March 9, 2020 – In California, sudden oak death disease has killed more than 50 million of the state’s iconic oaks and tanoak trees between Humboldt County and Monterey County, threatening survival of several tree species. In 2019 alone, 1 million tanoaks succumbed to sudden oak death (SOD), according to 2019 tree mortality data released by the U.S. Forest Service.
“Two new dangerous SOD strains are at the doors of our forests,” said Matteo Garbelotto, UC Cooperative Extension forest pathology specialist, in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management at UC Berkeley. To assess the movement of SOD, he has mobilized citizen scientists for what he calls “SOD blitzes.” The first in a series of SOD blitzes of 2020 will be April 11 in Napa.
“We had some great results last year and participation continued to be good after 13 years of SOD blitzes,” Garbelotto said.
In Sonoma County, the 2019 SOD infection rate doubled that of 2018, and in Napa County, SOD detection was four times higher than the previous year. In the East Bay, between Richmond and San Leandro, SOD infection spiked – from 1 to 12 percent. The SOD infection rate tripled — from 6% to 18% on the western slopes of the Santa Cruz Mountains in San Mateo County.
As the disease expands its path of forest destruction, the UC Cooperative Extension scientist says more volunteers are needed to sample trees.
“The disease is moving to new counties outside of the current area of infestation,” Garbelotto said. “Even in our Bay Area neighborhoods, SOD of 2019 is not the same SOD of 10 years ago: different distribution, new local outbreaks, and new hosts are emerging, as the disease becomes more and more established in its new home.”
Garbelotto sees the SOD blitzes as the only hope for early detection of the new SOD strains.
“If these new strains arrived and spread in our forests, they could deliver a fatal blow to our forests,” he said. “By collecting symptomatic plant material in their neighborhoods, volunteers will make the most significant contribution possible to intercept these strains.”
Volunteers are taught to identify SOD symptoms and to carefully collect symptomatic leaves from California bay laurels and tanoaks. Participants in the SOD blitzes will be asked to quantify their efforts to stop SOD to show public interest in saving oaks and tanoaks when applying for funds to defeat the tree-killing disease.
Garbelotto is encouraging tree care specialists to participate in the SOD blitzes.
“We have enhanced the benefits for tree care professionals who participate in the blitzes,” Garbelotto said. “Besides offering free bay laurel and tanoak tests for their clients, we now offer them free enrollment in UC Berkeley Forest Pathology Laboratory’s OakSTeP program, which allows tree care professionals to test oaks for SOD infection. It could be enormously beneficial to everybody.”
For more information about the SOD blitzes, visit http://ucanr.edu/sodblitz2020faq or www.sodblitz.org.
Sudden Oak Death Blitzes 2020
Trainings will last one hour, samples have to be collected after the training, all collection materials will be provided, but bring a mobile phone or GPS device. Please install the free SODmap mobile app before the meeting.
Saturday, April 11: The Napa Blitz
10 a.m.-11a.m., UC Cooperative Extension classroom, 1710 Soscol, Napa
Contact: Bill Pramuk info@billpramuk.com
Tuesday, April 14: The Santa Cruz Blitz
6:30 p.m.-8 p.m. UC Santa Cruz Arboretum
Contact: Brett Hall brett@ucsc.edu
Saturday, April 18: The Carmel Valley, Big Sur and City of MontereyBlitzes
10 a.m.-noon. Palo Corona Discovery Center (part of the Monterey Peninsula Regional Park District) 4860 Carmel Valley Rd, Carmel-By-The-Sea, CA 93923
Contacts: Kerri Frangioso kfrangioso@ucdavis.edu
Justin Prouty prouty@monterey.org
Santa Lucia Preserve (For local residents only)
Contact: Christy Wyckoff cwyckoff@slconservancy.org
Wednesday, April 22: The Karuk Nation Blitz
5 p.m.-6 p.m. Orleans at the Karuk Tribe’s Council Chambers
Contact: Heather Rickard heather.d.rickard@gmail.com
April 25: The Saratoga & Skyline Blitzes
10 a.m. West Valley College, Auditorium of the Science and Math Department
Contact: Ann Northrup annnorthrup@sbcglobal.net
CNPS: Toni Gregorio-Bunchtidytip.lp@gmail.com
MidPen Open Space Contact: Coty Sifuentes csifuentes@openspace.org
City of Saratoga: Kate Bear kbear@saratoga.ca.us
1 p.m.-2 p.m., SOUTH SKYLINE, Saratoga Summit Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire) CDF fire station. 12900 Skyline Blvd, Los Gatos, CA.
