Sparing the Air: All those Spare the Air days...

× Like us and you'll find top breaking news in your Facebook newsfeed. Sign up for our daily email newsletter and get top stories and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Monday, March 5, 2012, by Sally Kuchar

All those Spare the Air days we had this winter have paid off. Authorities say there's been a decrease in air pollution. "We are seeing overall, across the Bay Area, a decrease in wood smoke levels according to our data," an Air Quality Management District official told CBS SF. "And our surveys are showing that about 25 percent of people are burning less on at least once instance throughout the year." The Air Quality Management District gave out 346 warnings letters and issued 13 tickets. [SF Appeal/CBS SF/photo via Shutterstock]

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Billionaire's Row: Pacific Heights: Woodman, Spare That View-Blocking Tree

× Like us and you'll find top breaking news in your Facebook newsfeed. Sign up for our daily email newsletter and get top stories and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Wednesday, May 11, 2011, by Philip Ferrato

[Photo Credit: Curbed SF]

More drama in the battle between upslope Larry Ellison and downslope Jane and Bernard von Bothmer and their view-blocking trees. Yesterday the Urban Forestry Council's Landmark Tree Committee recommended that the von Bothmer's offending Acacia Melanoxylon be given landmark status. No mention of the von Bothmer's overly-enthusiastic redwoods, but the full Council will vote on the acacia on May 27th. Much back-and-forth, including dueling arborists, over the tree's provenance- was the garden designed by Thomas Church?- and habitat, with the acacia's being much loved by hummingbirds and red-tailed hawks, as well as humans. One arborist (Ellison's, of course) sniffed that the owners irreparably damaged the tree when they put in a swimming pool next to it. The huge tree is well over eighty years old; acacias were imported along with eucalyptus from Australia as ornamentals in the early 20th century. They're also classified as invasive, but that's a garden path we'll stay off for now, plus we know there's a "we all should have such problems" joke in here somewhere.
· Pacific Heights: Birds Gotta Fly... Rich People Fight [Curbed SF]
· Meeting Agenda, 5-10-11 [Urban Forestry Council]
· Woodman, Spare That Tree (full text) [Bartleby]

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