City of Pacific Grove cuts branches off the cluster trees

[Paul Cherubini]

I visited the Monarch Grove Sanctuary in Pacific Grove Oct. 25 and was shocked to see many of the upper branches of the main eucalyptus cluster tree grove had been cut off:
http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu87/4ALC/pga.jpg
Some monterey pine branches had been cut off as well. I could not hardly believe my eyes because it was obvious to me this amount of pruning will substantially degrade the suitability of the Sanctuary as a cluster site and the butterfly population is likely to be substantially lower and less stable this year and for years to come.

Pruning the high branches exposes the lower branches where the clusters form to more light and wind. Example: these are the branches of the the eucalyptus grove that the butterflies used for clustering in early Dec. 2008:
http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu87/4ALC/pgb.jpg
But this year a high percentage of the arriving butterflies may "decide" those branches will expose them to too much light and wind and that the Monarch Grove Sanctuary is not a good enough habitat to stay at.

Another problem is that before the City cut the branches, the eucalyptus grove provided only marginal degree of wind protection to the clusters when winds blew from the south or north and now they provide even less protection. So I feel fewer butterflies are likely to "decide" the eucalyptus grove
at the Monarch Grove Sanctuary is a good place to cluster in the autumn, hence the butterfly population might plumment 50-80% from years past.

And since the eucalyptus grove now provides even less protection from winter storm gale winds, the butterflies that do stay during the fall months are more likely to abandon the Sanctuary in late Dec or early Jan. instead of staying until late Feb or early March.

It would be wonderful if I am completely wrong, but that's my view of the probable impact of the City's pruning.

[Mona Miller]

Why don't you ask them why they did this?

I think I remember a branch breaking in that area and killing an old woman a few years back.

[Paul Cherubini]

Yes legal liability issues were the reason the City of Pacific Grove cut many branches off the cluster trees just 12 days ago when the butterflies were present.

Now imagine what Americans would say if the Mexicans pruned some of their cluster trees for legal liability reasons when the butterflies were present. But if we do it to our own cluster trees it's OK.
A double standard.

[Mona Miller]

The Mexican government is cutting down trees now due to disease.

[Paul Cherubini]

The Mexican government is not cutting cluster trees as the City of Pacific Grove has done.

Here's a better look at the recent upper branch trimming of the eucalyptus cluster trees in Pacific Grove:

A Dec. 2008 view BEFORE the trimming:
http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu87/4ALC/08.jpg

A Oct. 25, 2009 view AFTER the trimming:
http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu87/4ALC/09.jpg

[Mona Miller]

I can't tell from your pictures what kind of job was done. I know that pines branches should not be cut back unless you leave some green growth. I can't tell from your pictures what is going on.

Talking with us will not help the situation. You and anyone connected to that area needs to open a dialogue with the park. Talk with the park. Get a professional opinion on how trees should be trimmed. Maybe they are doing something that you don't understand. You are not an arborist.

[Paul Cherubini]

The trees provided only a marginally good level of sun and wind protection for the butterflies prior to the pruning so any amount of additional thinning of the foliage would tend to further compromise the situation. Since the City performed more than a minor amount of pruning the butterfly population is likely to decline 50-80% in my opinion. So I believe tourists visiting the Sanctuary this winter are likely to see only 2,000-3,000 monarchs instead of the 15,000 - 18,000 that were there last year.

I have not heard the City's official side of the story. I did hear second hand that a monarch consultant hired by the City said the branch trimming wouldn't adversely affect the butterflies and that's why the City went ahead with it. If that's what this consultant really said then I strongly disagree with him or her. We will know in a month or two who was right.

[Mona Miller]

I don't think it is a matter of 'wait and see' or 'who is right'. I am a Master Gardener. Those pictures you posted did not show much about the cut. Pruning can be done in a way to encourage new growth. Maybe that was done or maybe it wasn't. Consulting with the park system and the company who did the pruning will give you the information that you need. Maybe if the park got some input this type of pruning if it is hurting the trees would not happen in the future. Pruning trees is not always a bad thing.

[Paul Cherubini]

I'm not saying pruning is bad for the trees. I'm saying it's bad for the butterflies via allowing too much light and wind to penetrate overstory tree canopy and strike the lower to medium height branches where the butterflies are clustered. I think many of the butterflies will respond by abandoning the Monarch Grove Sanctuary causing a 50-80% drop in the population and dissappointing the tourists.