Contact: Jane Manning skyline_sod@yahoo.com
MidPen Open Space Contact: Coty Sifuentes csifuentes@openspace.org
Saturday, May 2: The East Bay Blitzes
10 a.m.-11:30 a.m. Gallery Room, Orinda Library, 26 Orinda Way, Orinda, Ca. 94563
Contact: Bill Hudson wllhh@ymail.com
1 p.m.-2 p.m., Morgan Lounge, Morgan Hall, UC Berkeley Campus
Contacts: Doug Schmidt dschmidt@berkeley.edu
Anna Marie Schmidt coordinator@sausalcreek.org
Tuesday, May 5: The San Francisco Blitz
9 a.m.-10 a.m., County Fair Building, Recreation Room, Golden Gate Park San Francisco
Contacts: David Iribarne david.iribarne@sfgov.org
Christa Conforti CConforti@presidiotrust.gov
May 2-7: The Sonoma and Kashia Blitzes
Saturday, May 2, 9 a.m.-1 p.m., Sonoma State University’s Galbreath Preserve
Meet at the Yorkville Post Office, 25400 CA-128, Yorkville; Participants will attend a 1-hour training, then have the option to attend a docent-led visit to the preserve to collect samples on site. More information: cei.sonoma.edu/sod-blitz-galbreath-2020
Sunday, May 3, 9 a.m.-noon Sonoma State University’s Fairfield Osborn Preserve, Lichau Rd., Penngrove, 94951
Samples will be collected during the event on site.
*This is a bilingual event (English and Spanish) / Este es un evento bilingue (Inglés y Español)
More information: cei.sonoma.edu/sod-blitz-osborn-2020
3) Petaluma
Thursday, April 30, evening time TBD, specific location TBD
4) Cloverdale
Date/time and specific location TBD
5) Kashia Pomo tribal lands (private group)
Date/time and specific location TBD
May 2-9: The North Peninsula Blitz
Training online at www.sodblitz.org
Contact: Steve Epstein steve@burlingamehills.org
Saturday, May 9: The Marin Blitz
10 a.m.-11 a.m., San Rafael, Dominican College, Joseph R. Fink Science Center, Room 103.
Contacts: Wolfgang Schweigkofler wolfgang.schweigkofler@dominican.edu
CNPS Marin Kristin Jacob kristinjakob@att.net
May 15 and 16: The San Luis Obispo Blitzes
Friday, May 15, 6:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m., at the SLO County Atascadero Library, Martin Polin Community Room, 6555 Capistrano Ave, Atascadero, CA.
Saturday, May 16, 8:30 a.m.-9:30 a.m., at the SLO County Department of Agriculture, UCCE Auditorium, 2156 Sierra Way, San Luis Obispo, CA.
Contacts: Kim Corella Kim.Corella@fire.ca.gov
Lauren Brown lbrown805@charter.net
May 19-22: The North Coast Blitzes, Humboldt & Del Norte
Date and location TBA
Contacts: Chris Lee christopher.lee@fire.ca.gov
Yana Valachovic yvala@ucanr.edu
Saturday, May 30: The Peninsula SOD Blitz
Woodside/Portola Valley/Los Altos Hills/Atherton/Redwood City
10 a.m.-11 a.m., Portola Valley Town Center, 765 Portola Rd.
Contacts: Debbie Mendelson sodblitz@gmail.com
LAH: Sue Welch sodblitz09@earthlink.net
MidPen Open Space: Coty Sifuentes csifuentes@openspace.org
Emerald Hills: Rochelle Kopp rnkopp@aol.com
Saturday, June 6: The Mendocino County Blitz
10 a.m.-11:30 a.m., Historical Farmhouse at the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens, 18220 North Highway 1, Fort Bragg, CA 95437
Contacts: Mario Abreu abreu@mcn.org
Michael Jones mjones@ucanr.edu
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