottles with the practice described by Theophrastus in his Enquiry into Plants (c. 350 BC – c. 287 BC)!

Cork oak (Quercus suber) is native to southwestern Europe and the northern coast of Africa. Portugal and Spain, located in the Mediterranean homeland of this species, are the world’s largest producers of cork. Cork oak was widely planted throughout the United States as a result of trade blockages during World War II in an effort to develop a secure a domestic supply.   

Cork Crown and Seal Company (present day Crown Holdings) is an American manufacture company that manufactures metal beverage and food cans. With the assistance of foresters and botanists, Cork Crown and Seal Co. began the McManus Cork Project in 1939 to develop a domestic supply of cork. The project was named after the company CEO, Charles E.  McManus. Across the United States, garden clubs and 4-H club members participated in tree planting events promoted by state governors and Arbor Day celebrations to promote national self-reliance and patriotism. In 1944, California Governor Earl Warren planted a cork oak seedling on the grounds of the California State Capital in Sacramento. A cork oak grove planted during World War II is present in the Peter J. Shields Oak Grove on the grounds of the University of California, Davis.

By the 1940’s, cork was in heavy demand in the United States manufacturing industry. The United States imported over half the cork produced in the world––nearly all the cork was obtained from European forest production. Cork was used in the production of a multitude of products. Manufactured items include bottle caps, insultation, refrigerated containers, automobile gaskets. Critical to defense efforts, cork was used in military uses in tanks, bomber planes, and weapons. The United States government became increasingly concerned about the sourcing of cork from European forests with the Axis occupation over much of the European continent. With cork supply threatened by an Atlantic blockade, the United States Commerce Department issued a report in October 1941 detailing the importance of cork and the dependance on the imported natural product. Research efforts ramped up to identify synthetic alternatives to cork and modern plastics were in widespread use by the 1950’s.

Cork oak was planted in California prior to the McManus project, with early plantings sent to California by way of the U.S. Patent Office in 1858. A cork oak grove was planted in Chico’s Lower Bidwell Park in 1904. In total, three cork oak trees stand on the grounds of the California State Capitol with the oldest planted in 1879.

I visited the grounds of the California State Capitol to connect with the historical legacy that that these trees represent. The largest of the cork oak tree in Capital Park is located along N Street and measures 37.5 inches in diameter at breast height (DBH) and has a height of approximately 62 feet! The oldest cork oak on the Capital grounds planted in 1879 has a DBH of 34.2 inches and a height of 48 feet. History is alive in the urban forest!

Further reading on the history of cork oaks trees, see

https://www.lancasterhistory.org/lancasters-cork-connection-part-1/

https://www.internationaloaksociety.org/content/tracking-cork-oak-and-world-war-ii-history-american-west

https://www.press.jhu.edu/newsroom/cork-wars-films-introduce-story-nature-and-business-war

https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=31018

https://treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/quercus/quercus-suber/

Wild Rye Consulting attended the Western Chapter ISA Structural Pruning Workshop at Howe Park in Sacramento, California on January 27, 2023. This was an incredible event packed full of information!

The concept of structural pruning is guided by branch aspect ratio. If a branch and the tree trunk are similar in size, the ratio approaches 1:1. As the ratio approaches 1:1, the branch has a weaker attachment to the trunk. When the branch is nearly the same size as the trunk, tree care professionals refer to this as “co-dominance.”

Pruning is the method to control the aspect ratio – pruning can slow the growing process and help achieve strong structure when strategic small cuts are made early in the life of a tree. Brian Kempf of Wood Architecture, located in Visalia, California and Dr. Ed Gilman of the University of Florida provided detailed information to the arborists in attendance on the importance of making small cuts early and managing load on mature trees. The message was clear: Trees are living structures that require management to achieve desired goals in the urban landscape. Goals include structure, clearance, and appearance. Arborists can help manage risk by prescribing pruning cuts intended to improve tree structure.

Mark Chisholm, 3 Time ISA Tree Climbing Champion of Aspen Tree Expert Company located in New Jersey gave an inspirational talk about longevity in the field of arboriculture. You could really insert any activity other than arboriculture in Mark’s talk and the relevancy would remain. Mark’s talk identified that the secret to longevity lies in the assumption that 1) you want to do the thing; and 2) that you have a natural talent for the thing you are engaged in doing. The keys to longevity include 1) working safe, 2) always being a student; and  3) training like an athlete. You must keep your health to have longevity–this includes preventing injury, having mental agility to adopt new techniques and technology and always learning to elevate and be the best possible arborist (or whatever), and to maintain the health of your body through regular physical exercise and nutrition. Sounds simple? What I thought was revolutionary was the idea that a job is short term success, but a career is asking “how do I help solve the problem.”

The storms of January 2023 have resulted in many tree failures in Northern California. Wild Rye Consulting continues to collect data on whole tree failures and study the root systems of fallen trees in Sacramento. The timing of the Structural Pruning Workshop is important. It should encourage land managers to connect with an ISA Certified Arborist to help with tree selection and perform early pruning to help guide strong structure in the trees that you manage. Small cuts made at the time of planting, or shortly after planting can prevent structural weaknesses in mature trees. Trees will heal more quickly from small pruning cuts as compared to large branch removal. Makes sense, right? Small wounds heal quick in trees the same as on human skin.

Let’s re-plant the urban forest with the goal of improving the structure of our trees so that long-term maintenance costs and conflicts with infrastructure can be reduced. Pruning is an iterative cycle, but trees are an asset with long-term benefits. Care can extend the life of a tree in the urban landscape.

Trees are incredible organisms and wood is strong!

Trees are alive and they also experience injury, wounds, insect attack, stress, and less than ideal growing conditions in the urban environment. I didn’t even mention fungi – they are all around in the environment – and a very important unseen factor.