Here's what a potential tourist, Rob Santry of Anderson, Calif., said on the western monarch discussion forum yesturday:

"Can't the City of Pacific Grove figure out a solution of protecting the habitat in that park? I realize there is a liability to the city if a limb breaks and harms someone. I recall it has already happened. Why not change the walking path to not go all the way through the park?
I had made reservations at the Butterfly Grove Inn at Pacific Grove for the Thanksgiving weekend. Now I want to cancel. So, local inns and restaurants will not be getting my business. What's the point of us going down there to 'see' overwintering Monarchs when the city discourages Monarch roosts from forming! It seems they need a better management plan of the habitat if they want eco-tourist dollars to be spent in their town."

[Mona Miller]

It doesn't do any good if people complain and nothing gets said to the park service. I cannot see what you are talking about from those photos that you took so I cannot voice an opinion.

[Paul Cherubini]

An article appeared today about Pacific Grove's pruning of the butterfly cluster trees.
Download a .pdf of Pacific Grove's Ceder Street Times newspaper here:
http://tinyurl.com/ylnb6lp Then scroll down to page 15 to view an article about the tree trimming.

In the article you will see a veteran videographer, Bob Pacelli, agrees with me the tree pruning badly damaged the suitability of the overwintering site for monarchs. The latest word from the site is there are no clusters left and it's only November 13.

[sbannister]

Paul,

Just a suggestion - If you live in the area, you could contact your city counselman and your representatives in the state and federal legislatures about this. It can make a difference. You could even start a petition. It's worth trying!

[Paul Cherubini]

We're still trying to learn about the City's side of the story; i.e. why weren't City officials aware that pruning the eucalyptus branches could potentially have a devastating impact on the size of the butterfly population occupying the Monarch Grove Sanctuary?

The City might have a completely legitimate alibi; e.g. maybe the City's monarch consultant gave his OK to the pruning. Or maybe the City's monarch consultant never emphasized to them that the eucalyptus branches were critically important. Or, considering the City probably had to pay a six figure legal settlement to the family of the victum who was killed by a falling branch several years ago, perhaps the City decided tourist safety trumps any butterfly habitat considerations.

[sbannister]

Well, I hope you find out. I would think an arborist would be able to satisfy both needs by determining which branches were likely to fall. Then those would be cut so no one gets hurt. Besides, if they fell, the butterflys couldn't use them anyway.

Anyway, good luck with that.

[Paul Cherubini]

http://tinyurl.com/yhjf5t6

ANNUAL BUTTERFLY COUNT SHOWS DRAMATIC DECLINE IN PACIFIC GROVE'S MONARCH GROVE SANCTUARY
By Kera Abraham November 30, 2009

An annual count of monarch butterflies shows dramatically low turnout at Pacific Grove's Monarch Grove Sanctuary this year, confirming the suspicions of monarch enthusiasts who blame heavy tree pruning done by the city in late September.

According to El Dorado-based entomologist Paul Cherubini, this year's monarch population estimates, as compared to Thanksgiving 2008, are:

Up 34 percent in Santa Cruz's Lighthouse Field State Park;
Down 38 percent at Moran Lake, Capitola;
Down 34 percent at a private property near Big Sur:
Down 96 percent at P.G.'s Monarch Grove Sanctuary.

Cherubini blames the disproportionate decline in the P.G. sanctuary on the trimming. He predicts that the butterflies will abandon the sanctuary between mid-December and mid-January, and may not
return to it as a regular overwintering spot.

"The city itself inadvertently ruined its own butterfly habitat via the tree pruning," Cherubini writes by email. "The city could have used tree rope or wire cables to secure the dangerous branches instead of cutting them."

City Public Works Director Celia Perez Martinez has said that the low butterfly turnout this year could be due to any number of factors besides the trimming. She is awaiting a more comprehensive
assessment by Cal Poly professor Francis Villablanca.

The relative absence of butterflies in P.G. comes in the context of what appears to be a long-term decline in the western monarch population, which may be caused by a variety of factors, including
summer droughts, invasive parasites, habitat degradation and the disappearance of the Central Valley's native milkweed, the only plant on which monarchs will lay their eggs.

[sbannister]

I'm so glad you contacted them and that it was published like that. That article will bring it to more peoples' attention and hopefully the city might think twice about doing that again. Well done!

[Paul Cherubini]

I can't tell from your pictures what kind of job was done. I know that pines branches should not be cut back unless you leave some green growth. I can't tell from your pictures what is going on.

Here is a pretty clear photo that helps better explain where some of the branch trimming occurred in relation to where the butterfly clusters used to form:
http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu87/4ALC/pgcut.jpg

This past September's tree trimming at the Sanctuary is not the first time a tree service has been brought in because older cut marks are visible on some of the pine tree branches:
http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu87/4ALC/pgcutb.jpg