Potential hazards posed by the eucalyptus trees along College Avenue have resulted in the formation of a Claremont City Task Force geared toward the upkeep of these trees.

In 1998 Pomona students Brian Cressner and Yuta "Pete" Kurahashi were killed by a falling eucalyptus tree that landed on their car at the corner of College Avenue and Fourth Street. More recently, a falling eucalyptus limb damaged Alexander Hall in November.

Dan Check The eucalyptus trees lining College Avenue are among the trees being considered for removal by the City of Claremont and Pomona College.

The task force is in the process of selecting an independent certified arborist, who will test the 127 eucalyptus trees on College Avenue between First Street and Foothill Blvd. Claremont Director of Community Services Betty Sheldon said among the city’s concerns are the old age of the trees and the susceptibility of eucalyptus trees to certain diseases and pests.

Initially, some Claremont scientists claimed the eucalyptus trees were plagued by an insect called Redgum Lerp Psyllids. Native to Australia, Lerps weaken trees and distort their outer appearance. However, neither city officials nor Pomona’s maintenance department have been able to verify this claim. Moreover, certified arborist John Hodnick points out that Lerps are more of a nuisance than a lethal pest, and that they are relatively rare.

"Lerps seem to be really active in two of the 400 species of eucalyptus trees, and a good deal of the trees [near] Pomona College are species much less susceptible to Lerps," Hodnick said.

John Sevier, a certified arborist from Atascadero, California, has a different opinion as to why eucalyptus trees pose a threat to the community. Sevier, who specialized in eucalyptus tree care from 1972 through 1994, said eucalyptus trees are fast-growing and naturally go through "self-pruning." A tree’s limbs periodically outgrow themselves, creating too much weight and leverage for the trunk to support. A tree automatically sheds this extra weight, resulting in peeling bark and falling branches. This is rarely dangerous in the wild, but poses a threat when eucalyptus trees are planted in populated areas.

"Even in absence of disease, eucalyptus are dangerous," Sevier said. "There’s breakage, and it’s only a matter of time before someone gets hurt."

Sevier cites several instances in which falling branches have damaged houses or fallen on people in public areas as examples of the danger in casually planting these potentially lethal trees.

At this point, it remains to be seen what the City of Claremont will do about the eucalyptus trees. The task force dealing with the matter includes two members from the Claremont Colleges, Pomona Director of Campus Planning and Maintenance James Hansen and Claremont Graduate University Director of Facilities David Salazar.

According to Salazar, many of the eucalyptus trees were planted at the founding of the city and are therefore protected by a municipal code that classifies them as heritage trees. As such, city officials must go through special procedures if they wish to remove the trees.

"There’s a very special set of criteria for the general preservation of the trees," Salazar said. "[The task force] just got started, and we’re on a fact-finding mission. Then we’ll decide as a group what to do."

Hansen has an optimistic outlook on the situation. "The city’s going overboard, checking these trees out from top to bottom," Hansen said. "They’ve been very responsive [to the school’s request] that they look into this."

Hansen also described Pomona’s own tree maintenance method, which includes a database of the species and health condition of every tree on campus. Pomona owns its own eucalyptus trees, which Hansen said are regularly checked for weaknesses. Although any arborist hired by the task force would not be required to check trees on the Pomona campus, Hansen said Pomona’s maintenance department will take its own precautions independent of the city.

"Anything we do with our eucalyptus trees will mirror the city’s actions," Hansen said.

Sevier stressed that yearly inspections, rigorous maintenance and extra pruning are necessary if the city does choose to keep the trees.

"These species are supposed to be in the wild, where [branches] can fall without danger," Sevier said. "The clear choice here would be to replace the eucalyptus with a less threatening shade tree."