Most decay fungi affect non-living cells and these are called saprophytes. But some fungi invade living cells and these are pathogens. Fungi can alter wood strength properties, but it depends on the type of fungus how the wood is affected. Tree health condition and structural considerations are considerations are factors arborists consider when completing tree risk assessment and hazard evaluation.

Trees do compensate–they are self-optimizing organisms!

Shown in this blog is Modesto ash, also known as velvet ash (Fraxinus velutina). This tree had no evidence of fruiting bodies of mushroom, but there was evidence of decay on the trunk of this tree (and others planted in this neighborhood). The extend of decay was known until the time of failure. Decay can be incipient – hidden inside the tree. Modesto ash tree failures typically include breakage of large branches, or trunk splitting. It’s important to know the name (species) of the tree–and helpful to understand where and how failures occur in a species.

Contact an arborist if you need assistance with a tree after the January 2023 storms. ISA Certified Arborists and ISA TRAQ professionals can help you. Wild Rye Consulting has noted many trees now have a lean as a result of the extreme wind forces exerted under saturated soil conditions. This is being noted throughout the urban forest. This is not necessarily immediate cause for tree removal, but absolutely something to monitor and perform a condition assessment on the tree.

Be safe.

Wild Rye Consulting has been studying the tree failures associated with the storm events on New Year’s Eve 2022 and on January 7, 2023. These storms have dramatically altered our urban forest and landscape—many mature evergreen species have been uprooted.

On 12/31/2022, the National Weather Service issued a Special Weather Statement for north winds sustained at nearly 30 mph and gusting up to 50–55 mph. Locally gusts were reported up to 64 mph!  The wind direction was primarily from the north, but a swirling wind pattern was noted on weather applications. This wind encircled the Sacramento area in a counterclockwise direction. This is unusual for the Sacramento region as strong winds typically come from the south or west. Rainfall in excess of 2 inches was documented for the 24-hour period before the storm.

On 1/7/2023, the National Weather Service issued a Wind Advisory, for sustained south to southeast winds 20–30 mph with gusts 40–50. Locally gusts reported up to 68 mph.

The saturated soil conditions coupled with strong winds have taken a devastating toll on the urban landscape. Many trees have been impacted. Branch failures are common in broadleaf trees. The evergreen species—both conifers and broadleaf species—have suffered great casualties. Evergreens are trees that hold their leaves. Deciduous trees lose their leaves in the winter. The evergreens are more susceptible to windthrow (being pushed over in high winds) because the leaves create wind resistance. (Think of a sailboat.) It takes great force to tear a tree from the ground, but this happened in two separate events over the course of one week!

Wild Rye Consulting has studied over 20 tree failures of the following species: interior live oak (Quercus wislizeni), European olive (Olea europaea,) deodar cedar (Cedrus deodara), stone pine (Pinus pinea), and foothill pine (P. sabiniana). Wild Rye Consulting is collecting this data to learn more about root architecture. These storms have created an unprecedented number of whole tree failures. The opportunity to study root architecture in so many species in a short timeframe is not common. This has been a large undertaking and one of great importance.

Several of the tree failures that I have studied have been trees that I have sat with while resting in our urban parks or often ride by on the Jedediah Smith Memorial Bicycle Trail. I am driven to complete this work because learning nothing would be the ultimate tragedy in this story.

Please stay safe. If Wild Rye Consulting can be of assistance to you, please reach out. We’re available to complete tree risk assessment and help document tree failures. We are also interested in compiling data that you may have collected.

Trees provide a sense of place and provide a link to history!

As part of the Apollo 14 mission (January 31, 1971–February 9, 1971), 500 seeds from five species of trees (loblolly pine, sycamore, sweetgum, redwood, and Douglas fir) were sent into space! The Moon Tree concept was the idea of Ed Cliff, chief of the Forest Service. Stan Krugman of the Forest Service selected the species and seeds for the experiment.

Stu Roosa was the command pilot for the Apollo 14 Mission. The seeds aboard the Apollo 14 Mission were germinated back on earth, and many of the Moon Trees were provided to state forestry organizations to be planted as part of bicentennial celebrations in 1976. There was not a systematic tracking of where all the Moon Trees were planted however. 

NASA has revived the Moon Tree Program and has sent 1000 seeds from five species (loblolly pine, American sycamore, sweet gum, Douglas-fir, and giant sequoia) aboard the Artemis I Mission (November 16–December 11, 2022)! Four of the five species are the same as from the Apollo 14 Mission, with coast redwood being replaced by giant sequoia on the Artemis I Mission. Once returned to the Earth, the Forest Service will germinate the new Moon Tree seeds and grow them into seedlings as was done after the Apollo 14 Mission. Public education institutions across the United States will have the opportunity to submit a proposal to serve as a Moon Tree custodian! 

There is a Moon Tree from the Apollo 14 Mission in Sacramento! 

The Moon Tree is a coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens). This tree was planted on the grounds of the State Capital in 1976. It is located adjacent to the Capital building along L Street in Sacramento. 

There are amazing trees on the grounds of the California State Capital!

Further reading on Moon Trees, see

https://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/history/moon-trees-stand-as-living-testaments-to-first-voyages-to-moon.html

https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/moon_tree.html

About the Apollo 14 Mission, see

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/missions/apollo14.html

About the Moon Tree seeds on Artemis I, see

https://www.nasa.gov/stem/feature/nasa-usda-forest-service-fly-next-generation-of-moon-tree-seeds-on-artemis-1/

Guide to trees at the California State Capital, Sacramento, see

https://capitolmuseum.ca.gov/images/pdf/CapitolParkTreeBooklet.pdf