Sudden Oak Death Meeting Saturday in Orinda

There is a Sudden Oak Death "blitz" meeting Saturday in Orinda to talk about preventive practices to try to stem the epidemic of the disease in the East Bay.

Sudden Oak Death, a disease that can destroy oak and tanoak trees in California, has reached "epidemic" proportions in parts of the East Bay and the Peninsula and prevention efforts against further infestation are "urgently needed," according to an environmental task force.

The "SOD Blitz" meeting to talk about local surveys of the disease and prevention ideas is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday at the Garden Room of the Orinda Public Library, 26 Orinda Way, Orinda. The meeting is sponsored by the University of California, Berkeley, Forest Pathology and Mycology Laboratory and the California Native Plant Society. For information about the meeting, the staff contact is Bill Hudson at wllhh@ymail.com

Surveys of California Bay Laurel trees in selected Bay Area cities, conducted by the University of California at Berkeley and volunteers, show that the pathogen that triggers the disease has spread rapidly in the western East Bay area and the North Peninsula, where "a staggering 48 percent" of bay laurel trees tested in the Burlingame Hills were infected, according to the California Oak Mortality Task Force.

The on-site surveys, known as "SOD Blitzes," of more than 10,000 trees by 500 volunteers identified bay laurel trees with evidence of the pathogen Phytophthora ramorum, which does not harm the bay laurel but can take hold, infect and eventually kill decades-old oak and tanoak trees if left untreated.

"The bay trees are the primary spreaders of the pathogen," said Katie Palmieri, spokeswoman for the task force and UC Berkeley. "They indicate how much pathogen is in the area."

Bay City News Service contributed to this report.