25-04-2010, 05:20 PM
(This post was last modified: 26-04-2010, 05:49 PM by Keith Millea.)
Quote:Eucalypti get a bad rap especially in California, where they were imported over a hundred years ago to provide cheap firewood and timber. North of the Oregon border they really don't grow very well at all, except for a few species from the mountains and Tasmania, ghost gums, which still require extensive coddling.
The Eucalyptus trees were cited as one the main reasons for the great Oakland hills fire in 1991.The Bay Area then went on a tree cutting frenzie to get rid of them.
http://library.thinkquest.org/C0119184/e...fire.shtml
Quote:The Oakland Hills Fire spread so quickly because of the close proximity of the houses to dense vegetation. Many houses were up against eucalyptus and Monterey pine trees that had been dried by a five-year drought. Many of the houses were also not constructed safely, with untreated wood shingles and unprotected wood decks.
They were also imported to use as wind breaks north of SF in Marin and Sonoma County.
The only Eucalyptus trees I've seen in Oregon were down on the Southern Border,around the Medford area.
"You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.â€
Buckminster Fuller
Buckminster Fuller